Category Archives: MECH Coursework

MECH Project Courses

A 3D printer creating a new part. Photo by Osman Talha Dikyar on Unsplash.

One of my favourite parts of the MECH program is the design project courses we have every year. It feels like these are what all of the theoretical studying in lectures are meant for. They encourage critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving skills, and are very transferrable to what work might look like after graduating. This post is about each of the project courses and my experiences through each one.

MECH 220 – Technical Skills Practicum

Student-made magnetic levitation device that levitates a miniature version of the UBC Engineering Cairn. The circuit board and magnetic coil is visible.

Complete MagLev device

This course is the first thing you’ll take as a new MECH student! It’s structured as four one-week modules that cover machining, engineering drawings, computer aided design, and electronics. As a result, you will create a magnetic levitation (MagLev) that showcases your learning over the entire month. To this day, this is still one of my favourite courses in MECH. The machining module was my favourite, where we got to use the mill, lathe, press, and various hand tools. It felt like we were real engineers, not just students studying equations. I was also able to bond with my classmates during this time, as we would see each other every day, all day, working together.

MECH 223 – Mechanical Design

Race track meant for hovercrafts roped off and surrounded by MECH students.

Competition day.

Our creatively decorated hovercraft.

At the end of MECH 2, we form teams and design something together. Our task was to design a hovercraft for racing competitions against other teams. The hovercraft needed to travel quickly, stop accurately, and maintain specific speeds using an RC transmitter. Using our knowledge of fluid dynamics and material properties, we designed an air cushion for reducing sliding friction on the track. Our design uses two propellers connected to DC motors, a foam/cardboard base, plastic skirt, and 3D printed mounts. It was a great end of year project to recap all our learning in MECH 2.

MECH 328 – Mechanical Engineering Design Project

A large search and rescue boat sits by the dock in the marina. The boat has a soft hull and an observation area for crew.

SAR boat we toured during a site visit!

Inside the search and rescue boat observation area, the control dashboard is lit up with navigation and many controls.

Learning about the control interface.

For the third year project course, we were given an open ended problem and had freedom to choose what design to theoretically create. The prompt was to remove combustion engines from a product, and replace the energy source with something more sustainable. My group chose to electrify search and rescue (SAR) boats. Since this project has more of a focus on stakeholder consultation, we were able to meet with and tour a SAR boat thanks to Royal Canadian Marine SAR volunteers. It was interesting to explore something I didn’t know much about, but I wish that there was a build component to the project.

MECH 45X – Capstone

A current solution – which we’d like to make higher tech! Photo by Stephanie LeBlanc on Unsplash

It’s currently my final year, and I’m just starting to ramp up my Capstone project. In this course, you are able to choose or rank what prompt you are interested in, and have more freedom with choosing your team members. The projects all interface with real clients, and typically you would build a working prototype by the end of the year. For my capstone, my team is working on designing a better wildlife hair snag to collect DNA samples for biological research! It’s still early on in the process, but I’m looking forward to building something that will be used in the real world.

If you like solving design problems and thinking of novel solutions, you will enjoy the project courses in MECH! From participating in these projects I feel better equipped and more confident about my knowledge and experiences going into the industry. I would encourage anyone to make the most of this time, where we can explore our interests and have design control over our work, which is not always the case post-grad.

Prioritizing Mental Health During Exam Season

Exam season—two words that instantly bring stress to every student’s mind. For us in mechanical engineering, balancing difficult courses, projects, and the pressure to perform well can be overwhelming. But while studying and acing exams is important, taking care of your mental health during this high-stress period is even more crucial.

Image Credit: r/sciencememes

For me, de-stressing is key to staying focused and relaxed. Going for a run, playing soccer, or doing a quick workout really helps me clear my mind. Physical activity works wonders when you’re stuck in study mode for hours, and it doesn’t have to be complicated—just get moving. Whether it’s hitting the gym or taking a 15-minute walk around campus, you’ll feel the difference. It gives your brain a break, helps with focus, and resets your energy.

