Author Archives: Adrianna

Welcome back to another year at UBC! For all the new readers in the audience: Welcome to the UBC Mech Ambassadors Blog!

This blog was created for the purpose of showing students, who are interested in joining UBC Mechanical Engineering, the daily life of existing current MECH students. We will talk about courses you can expect to take as mechanical engineering student, ways to get involved and connected with the department, and events throughout the year. You will get complete transparency into all things MECH!

We were fortunate enough to receive great questions and feedback on our blog posts last year and would love to continue seeing questions and comments from you all! If you have a request for a blog topic or have a question in general, please feel free to email: ambassadors@mech.ubc.ca

So, bookmark this blog and join us as we continue our journey to become UBC Mechanical Engineers.

Until next time,

Ashley

So nothing much is actually going on this week besides the awesome feedback session that Mech put on today. This is a great opportunity to give the department some feedback on how the term is going and what changes would make it better. This is really cool because it shows that Mech cares about how classes are being run and that they want their students to have the best experience possible. We discussed a lot of issues and the Mech department assured us that our concerns will be addressed. Issues can range from professor complaints to material being too difficult to follow. This session not only gives the students the satisfaction of being heard but makes the education process much better. All voiced concerns are looked into and addressed accordingly. I am happy to be in a faculty that constantly tries to make itself better.

Hey guys. Another week another struggle. So I have this CPEN exam coming up and I’m really nervous. This exam is on Saturday, so I have enough time to actually be well prepared. For those of you that don’t know CPEN, it means computer engineering. I am taking CPEN 312. This course is all about microcomputers. I know it might seem weird for a Mechanical engineer to take this course but I’m in mechatronics so I have to take it. Frankly, I like the course. I think it’s really fun aside from the labs. There’s just so much material to cover. Most courses in engineering always build on previous topics, so if you don’t understand something you better understand it quick or else you won’t understand the next section. This is the same deal with my CPEN course. I have to understand every single thing before I can actually do a question. The problem is that there are so many things to understand it feels impossible to get it right. Yeah it’s a struggle but then again I chose this life.

On top of this, I still have to apply for jobs. The worst part about job searching is that companies often get you to fill out everything about yourself every time and then re-write everything that’s already on your resume. So if you’re applying outside of UBC Co-op be prepared for a long and boring application process.

Luckily, though, MECH is hosting a networking event on March 16^th for students, faculty, alumni, and other people from industry. This means I’ll get to meet lots of potential employers and grow my professional network which should help me, if not now, then at least in the future. MECH is even going to feed us. And for any first-year Engineering students out there, there will be a separate networking event specifically for you next month, on April 6^th, where you can meet current MECH students, faculty, and alumni (and also get fed). You don’t want to miss out. More information on that coming to Mech’s Facebook page soon—check it out.

Key to success: Be patient

Alright fam, so now that reading week is over I have to get back on track. My reading break was pretty lit. In fact I am sure it was better than yours. I did a variety of things ranging from late night Netflix binging to reading Kanye’s twitter feed. But now that I am back in school, I have to sort everything out. My design team competition is coming up so I spend a lot of my afternoons in the machine shop. For the rest of the term I plan to stay on top of things and have an organized schedule. Unlike before, I will wake up early and not 10mins before class. Waking up early not only gives me time to have a good breakfast but it also lets me become mentally ready for class. If I’m not mentally ready for class I won’t understand a thing. Other than that, I have a CPEN midterm coming up. It’s not a standard midterm as you would expect. It’s on the WEEKEND. First of all who does that? Second of all why? Lastly, I could be home watching The Office or something. But I guess it is what it is and I am just going to have to grind through it. There is one thing that I have to look forward to for next week, and it’s the feedback session hosted by Mech. This gives teachers an opportunity to get some feedback on how they are running the course. This goes to show that professors actually want to know how to make their course better for everyone. I think that’s pretty dope because if I have some issues with a course, I can be sure that my voice will be heard. But the best part about all this is that we get some dope lunch.

Key to success: Listen to T.L.O.P

Alright fam let’s get to it. I’ve had a really crazy week. I joined lots of intramural teams and was really excited to play with them but suddenly I twisted my ankle while jogging. Aside from that everything is still pretty smooth. My plane in Aerodesign is built and ready to fly and my workload in classes is still at a medium. I feel that if I don’t start reviewing for my classes now I’m going to be behind for a very long time. As a mechatronics student I get to take a lot of cool courses. My favorite is CPEN 312, Microcomputers. It’s really cool because we get our own boards and get to do a lot of hands-on work rather than the traditional on-computer style. Apart from school my job application process is accelerating and I am applying for jobs almost every night now.  It is important to remember that job applications can’t just be a basic template; it has to have something that is unique to the employer. This will give you an edge because a lot of individuals will just have a standard cover letter for all the jobs they apply to. If you want to find out more about some companies and employers I recommend checking out the job fairs and networking events that UBC holds. This is a great opportunity to meet employers face to face and get to know them. There’s always an opportunity to sell yourself for the job. It gives you the chance to show that you’re interested in the position and allows you to make contacts at the companies. I have even had some employers give me their business cards so that I can contact them directly to discuss the details about the job. My job search is taking off!

