RyanHildebrandt.com Mechatronics Engineering, class of 2009 ryan@ryanhildebrandt.com
Why Hire Me? Portfolio Resume Work Experience Technical Skills Resources Calendar of Free Stampede Breakfasts	Work Experience Student Council President It wasn't a co-op job, but I think it's worth mentioning that I served as Student Council President for the summer of 2007 for Conrad Grebel University College (Waterloo, Ontario). There were around 60 students at the college for the summer (which is a residence for the University of Waterloo) with a student council of around 15 members. I had a lot of fun in this position, and did my best to keep people's minds off exams with as many social activities as we could manage. At the term end banquet, the Director of Student Services said this term had been the most active she'd seen in a long time, thanks to my energy and leadership. The basketball net, which was leaning over and had a torn net, is now straight, set in new concrete, with a new chain mesh. The pool table that had 2 broken pockets and leather in poor condition has brand new leather and fully functioning pockets (this in addition to the insane number of activities we had). What I Learned: Don't be afraid to do it yourself I organized the labour to revamp the basketball net, as a result, the administration paid for the concrete so Student Council didn't have to pay a cent to get the post reset. Just do it You can get a whole lot done if you just go right ahead and start. That pool table would still be broken if I hadn't made the trip to the machine shop on campus after my last exam...less then a day before my flight back home. Technical Engineering My work term at Procter & Gamble taught me a lot about manufacturing, the insane speed that the processes run at, and all the challenges that come with it. It was really valuable experience to be able to work closely with my customers (line staff) and the engineering department. What I Learned: Time is always moneyAt least in manufacturing it is. Be humble, even if you do know the answerIn between learning stuff you already knew from other people, you might learn something you didn't know already. Learning the hard way is...hard"I wish I knew that 4 months ago" was a common thought. Sometimes though, you have to learn things the hard way. Reservoir Engineering My work term at Nexen in Calgary gave me some great exposure to the oil and gas industry, which is very prominent in Alberta. I was able to apply some of my computer skills to help with research, and I learned a lot about reservoir engineering, geology, and oil and gas in general. Although I enjoyed the term, I realized that reservoir engineering isn't for me. What I Learned: Time isn't always moneysometimes, if you slow down and put in 120% instead of 110%, it pays dividends in the long run. Use the delete keyAn email is temporary. Make it a task and actually get something done. Reservoir Engineering isn't for meBuilding stuff is cooler. Programming Working at MDS Sciex in Toronto during the winter of 2005 gave me the opportunity to build an MS Access database to help out the QA department with their testing. It was interesting to learn a new software package, and I can definitely see uses for databases in many facets of business. Building this website has also allowed me to learn a little PHP/MySQL integration. What I Learned: Effective communication is keyMost Chemistry PhDs don't know a lot about programming, but you still have to get your point across. A task will always take 30% longer then you think it willPlan accordingly. Plan your design before you implement itDoing things over again takes much longer anyway. Quality Assurance In the fall of 2005 I did QA for a software company in Waterloo, Open Text. Direct involvement with the quality of a product is an interesting job to have. You have to be extremely picky, and mention every possible improvement to the development staff. What I Learned: If it doesn't seem right, it probably isn'tYour gut is usually right. Keep track of your tasksYour memory isn't good enough though. Think of all the possible problems, then some moreThe first time you do, you're probably missing some. Fast Food Management For the two years leading up to university I was an assistant manager at Burger King. That might not sound too exciting, but when you have to run a restaurant over a Friday dinner rush, with 10 high school aged employees, and still keep track of the $4000+ dollars in the restaurant it gets to be a little hectic. That kind of work is quite different from working in an office environment. In fast food your projects are extremely short term. The key to success is to make sure everyone knows what you expect of them, so when you get on shift everyone automatically switches into high gear. What I Learned: People can be outstanding if you find a way to motivate themSometimes all it takes is encouragement. You never know when you won't have time to do somethingPrepare for the worst. The customer is not always rightBut don't let them know that.