Sleep—Easier Said Than Done, Right?

Getting 8-9 hours of sleep before an exam is what I aim for, but I know that’s not everyone’s reality—especially for those who like pulling all-nighters. I’ve found that sleep is one of the biggest contributors to my performance. Sure, it’s easier said than done, but if you can manage even a few nights of proper rest leading up to exams, you’ll feel a lot more prepared. When I head into an exam, I go with a relaxed mindset, hoping for the best but knowing that a well-rested brain will work more efficiently than one running on caffeine and no sleep.

Study Habits: Different for Everyone

Everyone studies in their own way. Some people create meticulous notes, formula sheets, PowerPoints, or flashcards. For me, I’m all about pen and paper. I like solving problems on blank sheets, getting my thoughts out of my head and onto the page. Now, I’m not the most organized—I tend to overwrite on the same paper with different course material or random thoughts. It may not look pretty, but it works for me.

If you’re like me and sometimes your thoughts are racing in all directions, here’s a trick: Treat your mind like a program running multiple threads. When I get overwhelmed, I use a mental “task queue”—I prioritize the most important task, focus on it, and “dequeue” it by writing it down if I get stuck. I switch to the next task, and return to the first one once I have more clarity. This stops the mental race conditions (yeah, that’s the programmer in me talking!) and helps me stay focused.

Fueling Your Brain: Hydration and Good Food

Don’t forget the basics—hydration and good food. I always keep water with me and try to eat well during exam season. It’s easy to neglect proper meals when you’re cramming, but you’ll perform better if your body has the right fuel. Trust me, energy drinks and chips won’t cut it long term.

A Final Thought: Exams Don’t Define You

Here’s the most important thing I can tell you: a piece of paper does not determine who you are or what you will become. There will be easy exams and difficult ones—that’s inevitable. But your mental health and well-being should always come first. The stress you feel now is just a small piece of your journey, and if you consistently put in effort over time, that hard work will pay off. Looking back, you’ll see that one difficult exam was just a bump in the road of your personal growth.

To everyone reading this: You’ve made it this far in mechanical engineering or you’re planning to, which means you’re already incredibly smart and capable. Be proud of yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back, take care of your mind and body, and get ready to give your best shot to the exams ahead.

Good luck—you’ve got this! (╯▽╰ )

Undergraduate Research in Mech

If you’re a Mech student, you probably love solving problems and asking questions. That’s what research is all about—except, this time, you get to ask the questions and figure out the problems. Unlike your typical assignments where you’re given all the instructions upfront, research is the deep end of open-ended problem solving. You’ve had a taste of it with the MECH 2 design challenge or your Capstone project. But what if you’re eager for more?

If you’ve ever thought about research or grad school, you might have felt like it’s just out of reach. I’ve been there, too. Balancing the intense workload of Mech with thoughts of future research or grad studies can seem daunting. But after a few paid and voluntary research terms, I’ve learned that research isn’t as out of reach as it seems. Thanks to the guidance of some amazing faculty and staff, I realized it’s very possible—and now, I want to help you see the same. Below are a few tips to help integrate research and grad school into your undergrad life, even with a hectic schedule.

1. Ask Your Professors About Their Research

This is the golden rule of getting started in research: talk to your professors. After-class chats with profs are criminally underrated. Profs are not just there to teach but are often involved in exciting research projects. Many of them are on the lookout for curious and motivated undergrads who want to get involved.

A great way to start is by visiting the Mech department website and looking up your professors’ research areas. Find something that piques your interest? Stay after class or shoot them an email asking about their work. Not only will this give you insight into their research, but it also opens the door to potential opportunities for you to join their lab.

2. Present Your Work at the Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference (MURC)

Every March, UBC hosts the Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference (MURC), where undergrads present their research to their peers, family, and faculty. This event, run by students for students, is a celebration of undergraduate research with workshops, presentations, and keynote speakers.