Key to Success: Drink lots of water

-Siddhant Malik

So after 2 weeks of winter vibes I’m back at the battle ground for another semester. So far so good. The best thing about the first week is that there are no labs. This means huge 3-hour gaps for Netflix. I have had a very easygoing start to the semester but things are ramping up really fast. I have my Aerodesign competition coming up, midterms next month, and I have to apply for coop jobs. Applying for jobs is the most dreadful thing because every cover letter you write has to be customized to the job posting. Of course you can just use a standard one for everything but it really helps you get the job if you tailor your cover letter to the company and the position. Lastly, I have a MECH tour coming up that I have to prep for. I have to go through all the rad MECH labs and student teams so that the noobs that are coming into MECH know what they are getting into. If you want to come on the tour shoot me an email and we can work things out. I, oddly enough, take pride in my tours, cause I give really awesome tours. But also because I think it’s really important that kids know what they want to do and it is my job to provide them with the necessary information.

So yeah, I’m pretty busy. From now on, in every blog post I write, I will include a key to success à la DJ Khaled. Key to Success: minimize Netflix binging.

What’s good y’all. So last Saturday we had this crazy awesome day. It was called Open House. MECH had an awesome event going on. Kaiser 1180 was bumping harder than the VENUE nightclub on a peak Friday. We had Charlie the robot throwing down some moves, Formula and Baja were grinding their gears and I, the head intern, was making magic at the strawkets (straw-powered rockets) table. Yes it was a magical day, but it was also a hectic one. I am not going to say that I wasn’t tired but I would do it all over again. I am the type of dude that just loves to talk to people about their prospective futures. It is important to me that they understand everything completely before jumping into it. I didn’t have this privilege. Being the eldest child I was new to this whole application process and naturally it was a very tense time at the dawn of December as the application deadline approached. So yes I gladly cleared up people’s confusion and helped them understand the path of UBC engineering and why it is the Holy Grail that everyone says it is. It was hard for me not to rep MECH considering how much I love it. (MECH IS LOVE MECH IS LIFE.) But I had to keep in mind that people will discover what they want after first year, so it was important to describe to them the general prospects of engineering rather than just MECH, even if it is one of the better programs.

Siddhant

Well the semester has almost come to an end. We have 2 weeks left and I’ve just wrapped up all of my midterms and now I am just cruising by and waiting for finals to come. I have been very busy this week and this time it’s not because of exams, but rather because I’ve been involved with organizing the Engineering Open House. This is an awesome opportunity for high school students and current students to come and check out all the amazing programs we offer. It’s Saturday, Nov 28, which is my B-day, so it sucks that I have to come in that day. But, I love to help kids out so that they don’t come into UBC with the same state of confusion that I had. Open House is an awesome opportunity to just check out all of our labs–we have a ton of cool stuff and free stuff to give out. So tell your squad, tell your siblings, tell everyone. This is something you don’t want to miss. Event of the year y’all.

All this is awesome and all, but let’s face the inevitable future. Finals. This is going to be a grind. So brace yourselves, finals are coming.

Siddhant

OMG. I just had the craziest couple weeks. It was full of quizzes, midterms and psych papers. But what I loved most about my week was the Mech Engineering Networking Event that was held at the wicked new alumni center. This was a fun-filled evening in which I just got to talk to a bunch of faculty and staff members and have a good time. The best part was that the UBC alumni were invited. This was particularly awesome because all the alumni work for cool companies so it was a great opportunity to network myself for potential co-op jobs. I cannot stress how valuable it is to network yourself during your undergrad. You maximize your chances of finding a job if you have a great network. The alumni event was so cool because they had all sorts of food and drinks available for you, so it was a great time to grab a beer with a prof. Along with food, drinks and faculty, the event also included a great tour of the alumni center which has been given the gold LEED standard award. That’s kind of a big deal. This means we are slaying the sustainability competition. Siddhant out. Peace

Wow. What a month. Just finished up a crazy month full of midterms and papers. It sucks that I have to take an arts elective, cause let’s be honest fam, it ain’t my forte. I had to write a psych paper on why tests help you learn in the middle of all my midterms. Naturally, I did it in a couple nights and just studied for my engineering courses. I only have 4 courses this semester. I thought it would be easy to take a light load, but I didn’t realize how demanding electives can become. I am taking heat transfer, solid mechanics, impact of technology online and psychology. I know it sounds really easy, but it’s not. I am constantly studying something or running from place to place for meetings. My quiet time is anytime past 10pm that I have to myself. It’s been a crazy month but it will be a memorable one. Plus November is the best month in the whole year cause it’s ya boy’s bday. That’s right I get to slay the midterms and turn a year older. I be slaying the competition. “Insert peace emoji”.

Cheers,

Siddhant Malik