Meet Four New Grads Launching International Careers

At U of T Engineering’s spring convocation on June 19, we welcomed 1,500 new graduates to the Skule Alumni community. Meet members of the class of 1T3 who will apply their engineering skills and training in Australia, Belgium, China and the U.S.

Yi-Wei AngYi-Wei Ang (IndE 1T3)

Yi-Wei is headed to Microsoft’s headquarters near Seattle, Washington, where he will manage the planning and design of software products and features.

While at Skule he made his mark in student government, serving as academic vice-president of the U of T Engineering Society, director of U of T Engineering Kompetition (UTEK) club and president of the You’re Next Career Network, which hosts career fairs and offers career development programs. In addition to his U of T Engineering education, he says extracurricular activities like these gave him the leadership and project management skills Microsoft was looking for.

In preparation for launching his career, Yi-Wei reached out to alumni for guidance. Speaking with alumni involved in software development and consulting played a major role in his employment decisions.  He plans to return the favor by staying involved with Skule as an advisor for the You’re Next Career Network. He also hopes to help the Engineering Alumni Association build its Skule Alumni community in the Seattle area.

Ray ChenRay Chen (ECE 1T3)

Ray Chen is off to China, where he has accepted a consulting position at McKinsey & Company in Shanghai. As part of McKinsey’s business technology practice, he will help clients make the most of information technology in a broad variety of industry sectors. He says he’s excited to start working on challenging projects in the fastest-growing market in the world. He also hopes to get involved in U of T Engineering’s growing alumni community in Asia.

As an electrical and computer engineering student at U of T, Ray focused on communications and software engineering and earned an entrepreneurship certificate. He also studied economics and political science at Sciences Po in Paris as part of a yearlong international exchange. He was awarded several scholarships for his extracurricular involvement, which included volunteering in Africa for one summer, serving as vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students and serving as president of Astronomy & Space Exploration Society.

“U of T engineering provided the possibility for me to access all the opportunities,” says Ray. “The elective courses in entrepreneurship and leadership really helped me develop my soft skills, which I consider very critical to success. The exchange program broadened my horizons, and events on campus provided opportunities to directly talk with and learn from leaders in all kinds of fields.”

Fiona SingarayarFiona Singarayar (EngSci 1T0, UTIAS MASc 1T3)

Upon earning her Master’s degree in aerospace studies this year, Fiona Singarayar was offered a position as a systems engineer at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Brussels, Belgium. She is already hard at work on the QB50 project, which investigates the lower atmosphere and demonstrates the use of in-orbit technologies using a network of small “CubeSats,” which are miniaturized satellites for space research with a volume of just one or two liters. Fiona works closely with universities and institutes around the world who are building CubeSats for this project to ensure system requirements are met. She also helps to test the designs.

“I really enjoyed my Master’s degree work on a CubeSat project, as it was interesting to see the design evolution take shape from just being a concept to a reality,” says Fiona. “U of T Engineering provided me with practical experience in working on a real satellite project. The CubeSat field is fairly new, so I’m excited how it will advance science and technology.”

Ryan VeenstraRyan Veenstra (CivE PhD 1T3)

After earning his doctorate in civil engineering this spring, Ryan Veenstra crossed the globe to start a new position at AMC Consultants in Melbourne, Australia as a backfill engineer.

He credits his professors and the industry professionals he met during graduate school with helping him define his path. He says it’s been an adventure moving to a new country to continue his career.

While a graduate student, Ryan taught several courses and was a member of the Varsity Blues Nordic Ski Team and Mountain Biking Team.