If you’re working on any UBC-affiliated research, this is your chance to present it to the world—or, at least, the UBC community. It’s also a great place to volunteer or just attend to network with fellow students and researchers. Either way, MURC is a fantastic way to get inspired and find out what kinds of research are happening around campus.

3. Check Out CREATE-U

For Mech students specifically, the CREATE-U program is a perfect introduction to research. This summer program allows you to earn six credits while getting paid to work in a Mech lab. It also counts as a co-op work term, so you can gain valuable experience without delaying your graduation.

The program includes two courses: one on academic research methods (MECH 497) and the other on academic writing (MECH 498). These courses are designed to support your summer research project, which takes place under the guidance of a graduate mentor and a faculty supervisor. The research you do can even count toward a Master’s or PhD at UBC, giving you a head start on grad studies if that’s the direction you want to go.

4. Enroll in MECH 493 or MECH 410C/F

When you reach your final year, consider signing up for MECH 493 or MECH 410C/F. These are research-based courses where you’ll spend the term working on a project instead of attending regular lectures and exams. Every year, professors post research projects that undergrads can apply to join. You’ll need to contact the professor directly to gain approval, but once you’re in, you’ll spend your semester tackling real-world research problems.

MECH 493 is a two-term, 3-credit course, while MECH 410C/F is split into two one-term, 3-credit courses. The kind of research you’ll do will depend on the lab you join, so it’s a good idea to ask professors what to expect before signing up.

5. Keep an Open Mind

The most important thing you can do is stay curious and open to new possibilities. Research is all about discovery, and sometimes that means finding excitement in unexpected places. You never know what might spark your passion until you dive in. By exploring research as an undergrad, you’ll not only gain invaluable experience but also potentially secure reference letters for grad school and build connections with faculty members.

So, if you’re thinking about research or grad school but feel overwhelmed by the idea, know that it’s more accessible than you think. With a bit of curiosity and a willingness to ask questions, you can find research opportunities that fit into your busy schedule and give you a whole new perspective on problem-solving.

Managing Stress

In third year, my life became a feverish balancing act. It was the year I took up 6+3 first and second term courses while trying my hand at leadership on the SUBC drivetrain team. In September, I had moved to downtown Vancouver with friends after living with family for years in Richmond. It was an exciting transition that would kickstart a much more social life – something I’d craved for a while.

I remember brimming with energy those first few months. On SUBC, I had assembled a strong team ready to tackle the design of our submarine gearbox. Classes kept me engaged and eager to learn more. I even found time to enjoy the downtown high life with friends and roommates.

I flew through first semester, eventually hitting second. That’s when my schedule changed dramatically as my SUBC commitment grew. My Saturdays became fulltime SUBC work sessions, pushing homework to Sundays. Soon enough, I was working 7 days a week, often more than 8 hours a day consecutively. Fewer were the weekends I found time for leisure.

“Paltry,” you might be thinking, “that’s Mech bread and butter.” And I would have agreed with you. My meager 12 credit course load in second semester signaled no excuse to compromise working hard. After all, now I had too much free time on my hands! In no universe could I allow myself to perform poorly. As the semester progressed, this mindset became increasingly sabotaging.

Before I knew it: burnout! It’s a condition I didn’t entirely understand or even really believe. After all, stress fuels productivity—until it doesn’t. Reality set in when I began to notice growing frustration over the simplest tasks. Exhaustion seemed to kick in unusually quickly. Ignoring these telltale symptoms, I fell into a cycle of downplaying burnout, reminding myself that I’d survived MECH 2 during COVID, so obviously I could survive any onslaught.

But despite my rationalization, every bit of work continued to feel like a step in some gargantuan supertask. I thought that my effort and energy could only be bounded by ambition, but much like an apparently infinite series, I discovered they needed to converge to a finite sum.

