Name: Nancy Paris, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.
Job Title: CEO & Senior Research Consultant
Company: Peak Research Inc.
Industry: Consulting
What I Do
I am the CEO of Peak Research Inc., a management consulting firm that is dedicated to building an innovative Canadian healthcare system and increasing the economic potential of Canadian applied research organizations.
A Day in the Life
My hours are completely flexible, so I usually work 7 or 8 hours between 6 am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday, with breaks for walking my daughter to school, working out, or other activities.
I interact with my clients and project stakeholders, my business partner (who is also my husband), other team members (whom I usually supervise), my suppliers (i.e. accountant, graphic designer, etc.) and a wide net of business colleagues that I’ve developed over the 18 years I’ve been in engineering as a biomedical engineer.
I work on a wide variety of health care technology related projects. Currently I am working on the development and evaluation of the home care ceiling lift program for people in BC. My projects usually involve a combination of research tasks and stakeholder interactions.
Why My Job Is Great
I love the area of health care technology as I know the importance of the technology to the people that need it. Working in medical and assistive devices is a fascinating blend of technology and biology, as it is quite common that these devices interface with the people that need them. This leads to people working together in multi-disciplinary teams, which I find to be the most interesting way to work.
The Downside
Projects can take many years to complete, which can be difficult at times, but the outcome usually leads to something useful.
Off the Job
Outside of work I spend time with my family, which includes my husband, 8-year-old daughter, and 5-month-old yellow lab puppy. I also spend time with friends and family entertaining. For recreation, I love to hike and cross country ski locally. I love to travel and I also practice photography. This year, the family is learning Italian so we can do a home exchange sometime in 2008/9 for a couple of months.
Experiences from my Undergrad to Learn From
I took a summer job at UBC on an NSERC student scholarship and worked on a vibration white finger disease project. This was my first experience with biomedical engineering and I believe this experience gave me the edge when I got my first job working on the development and evaluation of an artificial hip joint at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) in 1990.
The Best Part
The best part of being a mechanical engineer is the interesting work!
My Advice to You
If you’re thinking about your future, remember that mechanical engineering can lead to careers in a wide variety of industries.