Microfluidics Engineer | Helen
Helen interned as a microfluidics engineer at Precision Nanosystems, a company developing technologies, solutions, and services for non-viral delivery of genetic medicines, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Keep reading to learn more about how she got there, her job and adventures in Vancouver, what her plan is after graduation, and what’s the biggest lessons she’s learned!
How did you get to where you are today?
I decided to study nanotechnology engineering (NE) because I loved chemistry and math in high school and wanted to broadly apply concepts from those fields into clean technology. So far, it’s been a great fit for me, though along the way I’ve also learned that I love hands-on research and mechanical design.
In my first co-op, I worked at the University of Waterloo doing research in the Department of Chemistry. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to participate in lots of in-person research preceding this co-op, and it helped a lot in the lab! In my second co-op, I worked at the Nanotechnology Research Centre in Edmonton doing battery research. In both of these co-ops, I used SOLIDWORKS to design for various applications, which was very useful in my third co-op as a microfluidics engineering co-op at Precision Nanosystems, where I engineered microfluidic devices and systems for making genetic medicines.
Over my school terms, I have done a lot of volunteering for the Engineering Society, Orientation, and class repping. I also volunteer in a lab on campus.
I’ve had many responsibilities and been very involved throughout my academic career, but these aren’t what got me to where I am today. I think that really the way I got here is by being curious about the world and passionate about what I’m working on, in addition to constantly taking the time to reflect about what I’m doing and why. Reflection has allowed me to step back and assess if I’m on the right path — for me, this occurs primarily through writing. Being involved never hurts though, and gaining more experience in a wide range of areas from student leadership to music on campus to research is fun!
What are the main responsibilities of your job? What project(s) have you taken on?
I had the opportunity to try a bunch of different projects at Precision Nanosystems! My first term in Fall 2021, I was primarily learning, reading, and performing experiments in the lab. We were running two animal studies that term to test the behaviour of various microfluidic devices, so I did preparatory work for those and also helped analyze the mouse blood for the study.
In my second term in Winter 2022, most of my time was occupied building a new syringe pump for the lab. This was a super rewarding project — it was mainly instrumentation focused, and I had the opportunity to do CAD, software, and wiring for it. I had never made anything that big before, and it ended up working well for what we needed to do in the lab.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
My co-op was difficult, emotionally and intellectually. I moved across the country to a city where I didn’t know many people and I did a project I had no background in, but successfully completed it. Overall, I felt like I had left the company better than I found it, and also left better personally than when I started. I grew a lot in my technical understanding and ability to focus and operate in a workplace environment.
The biggest lesson I learned was that I didn’t actually want to work in the nanomedicine space long term, mostly because it doesn’t align with my personal passions. However, I really enjoyed the opportunity I had to work on microscale devices and also instrumentation. Mostly, I learned what I wanted to do next: make mechanical devices that incorporate chemistry to tackle sustainability challenges.
What NE courses had an impact on your career goals? What NE courses, if any, are helpful in your job?
The SOLIDWORKS portion of NE 100 (Introduction to Nanotechnology Engineering) has been by far the most useful to me in my co-ops. I came into university with no CAD experience, but have used SOLIDWORKS on every co-op since to build some pretty cool things. I’ve had to supplement topics learned in NE 100 with a bunch of SOLIDWORKS YouTube videos and learning on the job, but it was a great starting point.
What are you planning on pursuing after graduation? Do you need a postgraduate degree for your job?
I’m not planning on continuing in the biotechnology space, at least not in the smaller field of nanomedicine. I found my first and second co-ops, which were in electrochemistry/nanomaterials and batteries respectively, to be more aligned with my personal goals and how I wanted to contribute to the world. Specifically, I want to work in clean energy, and really like the more mechanical and chemistry side of nano. This is why I ended up doing more design and instrumentation in the latter half of my co-op, and I was fortunate to have a manager who was accommodating to my interests.
After graduation, I’m hoping to go to grad school, but mostly because I like research and not because it’s necessarily needed for any position. I am invigorated by an academic environment and have really loved the research positions I’ve worked in so far.
A postgraduate degree isn’t necessary to do the engineering portion of my work at Precision Nanosystems, but it definitely helps if you want to be on the lab side. They’re working on cutting edge science, and a postgraduate degree gives you both an edge and a broader understanding of the field you’re working in.
Any tips for getting a similar position to yours or entering a similar field to yours?
Do what you love, try things, meet people. Don’t be afraid to decide you don’t like something, and go into something else instead.
For research specifically, I would recommend getting into it early. What helped me get co-ops was volunteering in a research lab on campus; I would highly recommend doing this, but only if you’re committed to learning and contributing over the term (I’d say I spend 6–10 hours in a typical week participating in undergraduate research). In first year I definitely learned more from volunteering in a lab than my classes — not sure if that’s still true, but it’s definitely more interesting to sit in class when you’re also applying the content you learn outside of it! There are scholarships and opportunities for funding to do this in second year and above.
Final thoughts?
Vancouver is a cool place to do co-op because there’s lots of hiking and places to go on adventures. I went to a different place almost every weekend! Here are some adventures I went on:
