Introductions

Alright, so to start off (and as an intro for future blog readers), I guess we could each start with a quick overview of our last few years in school, anything interesting we've been involved in and our plans for at least the immediate future (or a discussion about the alternatives we're considering). So, here goes (please feel free to write something else if you don't feel like intro-ing yourself):

I'm Andrew (some call me Drew, or Dr. U if you're really old school). The last 5 years have definitely been the highlight of my life. Got the chance to know some fantastic people, live and work in some cool places and develop some new interests.

A play a little saxophone (tenor), guitar and sing (blues). I've played basketball and soccer since I could walk, and recently got into scuba diving, rock climbing and dragon boating (while at UW).
I picked up the travel bug on my 3rd workterm when I went to Kaufbeuren (read: tiny Bavarian farm town), Germany. I went on weekend trips to Poland, Austria, Switzerland, France and Czech and then hit the further away spots after I finished work. In 3rd year, I went on exchange to Singapore, and managed to attend school between trips to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, China and India.

This summer, I'm planning on spending a few weeks volunteering with Global Vision International in South Africa, helping researchers with a predator tracking project. After that, I'm hoping to work as a Program Assistant at Shad Valley in July, head to the UK for a couple of weeks and then start my job at consulting firm McKinsey & Company in Toronto in September.

Here are some stats for record keeping:

Co-op terms
General Motors - Truck Plant Project Engineering Student (Winter & Fall 2004)
Sensor-Technik Wiedemann - Electronics Designer (Summer 2005)
Xerox Research - Materials Research Instrumentation Designer (Winter 2006)
PricewaterhouseCoopers - Corporate Finance/M&A Analyst (Fall 2006)
McKinsey& Company - Summer Business Analyst (Summer 2007)

Recommended Electives
KIN 100 (Human Anatomy: Limbs and Trunk - cadaver labs are super cool and useful
KIN 255 (Intro to Psychomotor Behaviour) - very interesting, very easy
KIN 301 (Neuroanatomy) - very interesting labs, but one of the hardest courses I've taken
KIN 341 (Injuries in Work and Sport) - cool course if you've ever been hurt playing sports
PHIL 226 (Ethics and the Life Sciences) - awesome course taught by Brian Orend
ECON 101/102 (Intro to Micro and Macroeconomics) - gotta do them with Larry Smith
HE 303, exchange (The Chinese Economy) - great course if you're headed to NTU in Singapore
MSCI 421 (Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation) - probably the most worthwhile MSCI course I've come accross
BUS 432W (Consumer Behaviour) - fantastic course with Shirley Lichti at Laurier
SYDE 556 (Simulating Neurobiological Systems) - great prof, cutting edge material, very hard assignments

Welcome

Hey everyone,

Welcome to our blog. This project was started as a project by the University of Waterloo Systems Design Engineering (SYDE) graduating class of 2008 and will hopefully serve at least 3 purposes:

1) A resource for prospective students interested in knowing what SYDE students do once they leave Waterloo.

2) A resource for current SYDE classes who want to know what opportunities await them

3) An avenue for our class to keep in touch, keep tabs on each other and hear about each others' adventures and careers as they develop

As a bit of background, we received our iron rings just over a week ago and just got back from reading week. Our class traveled to such exciting destinations as Cuba, Hawaii and even downtown Kitchener.


We are now in the home stretch of our degree, finishing up our 4th year design projects and planning our lives after graduation (applying to jobs, grad schools or planning travels). This is an exciting time for all of us and we'll keep you up to date on how it turns out.