'Extra opportunities' in co-op cookie job

from an article by Andrea Banerjee in the Inside Scoop newsletter for Waterloo co-op students

As Kartik Vaideswaran knows, sometimes it’s doing what you’re not asked that can really make you stand out. The 2B chemical engineering student learned that when you push yourself beyond what is expected — when you turn those first steps into a sprint — you make a lasting impression on your employer.

Vaideswaran (left) recently finished a work term with Kraft Canada as an engineering assistant at the Peek Freans East York bakery. Not only was he asked to return to the company for his next work term, he was also invited to present his recommendations at the Kraft corporate office in Toronto this May.

As a junior student, Vaideswaran, like many of his peers, faces the challenge of competing for jobs. His strategies are to network at every opportunity, and to make the most of those opportunities he is granted. “We are on co-op not just to do a job,” he says, ”but to network and to meet people; to get connected. That’s one of the main reasons why I chose Waterloo.” This serves him well as a co-op student, but Vaideswaran is also smart to think ahead. While it isn’t easy to build contacts at such a young age, it is a valuable skill. As he points out, “In the future I know exactly who to call for whatever I need.”

This winter at Kraft Canada, he worked to gather data about the company’s manufacturing process. Vaideswaran had a number of reasons for wanting the job, one of which he admits is sentimental: “I used to eat Peak Freans cookies as a kid, so being part of the production process for products that I really love was an exciting thing for me.” More importantly, the job would help him meet his professional objectives. “I was very excited to [act as] a process engineer, to learn about how to optimize and improve a process.”

Before his job even began however, he was thinking about what he could bring to it. He urges others to have specific work term goals. “Don’t just get in there and stick to the job description,” he advises. “Try and go above and beyond. Look for other project opportunities.”

Vaideswaran’s main task was to excavate and analyze data with the goal of improving the production process at the bakery. There were no shortcuts; he rolled up his sleeves and took a micro approach. “The number one thing that I make sure I do is spend the time on the production floor, deeply involved in the process,” he explains. “That means talking to mechanics, talking to machine operators, talking to everybody involved in the process to see what is and is not working.” His detail-oriented work ethic gave him confidence in his results. He says the data-excavating process is key in establishing credibility. To achieve true conviction in your ideas and reports, “you can always go back to the numbers.”

From the start, he says, he fit well into the “rhythm” of his work environment, surrounded by a supportive team and entrusted with a significant project role by his encouraging boss. “The most important thing was that they listened to me. When I had a suggestion or an idea they would hear it out and we would work together to solve the problem or improve the situation.”

Vaideswaran’s project gained momentum quickly, culminating in major success at the end of his term. Thanks in part to his contributions, the East York bakery was the first Kraft facility in Canada to have a production line certified above three sigma — a universal manufacturing standard level. It was a proud moment for Vaideswaran and his team, and he is eager to return to the bakery next work term to see the fruits of his labour playing out on the floor, in newly implemented lean processes.

Kraft arranged for Vaideswaran’s transportation back to Toronto during his first week back on campus, so that he could present his observations to the executive team. He recalls how honoured he was to meet the head of engineering for the Canadian Business Unit: “It was such an appropriate culmination of all the work that we had done.”

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They call it the Tour de AHS: Staff, faculty, and students from Applied Health Sciences donned their gear last Thursday for a 7-kilometre lunchtime bike ride led by dean Susan Elliott and computing specialist Craig McDonald, and hosted by the faculty’s “Active Healthy Social Club”. McDonald is seen briefing riders as the event was about to start.

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Profs on six months' sabbatical leave

Here’s another list of Waterloo faculty members who are currently on sabbatical leave. The plans quoted are taken from documents submitted to the university’s board of governors, which has to approve all sabbaticals. All these leaves are for six months that began July 1, 2011.

Garry Rempel, chemical engineering: “Further development and exploitation of research carried out under NSERC Industrial Research Chair during the period of January 2007-June 2011. Completion of final reports for IRC. Collaborative research with universities in Southeast Asia and China resulting from already established research undertaking including the co-supervision of graduate students. Invited lectures. Sustained intense research being carried out at the University of Waterloo.”

Marek Stastna, applied mathematics: “I will continue my research on the numerical simulation of lake dynamics with a focus on internal waves. The model developed by my recently graduated PhD student Christopher Subich will be used to look at the turbulent breakdown of internal waves, while work developed with my PhD student Derek Steinmoller will look at lake dynamics in boreal lakes with complex coastlines. I will visit M. Wells at the University of Toronto and M. Carr at St. Andrew’s, UK, to collaborate on laboratory work.”

John Burbidge, economics: “Every social science needs some model of human behaviour. Economic models begin by describing the constraints that restrict what the person can do and then, given these restrictions, the model determines what choice the person makes. Fifty years research in economics on how people behave over the life cycle have focused primarily on financial constraints and have paid too little attention to time constraints. Statistics Canada has good data on how time is used by Canadian households. I intend to use these data to resolve some puzzles left unexplained by current research.”

Monica Emelko, civil and environmental engineering: “In conjunction with colleagues from USGS, I will focus on developing new conceptual and quantitative approaches for describing pathogen transport in natural and engineered porous media systems with an ultimate goal of supporting the development of improved drinking water regulations.”

Jennifer Schulenberg, sociology and legal studies: “I intend to work on three projects: final submission (12 chapters and appendices) to Oxford University Press for my research methods textbook; submit a SSHRC application building on findings from research on antisocial behaviour (UW/SSHRC); and collaborating with the Universität Heidelberg to conduct a comparative study on police decision-making with youth in Canada and Germany.”

Brian Dixon, biology: “This sabbatical will extend my collaboration on fish health with Dr. Sergio Marshall of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile. My fish immunology research and Dr. Marshall’s work on pathogens affecting the Chilean aquaculture industry complements very well. They will also try to develop a Canada:Chile fish immunology grad student exchange and a research Memorandum of Understanding.”

Laura Johnson, planning: “I plan to develop a book manuscript on the results of my SSHRC-funded, longitudinal, qualitative research on tenants’ experience of displacement, relocation, and resettlement in the redevelopment of their Regent Park public housing.”

CAR

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