Even precious downtime with friends seemed to feel like a burden. An ever-present mental checklist fogged my brain, pulling me from enjoying life in the moment. I was chronically anxious that I had forgotten some crucial SUBC task or course assignment. My confidence waned and grades declined. I fell ill with a prolonged seasonal cold and experienced constant back pain – all the while beating myself up over being so “weak.” My stubborn work ethic turned exhaustion into a cruel measure of self-worth.

As a workaholic, the line between dedication and self-neglect blurs as perfectionism clashes with the need for rest. In my experience, this made burnout a nearly imperceptible threat. When your commitments start feeling like they’re getting to you, ask yourself:

Have I been feeling exhausted recently?
Do I feel ineffective at the work I’m doing?
Do I feel distant from my work or a loss of interest in it?
Am I feeling easily irritable?

If your answer is yes to one or more of these, I encourage you to critically reflect on your workload, schedule, and mental wellbeing. According to Mayo Clinic, among the biggest signs of burnout are exhaustion, reduced efficacy, depersonalization, and cynicism. This can make it very challenging to honestly assess yourself. Verbalizing my frustration with a supportive friend was a great way to get an outsider’s perspective on my situation. The UBC Student Services website also offers a comprehensive guide to managing stress responses, emphasizing support-seeking, relaxation activities, exercise, sleep, and mindfulness practice. These tools, while not guaranteed cure-alls, can help you think about how best to manage your response to stress. In my experience, starting with the simple admission that I even had burnout was a great way to dissolve the ego that kept me from addressing it.

Why? Because ego has no place when health is at stake. Consider the fact that prolonged burnout can even heighten susceptibility to depression and illness.

Unfortunately, Mech can certainly seem like the perfect breeding ground for stress-induced burnout and complications. I take issue with the student culture that accepts these as necessary corequisites to being a Mech student, and worse yet, the subculture that flaunts their stress to signal the program’s superiority over others. Stress is how our bodies tell us that something about our situation needs to change. A healthy amount of stress can motivate us to excel, while stress in excess immobilizes. There is nothing commendable or useful about the latter.

My fear while addressing my burnout was “what if by letting myself relax, my grades slump and the drivetrain team loses momentum?” It felt like an impermissible compromise. But the reality was that my grades and drivetrain team were suffering as a result of my burnout anyway. It was useful to reframe self-care as an investment in my future performance, especially for when it might really matter, like during midterms, finals, or the homestretch just before a submarine competition.

Mech demands more than academic prowess—it demands resilience, reflection, and adaptability. You might be pleasantly surprised what the occasional movie, workout, or hangout might do for your mental health and grades. I certainly was.

Exchange and extending your degree

So. I’m planning on taking a 6 year undergrad. That’s a lot. Basically, with this post, I’m going to talk about why I’m extending my degree, a bit about my exchange, and… yeah. Maybe you’ll find some of this useful and relevant to you, or maybe not.

Essentially, I’m planning my degree outline to look like this:

	Term 1	Term 2	Summer
Year 1	Study	Study	Off
Year 2	Study	Study	Co-op
Year 3	Co-op	Study	Work Learn
Year 4	Exchange	Exchange	Co-op
Year 5	Study	Study	Co-op
Year 6	Study	Study	Graduate!

which you can compare to what your MECH degree is supposed to look like here.

The main reason for changing my degree to six years, is because of my exchange. I’ll be going on exchange in Germany, where their term is October-March. Because of the timing, I have to take both winter terms off to do the exchange. At least I can knock off some upper year courses though, right? Hahaha… since I don’t speak German (at least very well), I have to take Masters courses, as most of their undergraduate courses are in German. I couldn’t find any Masters courses that fulfilled my UBC course requirements, so I will be counting all of my exchange courses as technical electives. In Mechatronics, we get something like one technical elective. So essentially, I’m taking an entire year of my degree to get a single elective course.

