Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do?
I currently work at Deloitte and the technology strategy consulting practice. My day-to-day mostly includes my standup meetings to figure out what it is the client is going to need, and we go through project plans to determine what a client’s new ERP system should look like. For example, should they be completely replaced, should only certain functions be replaced? We build plans with a client and [work on] a big picture strategy to determine how the business and technology can align with each other and support each other moving forward.
Thinking back to your time at Ryerson, what was that experience like for you?
Oh, Ryerson was a lot of fun! It was pretty amazing because there’s so much diversity in the community and in the school, not just within the programs. My favourite part about Ryerson was––especially my program––the amount of hands-on experience that is available for you and experiential learning opportunities. They force you to get out of the classroom and visit companies to do your projects at.
What are some of your fondest memories from your time and engineering program?
This was the moment I knew that I wanted to become an engineer, and I really knew this program was meant for me. It was the MEC 325 course, Introduction to Design. And that was the course where it really forced you out of the box to not just memorize or calculate equations, but [made me] truly think what does the user need at the end of the day, and [how can I build] those requirements out? At the end of the day, it made me wake up and say, “Okay, I want to be an engineer. This is meant for me, and this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
Were there any student groups or activities that you were involved in?
I started the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Club at Ryerson! That was a really big passion for me because I have a huge interest in both quality improvement and continuous improvement organizations, but also for healthcare. So I got to align those two interests of mine and find other people in the Ryerson community with that same interest.
Have any of your aforementioned experiences helped you with the work that you do in your job today?
Definitely, every student group that I’ve been a part of. Because when you’re in student groups or working in group activities, even with a project for one of your classes––you’re going to have a lot of conflicts, you’re going to be butting heads, and sometimes people are not doing their work, and sometimes people are doing your part of the project. I think all those conflicts really help you in the real world because you’re going to be working with individuals every day. Right now [in] my job, I work with these two amazing consultants, and they [ask] every single day for feedback. I’ve butted heads in the past and in school, so I know how to take that constructive criticism properly and also how to deliver criticism properly as well.
How do you think Ryerson Engineering has set you up for success?
People are passionate about helping each other at Ryerson, you can walk around and ask a random person on the street for anything, and they will help you to the best of their ability, and they won’t ask for anything return––they won’t even ask for your name. And they’ll just keep going about their day; that’s something that is unique to the Ryerson community. I think that when you apply that within yourself, and you’re down to help anyone, you become the best kind of person people will want to work with. Because that’s the kind of thing others want to see in their everyday life. People always want to give and support others. So I think that mentality, that personality is so contagious at Ryerson of giving and helping others. It’s what sets you up for success the most.
**As of April 2022, Ryerson University has been renamed Toronto Metropolitan University**