RyanHildebrandt.com

Mechatronics Engineering, class of 2009

Work Experience

Student Council President

It wasn't a co-op job, but I think it's worth mentioning that I served as Student Council President for the summer of 2007 for Conrad Grebel University College (Waterloo, Ontario). There were around 60 students at the college for the summer (which is a residence for the University of Waterloo) with a student council of around 15 members. I had a lot of fun in this position, and did my best to keep people's minds off exams with as many social activities as we could manage. At the term end banquet, the Director of Student Services said this term had been the most active she'd seen in a long time, thanks to my energy and leadership. The basketball net, which was leaning over and had a torn net, is now straight, set in new concrete, with a new chain mesh. The pool table that had 2 broken pockets and leather in poor condition has brand new leather and fully functioning pockets (this in addition to the insane number of activities we had).

What I Learned:

Don't be afraid to do it yourself I organized the labour to revamp the basketball net, as a result, the administration paid for the concrete so Student Council didn't have to pay a cent to get the post reset.
Just do it You can get a whole lot done if you just go right ahead and start. That pool table would still be broken if I hadn't made the trip to the machine shop on campus after my last exam...less then a day before my flight back home.

Technical Engineering

My work term at Procter & Gamble taught me a lot about manufacturing, the insane speed that the processes run at, and all the challenges that come with it. It was really valuable experience to be able to work closely with my customers (line staff) and the engineering department.

What I Learned:

Time is always moneyAt least in manufacturing it is.
Be humble, even if you do know the answerIn between learning stuff you already knew from other people, you might learn something you didn't know already.
Learning the hard way is...hard"I wish I knew that 4 months ago" was a common thought. Sometimes though, you have to learn things the hard way.

Reservoir Engineering

My work term at Nexen in Calgary gave me some great exposure to the oil and gas industry, which is very prominent in Alberta. I was able to apply some of my computer skills to help with research, and I learned a lot about reservoir engineering, geology, and oil and gas in general. Although I enjoyed the term, I realized that reservoir engineering isn't for me.

What I Learned:

Time isn't always moneysometimes, if you slow down and put in 120% instead of 110%, it pays dividends in the long run.
Use the delete keyAn email is temporary. Make it a task and actually get something done.
Reservoir Engineering isn't for meBuilding stuff is cooler.

Programming

Working at MDS Sciex in Toronto during the winter of 2005 gave me the opportunity to build an MS Access database to help out the QA department with their testing. It was interesting to learn a new software package, and I can definitely see uses for databases in many facets of business. Building this website has also allowed me to learn a little PHP/MySQL integration.

What I Learned:

Effective communication is keyMost Chemistry PhDs don't know a lot about programming, but you still have to get your point across.
A task will always take 30% longer then you think it willPlan accordingly.
Plan your design before you implement itDoing things over again takes much longer anyway.

Quality Assurance

In the fall of 2005 I did QA for a software company in Waterloo, Open Text. Direct involvement with the quality of a product is an interesting job to have. You have to be extremely picky, and mention every possible improvement to the development staff.

What I Learned:

If it doesn't seem right, it probably isn'tYour gut is usually right.
Keep track of your tasksYour memory isn't good enough though.
Think of all the possible problems, then some moreThe first time you do, you're probably missing some.

Fast Food Management

For the two years leading up to university I was an assistant manager at Burger King. That might not sound too exciting, but when you have to run a restaurant over a Friday dinner rush, with 10 high school aged employees, and still keep track of the $4000+ dollars in the restaurant it gets to be a little hectic. That kind of work is quite different from working in an office environment. In fast food your projects are extremely short term. The key to success is to make sure everyone knows what you expect of them, so when you get on shift everyone automatically switches into high gear.

What I Learned:

People can be outstanding if you find a way to motivate themSometimes all it takes is encouragement.
You never know when you won't have time to do somethingPrepare for the worst.
The customer is not always rightBut don't let them know that.