Why am I doing this then? Mainly, to explore my interests. I’m currently interested in medical applications of robotics, which as you can imagine, you don’t get much exposure to in an undergraduate Mechatronics degree. Through my exchange, I’ll get to take specialized Masters courses in that field. The hope is that when I return to UBC, I’ll have a better idea of exactly what I want to do with my degree (unless of course, I end up hating medical robotics), and can potentially get involved with research, and find co-ops in that field.

In addition, I’m planning to drop a Jan-Apr co-op term, and replace it with a study term. This will allow me to take a reduced course load, which I want to do for multiple reasons. Mainly, I want more free time. MECH is a demanding program, and it can be difficult to pursue hobbies and passions while taking a full course load. In addition, you are able to focus on the courses you have a lot more. Even taking one less course this previous term, I found that I understood the content in my other courses much more, and my grades improved. If you’re thinking about pursuing grad school, it can be beneficial to take time to focus on classes, in addition to extra curriculars.

So, there you have it. A little bit about my degree outline, and my reasons for changing it up. Many people come into MECH with the idea that they’ll have a straight forward degree that they can plan from day 1. However, there are a large amount of people who diverge from the standard time table, for many different reasons. Whether it’s for personal or academic reasons, extending your degree says nothing about your abilities. Don’t be discouraged if you find that your degree is progressing differently than planned, you’re not alone!

MECH 423: Self-Balancing Robot

Hello new and old friends! Welcome back to the Mech Ambassadors Blog! I am very excited to share with you all a project I am currently working on for my Mechatronic Product Design course.

MECH 423 is centered around learning and applying firmware knowledge to integrate what you have learned within your undergrad to a complex final project of your choice. This specific course teaches firmware writing to communicate with motor drivers, accelerometers, and encoders. Rather than a final exam, we have 3 labs and 1 final project which build up our final course grade. After polishing our C# and C, developing firmware for a close loop control system, we design our own final project which includes 3 deliverables: a proposal, a video of the final product, and a final report due 2 days after the presentation.

The project is to be designed and presented on Dec.9th which is less than a month away. My lab partner and I just submitted our project proposal on Monday and are very excited to get a start on the robot. This final project comes with a multitude of challenges but we are aiming to integrate art and mechatronics in our device.

The objective of the project is to develop a self-balancing device using a dual motor control system. The device will take the appearance of a Pokeball, hiding all the hardware components within an enclosure and can open to show small figurines. The goal of the device is to balance the figurines contained within the device enclosure. The device will primarily function as an art form. There are many collectors who look for interesting workpieces, this self-balancing robot will be of great interest and act as a centerpiece! There is no circular self-balancing robot on the market at present, while there are designs for the Star Wars BB-8, as of this moment, there are no Pokeballs. We will be able to promote engagement in the STEM field by bringing to life a childhood cartoon object which will grasp the interest of students from kindergarten to grade 12.

Breaking down the project into 5 functions include:

Gyroscope interface circuit
- determine and measure the rate of angular motion of our device
Filter with gyroscope and accelerometer
- integrate gyroscope and accelerometer to create a complimentary filter for angular position
Motor driver
- operate 2 motors simultaneously and integrate the motors with the rest of the system
Closed loop control
- use PI/D control to integrate all the systems together in a closed loop for stability
Design and build
- Design the enclosure to mount the mechanical and electrical components.

We are waiting on approval before sourcing parts and starting on the design. Bookmark the blog and check back next week for updates!

May your gears always mesh!

My summer research program with MECH CREATE-U

Walking past the closed doors of research labs felt like taking a peek into a vault of unfound knowledge with students and mentors huddled around what oftentimes looked like a sci-fi device. The sight has always fascinated me, and I wanted to try it out and see what research is without committing my entire Master’s degree to it. The CREATE-U project was helpful in addressing this, where I could get a taste of what research is like so that I could figure out if I wanted it or not in the future.

