"There is no secret; go to class, take notes, study hard, and don’t forget to enjoy it!"
Lauren Puumala
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Applied Science
- Grad year: 2021
- Program:
- Campus: Vancouver
In 2017 I moved to Vancouver from Thunder Bay, Ontario to begin my B.A.Sc. in Engineering at UBC. After completing first year, I knew that I wanted to pursue a multidisciplinary degree with a considerable design project component. As such, I decided to pursue Integrated Engineering (IGEN) with a focus in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.
Exploring my interest in research was also a very important part of my undergrad.
This interest was first sparked in high school when I worked on focused ultrasound research in a multidisciplinary lab at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute. Since then, I have spent three summers working as a Research Assistant at Lakehead University’s Biorefining Research Institute under the supervision of Dr. Pedram Fatehi, where I conducted lignin-related Chemical Engineering research.
I am currently a Research Assistant in UBC’s Human Motion Biomechanics Laboratory, working under the supervision of Dr. Calvin Kuo on a project investigating ankle injury using MRI. Additionally, this past year, I completed a two-term research-based Mechanical Engineering course under the supervision of Dr. Lyndia Wu in which I worked on a project investigating mild traumatic brain injury using electroencephalography.
These experiences furthered my interest in research, taught me valuable technical and communication skills, and have contributed to my decision to pursue graduate studies in the School of Biomedical Engineering at UBC starting this fall.
Aside from academics, I am an avid baker and enjoy spending time outdoors doing activities like hiking, running, and rock climbing!
UBC’s Human Motion Biomechanics Laboratory
What has made your time at UBC memorable?
When I think about my undergrad, the three full-year IGEN design project courses really stand out to me.
During these courses, I gained practical experience designing, building, and presenting functional products from start to finish. Perhaps more importantly though, I was fortunate enough to work on these projects with some amazing groups of fellow IGEN students with whom I have become great friends.
This past year, my IGEN project group designed and built a modular railway inspection device that uses machine vision to identify, classify, and locate rail surface defects. If left unnoticed, such defects could lead to costly rail accidents such as derailments. During this project, I learned so much from my teammates, all of whom have unique interests and expertise in software, electrical, materials, and mechanical design. Our multidisciplinary group dynamic helped us to come up with innovative solutions to problems that arose throughout the design process and ultimately allowed us to produce a functional device that we were very proud of.
During this year of online school, I also found it so valuable to have a group of classmates (and friends) to meet and work with every week, albeit over Zoom. Moreover, some of my favourite memories from this school year were undoubtedly made while conducting socially distanced group field trips to unused railways around Vancouver to conduct on-site device testing!
What advice would you give a student entering your degree program?
An undergraduate degree in any engineering discipline is bound to be challenging.
When I began first year, I didn’t anticipate how much more demanding and technically challenging it would be compared to high school. Nearly failing one or two calculus quizzes at the beginning of first year really came as a shock, and I definitely let it affect my confidence. It took a while, but I eventually found my stride and started achieving grades that I was really proud of.
I learned that it is so important to not let little hiccups like a bad quiz or exam grade get me down. I had to learn that one or two bad grades did not mean that I was doomed to do poorly in a course; assessing where I went wrong on that quiz or exam and adjusting my study strategies accordingly always allowed me to perform better in subsequent assessments. Further, this is a common experience shared by almost every engineering student I know. I think it is so important for incoming students to understand this and to know that persevering, maintaining a positive outlook, and staying motivated through these academic hurdles is key to success.
On a lighter note, try to find joy in your studies!
Though there will be times when you are swamped with homework and don’t have much free time, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy those times too. Study with friends, enjoy small successes like completing a laborious calculation correctly or bigger successes like receiving an excellent grade on a tough exam, and know that sometimes, taking a little break is actually the best thing that you can do for your productivity!
