Life of an Engineer Maria Melissa B. Quemada Process Engineer/Lab Manager Thermionics Metal Processing, Inc. Chabot College Fall ’01 – Spring ‘05

Overview Life of a student engineer – How to survive in a 4-year university – Valuable skills – Internships My Internship experiences Senior Project Life of an engineer – Industry – Graduate school – Marketable skills

How to survive in a 4-yr university Network early –Y–You will need your classmates to help you get through with your classes…especially HOMEWORKS! Go to office hours –N–Not only will you find answers to your questions, the TA might also give you helpful hints –V–Visibility: Professors will recognize you and may lead to other opportunities Attend your classes –D–Don’t depend on your classmates’ note-taking, chances are…they’re also not paying attention to what the professor is saying. Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Valuable Skills Technical writing Giving presentations Modeling/Computer-based software Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Internships Apply to as many internship opportunities as you can! – Go to career fairs – Have someone proof-read your resume – Make sure that you get at least one internship experience to the industry you want to get into. Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

My Internship Experiences Summer 2005 – INSET (Internships for Nanosystems, Science, Engineering and Technology) –L–Location: UC Santa Barbara –P–Project: Making cost-effective fuel cell –W–Who helped me? Mr. Mayer Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Pulse-Deposition Pulse-Deposition electrochemical deposition of the Platinum through the hydrophilic channels or the active sites on to the substrate -0.5V 0.5V 50  s Total deposition timeVoltage Pt e - Pt (s) E o = -0.5V (approximately) Carbon cloth Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

My Internship Experiences Summer 2006 – SULI (Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships) – Location: LBNL (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) – Project: ARUBA (Arsenic Removal Using Bottom Ash) Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

My Internship Experiences Summer 2007 – Phoenix Biosystems (Start-up) – Industrial internship experience – Project: Fabrication of biosensors to measure glucose response in continuous flow and single-used systems Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

My Internship Experiences Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Senior Project Chemical Engineering Senior Project – Simulate a real production plant using SuperPro TM – Use chemical engineering theory and lab applications – Economic evaluation of project proposal Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Senior Project Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Industry Applying for a job – Go to your university career fairs – Talk to career counselor at your university – Attend industry’s info-sessions set up by students Job Interview tips – Look up company profiles before interview – Try to sign up for a mock interview (if available) at your university’s career center Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Industry Current Job: Process Engineer/Lab Manager – TMPI (Thermionics Metal Processing Inc.) – Responsibilities: Work with different type of industries such as semiconductor, solar and biotech companies to come up with a processes that will clean different materials used in vacuum systems, etc. Control and monitor chemistry of etching baths, etc. Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Graduate School Research the graduate programs and schools you’re interested in Study and take GRE (Graduate Record Exam) as early as possible (especially if you’ve just taken SAT’s) Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Marketable Skills Take E.I.T (Engineering-in-Training) exam Take P.E. (Professional Engineer) exam Continuous education – Science and technology evolves so rapidly (need to keep up with it) Learn different software programs, especially those that are specific to your chosen major Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer

Conclusion Engineers are vital in the advancement of any technology Will meet interesting people along the way Will do interesting and rewarding projects throughout your career Be an engineer…Don’t give up along the way Life of a student engineerLife of an engineer