Poster presentation at the end of the CREATE-U program

One of the biggest questions I had starting off is how a research project is different from the numerous design projects we’ve undertaken during our regular coursework. We’ve all had a taste of what an engineering project is like starting with the cardboard chair – we have a known deliverable and we try to make our way to it through a defined process – but my research experience was quite different.

Unlike a design project, the final deliverable is left to us to choose. I initially thought that would make it simpler – what I didn’t expect was the number of rabbit holes it would open up during the first few weeks as I tried to figure out what direction I wanted my project to take. It was an exciting, overwhelming feeling when every new paper I read gave me a new idea of what I could do as a part of my project. I ended up deciding on studying the flow characteristics of aerosolized powder drugs flowing through a catheter under the overarching project that my faculty supervisor had given me and the Master’s student mentoring me. Okay, that sounds like a lot of words that probably doesn’t make too much sense. Well, it didn’t to me either, but that’s part of the fun and the process! Starting off and learning something new that you haven’t seen before and then trying to ask and answer questions that might not have been covered. Over a few weeks, I’d taken my basic knowledge of fluid mechanics and used those basic building blocks to learn about multiphase flow and a few other things to be able to take this problem head-on.

We also had regularly scheduled classes where we talked about research practices and writing styles, and initially, I thought that would just be adding more to my plate of responsibilities. However, getting some context around my research work was immensely helpful in orienting myself through the process, as well as knowing I wasn’t alone in it with the nine of us in the cohort getting to bounce ideas off each other. There were quite a few weeks where it was busier than I thought it would be with both coursework and research work picking up pace simultaneously. It all paid off with excitement of designing my own experimental setup, assembling it and then running experiments to answer a question that I found worth investigating! It was also a very weird and proud feeling when I had to present my findings in front of research faculty members – and for once I knew a little bit more about the topic than they did.

How you plan your degree vs how it goes

When you begin your degree at this university or any university, like any first-year student, you walk in with a solid plan on how your academic development is going to go for the next four years. You will start first year strong achieve amazing grades in first year, get into your preferred program, then another three years of pure academic dedication and then walk out of this university with a smile on your face and a graduation photo on your dad’s desk of you in your graduation gown. A lot of us start our university careers with these thoughts in our heads. But ask anyone and they will all tell you the same thing: things did not go according to plan. And for the majority of them, things took a turn for the better!

Of course, the very first thing that will change your degree plans is when you receive your offers into the various engineering programs. For some students it goes exactly like planned, they get their first choice and for other students, they get put into a program they were not that excited to get into. It happens to a fair number of students, many of my friends too.

Then the second change in your four-year academic plan comes. Co-ops. Being an international student, I wasn’t aware this was something that we could do in the middle of our degrees. Work with amazing companies across Canada, gain invaluable experience, and graduate with a good understanding of engineering principles. However, it adds a year to your degree and requires you to move some courses here and there which the faculty and co-op offices help to navigate very well.

And to be honest, if you are passing all your courses, those are the only two major 2 changes you have to account for unless a major unprecedented global pandemic that will collapse the economy takes over the world.

COVID-19 was the wild card that graduates of 2020, 2021, and 2022 could not have planned for at all. Even the Canadian government couldn’t see this one coming, so you can’t expect a student running on caffeine and pizza to predict it either. I was caught in this pandemic towards the almost beginning of my final year at university.

My initial plans were to start working for a company in May 2021 which I had built a profile in through my coops. But as the pandemic unfolded, that sector went under, and people started getting fired, and hiring freezes started. A future in that sector no longer looked promising. And then within three hours, I changed my entire plan for the next two years. I decided to extend my co-op with the company I was working for that summer till December and do another eight-month co-op in a different sector the following year and finish off my degree in May 2022.

My reasoning? The industry I was working in was Oil and Gas and was all set to work full time in that sector. Once hiring freezes began, a PEng at the company advised me to not bank on the full-time opportunity anymore. He also advised me to look if I could push my degree out by another year to make sure I graduate in a better market. Because May 2021 was not a hot time for recent graduates. The market was still struggling to recover. So I decided that during that extra gap I would take, I had the prime opportunity to diversify my portfolio a bit more. So I decided to do an eight-month term in the renewable energy sector. And then in September 2021, we started in-person classes again.

