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How to get ahead in engineering

Two graduating engineering students contemplate academia and their bright career prospects
June 4, 2013
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By Laurence Miall


Katrina Patterson and Mathieu Bouchard | Photo by Concordia University

Like all members of the Class of 2013, Katrina Patterson and Mathieu Bouchard graduate into a highly competitive job market. Yet the two Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science valedictorians have surmounted one of the early career obstacles: scoring that first professional experience.

Patterson, with a specialization in building engineering — the only program of its kind in Canada — has wrapped up a year of work with Revay and Associates Ltd., a top consulting firm in the construction industry, and is now about to start a master’s degree program at McGill University.

Bouchard has applied his electrical engineering training to a full-time job with Montreal aerospace and transportation giant Bombardier.

“The learning environment is very collaborative,” says Patterson of her four years in engineering and computer science. “Students are very willing to help each other out.”

Patterson began her postsecondary education in the Faculty of Fine Arts but then moved on to study architecture at McGill before finally finding her passion for engineering back at Concordia. She has immersed herself in the university experience, working as a marker of exams and assignments for two courses, but never neglects the extra-curricular side of life.

Her chief hobbies are woodworking, graphic design and photography, as well as —perhaps surprisingly — ballet. “I have been dancing since I was four,” she says. “Even with all the math and science in my blood, I still love the magic that happens when I lace up my pointe shoes and dance a sold-out show.”

As she embarks on further studies, Patterson already has a great combination of building and civil engineering know-how. She has acquired the skills it takes to help build innovative infrastructure that marries function and design. She has already racked up an impressive list of kudos on her resumé, having been on the Dean’s List for all four years of her degrees and winning the Magil Construction Ltd. Scholarship twice, as well as scholarships from Hydro-Québec and the Ministère des transports du Québec.

While Bouchard was completing his degree, he was involved in several large-scale academic projects. Those included the faculty’s famous sumo-fighting robot competition, which challenges students to design and build a robot tough enough to shove an inferior robot out of the ring.

When not engaged in robot combat, Bouchard prides himself on the more human side of engineering — the highly sought-after interpersonal skills that are an asset in any team environment. “At Concordia, you learn to deal with all sorts of people,” he says.

Bouchard ensured his Concordia experience was not exclusively about labs and lectures. He took part in extemporaneous debates at the Quebec Engineering Competition; was a chief financial officer for the Concordia Engineering Games and Quebec Engineering Competition, helping manage a budget of $200,000; and was a coach for the games in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He will coach again in 2014.

In his current position at Bombardier, Bouchard is part of a team working on the design of a control and management system for the San Francisco subway. He has not travelled to the Bay Area, but because Bombardier has offices all over the world, he anticipates many eventual opportunities to be part of the jet-set. He would particularly like to see Berlin.

Like many engineers, Bouchard also has long-term aspirations for a career in business, and is considering pursuing an MBA one day. For now, though, he couldn’t be happier than to be with Bombardier.

Relaxed and confident mere days before delivering their Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science convocation valedictory speeches, the two are also contemplating upcoming summer plans. Bouchard is still deciding how to use his eight days of holiday time, while Patterson is planning a trip to Lebanon for a wedding.

Related link:
•    Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science



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