This was my first work term as an Electrical Engineering student from the University of Waterloo. This work term has exceeded my expectations in terms of what I have learned and experienced. My favourite part was building the sumo robot since it was a great experience to build a working robot from the ground up. Besides robot sumo, all of the other projects I was involved in, including the Autonomous Rover Team, teaching other members and working on a project for the Nuit Blanche art show, gave me valuable technical and teamwork skills that will be very helpful in school projects and future work terms. I also enjoyed the amount of independence given me while working here and the flexible working hours since that also helped me develop strong time management skills. Overall this has been a very enjoyable work term and I wish the best of luck to the club and to any future University of Waterloo co-op students.

I had a wonderful work term at UTRA. My supervisors were very skilled and knowledgeable people who put a lot of time and work into showing me how to design and build robots. Thanks to their guidance, I became a core member of the mechanical team and even trained students older than myself! I was given plenty of technical work, but also had the opportunity to manage the team and develop my leadership skills.

I got to meet many people who were eager to learn about robotics, and taught them some of the skills I picked up. There were also many skilled people from whom I was able to learn a great amount; a typical mechanical engineer doesn’t get to program microcontrollers very often!

The rare and exciting things I had the opportunity to do include: building a mini-sumo robot; building the ART chassis and flying to Vancouver for Robot Racing; making a robot for a new TV show; and even helping out with an exhibit for the Nuit Blanche art festival! I’m now going back to Waterloo and (hopefully) starting my own robotics team for the same Robot Racing competition that we entered this summer.

"My work term at UTRA was highly enjoyable. I got to work with lots of talented people and gained lots of hands on experience. I learnt lots of things that I normally would not have during class lectures but are essential traits to becoming a successful engineer. Even though the learning curve was slightly steep, it actually helped me learn on my own and develop solid problem solving and critical analysis skills. The work hours are also flexible and the highly capable team members are always willing to help."