What I wanted to get across from this post is this. When you start university, its good to have a plan for the next four to six years. It will help guide a lot of your decisions. But also make sure you keep the flexibility to alter those plans as situations change, opportunities arise, economies fall. Because we live in a world that changes literally every day and for an engineer of today, you need to learn to adapt to it.

Taking a Break: Extended Degrees and COVID-19

Last year was definitely a year of extenuating circumstance and I am not one to enjoy uncertainty. I did however, take a leap and decide to extend my degree instead of graduating in 2021 as I had expected back in 2016 when I started my bachelors degree. In this post I plan to go over my experience in taking an extra year including my reasons, my feelings, and recommendations for anyone thinking about extending their Mech degree.

My reasons for extending my degree

Burnout and Mental Health – I’m sure this is a shared experience within Mech, but by the end of my 3.5 year I was very burnt out. By this point 2 years ago, I was struggling to keep up with my studies. My grades were declining and instead of being worried or scrambling to catch up, I felt an unnatural apathy. During this period of time, I felt a loss of the enjoyment of studying and learning that once came natural to me, even though the topics we discussed in class were interesting, I felt detached and robotic. Though this was the one of the main reason I extended, it was also a big reason I did not want to extend. Part of me just wanted to push through, but today I am glad I did, I am in much higher spirits and have regained my passion for learning.
Online Classes – Though the professors tried their best to accommodate and make class as engaging and useful as in-person, there are limitations to online communication. For one, it made comradery, group work and design projects harder. As I was going into my last year and was finally taking the technical electives and courses of interest that I had been waiting my whole degree to take, I wanted to make sure I got the full experience. For example, courses like Orthopaedic Biomechanics (Mech 435) which normally lets students go watch surgeries or Capstone (Mech 45X) were limited in opportunities because of the pandemic.
Loss of Facilities – One of the biggest advantages of being a Mech student is access to the great facilities available such as the student machine shop and student team spaces. Spaces that I did not have access to last year and I am very excited now that I’m back in school to finish the projects I had planned for my last year.
Opportunity to Try a New Industry – While deciding whether or not to extend, I did some co-op applications. At the time I had already fulfilled all my term requirements for co-op but extra work experience never hurt anyone. One of my goals during my schooling was to try out as many different industries while I was still a student. Mechanical engineering is a degree which provides a great variety of industries and I wanted to take advantage of the short term internships to try new things. I luckily got an 8 month internship at a great biomedical engineering company which broadened my portfolio.

Emotional Experience of Extending

When I started university in 2016, I worried about things like being able to finish “on-time” and graduating with all my friends. To be honest, now I’m not sure what “on-time” means. It turns out that half my friend group and my fellow Mech Ambassador Hamayun did the exact thing as me. In a way, I still am graduating with a good number of my friends. Some even decided after I did, knowing that someone else would be around for the extra year. Considering that my career will be ~40 years long, will one more year in school matter.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I am enjoying this year a lot more. My course load is lower, I am taking super interesting courses and my grades are much higher than before. I am more productive, the burnout has significantly improved and even though I was very worried about whether I made a good decision initially, I have no regrets today and would encourage those who relate to any of the reasons I extended, to explore the opportunity.

Recommendations

Here are some things to consider if you are thinking of extending your degree based on my experience:

Consider your financial situation – I worked co-op for 8 months of my extension and I am also a local student. Unfortunately, scholarship or other financial limitations may limit your ability to follow in my footsteps. If you are an international student, consider the price of staying around UBC for the extra time if you plan to stay in Vancouver during the extension.
Check your course requirements when you come back to school – One of my necessary courses to graduate was Mech 429 which this year was moved to a 3rd year course and became Mech 329. This meant that the course wasn’t in the fourth year standard time table. The Mech Student Services Advisors are super friendly and helped me register smoothly (and easily) into the course with a simple email. They can help you to navigate any changes in course requirements.
Make friends in your classes – Group projects can run a lot smoother when you know people in your classes. Unfortunately one of the bi-products of extending is knowing less people in your classes. That being said, I have group projects in all but one of my classes this term and have been able to find great team mates.
Have some fun – Burnout won’t go away without some real relaxation – SO RELAX. I spent a lot of time playing video games, hanging out with friends (pandemic permitting) and exercising.

5 Unconventional Tips to Help You Master Online School in 2021

1. Use google docs during break-out rooms.

A guy in my breakout room suggested this, and honestly, it’s genius. You can keep track of what you’ve covered, giving yourself an excellent reference to cover points you might have missed or share with the class later. Using shared documents also means that people without hardware or people who might be uncomfortable speaking can still contribute their ideas. It’s a brilliant reference for future studying- I would seriously recommend trying this.

2. If you’re using your camera in your zoom lectures, hide yourself from view.

I can’t say I love turning on my cam at 8 am after pulling a hoodie over my pyjamas and rushing to make a coffee at 7:52 am, but using your camera in online lectures definitely has its pros. Nonetheless, there’s a good chance that your camera could be hurting your performance.

This article from the Harvard Business Review suggests that seeing yourself on-screen (and watching others) can be a massive distraction and exhausting. When you have several different videos on screen, you can overwhelm yourself with visual stimuli. It may be worth setting the camera window to show only the speaker, or hide it altogether in some situations.

Researchers from Emory University and the University of Copenhagen found that images of yourself from a mirror (or in our case, a webcam) can induce feelings of anxiety, social-awkwardness, shame or embarrassment. Consider hiding yourself from view when using your webcam; you may notice a subtle difference in your confidence when interacting with your class.

3. Connect with nature.

Research suggests that connecting with nature can make us feel calmer, and reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, which can improve motivation, focus and performance.

If you can, set up a workspace next to a window, or maybe try and find a safe spot outside to get some reading done. If that’s not available to you, research claims that even just looking at images of nature have a similar effect. Perhaps you can change up your desktop background, print some cool pictures or invest in some lovely houseplants.

4. Bolster your social support network.

Online school can feel pretty isolating, especially if you are not living with family or roommates at the moment. When the workload gets tough, it’s important to have friends to turn to for support! Obviously, it’s a bit tough right now to meet new people and do things together in person. Still, the internet is a brilliant resource for finding new friends or cultivating existing friendships.

In 2020, I joined a Pokemon Shiny Hunters discord, reconnected with some old LoL friends, and formed an online D&D party. My online friends undoubtedly helped me get through the worst parts of 2020. Online communities are a goldmine of like-minded people that you can de-stress and have a good time with, and thanks to the anonymity of the internet, it’s easier than ever to put yourself out there and make new friends.

If making friends in purely online communities isn’t for you, you can still reconnect online with some of your old IRL friends! Why not make a discord server with your friends from the first-year res, and play some games together?

Here are my recommendations for cheap and simple but fun party games:

Among us ($5.69 on PC, Free on mobile)
Jackbox Party Pack (~$34 on Steam/Most Consoles but you only need one purchase, and you can play it with up to 8 people using mobile phones as controllers
Scribbl.io (Free browser game!)
Other online classic board games such as Catan or Chess (Free, but possibly costs some friendships). This website has a ton of interesting board games to try.

5. Be kind to yourself

It’s ok if online school isn’t your thing, grad school admissions officers or future employers understand that we are dealing with a global pandemic. One year of slightly lower grades is not going to ruin anything.

The most valuable skill I’ve learned in my three years at UBC is to be kind, patient and honest with myself, and to do my best. Put your mental and physical health first, and the rest will fall into place. Hang in there; you’ll get through this- I believe in you!!