From UBC Engineering to the Royal Canadian Air Force

Tell us about your first posting 

After joining the military, I completed basic training, which involves physical fitness, weapons training and leadership development, before starting core training for my occupation as an Aerospace Engineering Officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force. My first posting was at Comox on Vancouver Island, where I was part of the 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron. 

The squadron flies the CP-140 Aurora with its key roles being maritime patrol, submarine hunting and overland surveillance.  

I started out as an Aircraft Production Support Officer, managing teams that support maintenance on the aircraft including a variety of shops such as an engine bay that overhauls aircraft engines, an air weapons training cell who instructs the technicians loading weapons onto the aircraft, and an engineering support section that deals with the auditing of maintenance records and more difficult to solve technical problems. These aircraft have over 40 years in service, so there are many interesting challenges to overcome in order to keep them flying safely.  

I then moved downstairs to the hangar floor as the Aircraft Maintenance Officer, working with a team of all the technicians that maintain the aircraft directly. This involved leading over 120 people conducting maintenance 18 hours a day, seven days a week to enable the planes to fly missions out of Comox, as well as operations out of deployed locations. 

It was a fantastic experience to be involved in day-to-day interactions with incredibly knowledgeable technicians and the broader team, including aircrew and many other supporting occupations that make everything happen. 

The Aurora deploys globally to places like Japan, Italy, France, Norway and Iceland, which makes it a very rewarding fleet to work on.  

Royal Canadian Air Force

What led you to engineering? 

My father was a Logistics Officer and I had an uncle and grandfather who were pilots in the Canadian Armed Forces. It was always my dream to work in aviation or aeronautics like them, and I knew engineering was a path to work in that area. 

I chose UBC for its reputation and location – once I visited the campus, I was hooked! 

As for materials engineering, although this program was not my first choice on enrollment, I was completely sold after taking the introductory Engineering Materials course. Materials engineering has opened up lots of opportunities and I was able to set myself up to work in aerospace engineering through electives in third and fourth year by taking courses in composites, manufacturing, and metallurgy. After I graduated, I worked for 18 months as a quality engineering specialist for STELIA Aerospace in Nova Scotia while I was applying to join the Canadian Armed Forces. I worked on an incredible array of production programs at STELIA and made direct use of my composites engineering courses.

STELIA Aerospace 

Any advice for students considering engineering? 

Follow your passion! It can be easy to make practical decisions in the short term which look like they'll pay out, but you have to be in it for the long game. Pursue opportunities – be part of engineering student teams, co-op programs, sports teams, extracurriculars. 

Basically, dabble in lots of things to find out what you like!

And be persistent, even in areas that might not seem like your thing at first because you will learn a lot about yourself and what you actually want to do.