Yuki Ando, Class of 2021
Internship at Ontario Power Generation (OPG)
“All of the professors that I talked to were so refined and passionate about what they are doing, which made me think that I would be happy to be in materials science and engineering, and YES, I am very happy to be in materials science and engineering!”
What is your level and specialization (if applicable) in the materials engineering program?
I finished my 3rd year of materials science and engineering program.
What drew you to materials engineering? McMaster specifically?
At first, I wanted to take chemical engineering as my specialization, until I started to realize how interesting and important materials science and engineering is in our society as I was taking MATLS 1M03.
“To understand everything that we see in this world, we have to understand materials science and engineering because everything is made of materials.”
This quote at the information session drew me to materials science and engineering. I also really liked the professors in the department because all of the professors that I talked to were so refined and passionate about what they were doing, which made me think that I would be happy to be in materials science and engineering, and YES, I am very happy to be in materials science and engineering!
I choose McMaster because of the general first-year engineering program. I am very happy with my decision because it gave me a good amount of time to see what I like.
Why were you interested in pursuing a co-op/internship position?
I was interested in pursuing an internship position because I wanted to see what engineers do in the work environment. Doing an internship is a great opportunity because you can explore the “real world” environment as a student.
What company are you working for? What is your job title?
Ontario Power Generation (OPG), professional engineering year internship-university student in the Metallurgy and Welding section
How did you find your internship? (OscarPlus, networking, Indeed, etc)
OscarPlus.
What does a typical day look like for you?
My day consists of different tasks that my colleagues give me. I am in charge of monitoring welding issues and problems reported in our system to improve the welding performance and reduce the number of weld failures. I also explore some science articles to provide some metallurgical advice to my colleagues when there are materials engineering related issues at the plant. This gives me a chance to refine my materials knowledge. My current project involves data science and application development, so I spend some time to learn VBA and other programming languages.
How has materials engineering prepared you for this position? What concepts have you learned in school that apply to your job?
In my case, any metallurgical knowledge that I gained through my university career at materials science and engineering has prepared me for my position. For example, I have applied the knowledge from MATLS 4D03 (Corrosion and its Control) through working here. Understanding
the corrosion process and its prevention is one of the most important concepts because corrosion issues can be observed everywhere. Also, the knowledge from MATLS 3T04 has been important because understanding the concept of phase transformation becomes crucial when working on the project involving the welding heat treatment process.
What skills have you learned that you will be able to apply to the rest of your engineering studies? In your next job?
I have obtained some interpretation skills through working here, which are transferable skills to any engineering opportunities that you can think of. I have learned that interpretation skills are as important as technical knowledge and skills. Also, I am realizing the importance of data science in materials science and engineering. Because technology is growing so fast these days, the collaboration between materials knowledge and data science cannot be ignored.
What advice would you give to other materials engineering students considering doing an internship?
I would like to emphasize the importance of school work in general. There is always something that you can get from assignments and projects that you are working on. Also, when you have a chance to get involved with new opportunities, don’t miss it! You will be able to obtain so many skills and experiences when you are getting involved. After having those experiences that you can get from school, now it is time to apply them in the work environment as an internship student. While doing an internship is considered as a part of your school program, it can be a positive step for your bright future and career.
