Launch Your Career Plan is an initiative by the Office of Vice Dean, Graduate Studies in partnership with the Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education & Practice (ISTEP) to support MASc and PhD students and Postdocs to launch their career planning early in their studies. This event will guide you to critically reflect on career opportunities and equip you with strategies and tools to explore your unique career aspirations. You will leave this event with tailored resources to dive deeper into the specific career pathways that interest you.

At this event, you will:

• Learn about parallel planning for further graduate studies, academia, and industry careers
• Use labour market data and networking tools to discover diverse academic and industry opportunities
• Listen to a panel of alumni who have completed further graduate studies, are working in industry, or obtained a professorship
• Create a plan to explore your specific career aspirations

This event is open to all MASc, PhDs and PDFs. We welcome students who have a clear idea of their career trajectory as well as those who are exploring their next career move. It is highly recommended that all MASc, PhDs, and PDFs students attend this event near the beginning of their studies or postdoc journey.

The full day schedule is available for viewing.

Meet the Career Pathways Panelists

Concurrent Panel One

Professor Laura Minet (MIE PhD 2T0)  

Assistant Professor, University of Victoria

I lead the Clean Air (CLAIR) lab at the University of Victoria. The group's research is motivated by the need to improve urban air quality and minimize population exposure to air pollution to reduce the burden of air pollution on our health. We use empirical and physical models to analyze changes in air quality over time, understand the influence of urban features on air quality, and evaluate the impact of urban planning policies and changing meteorological conditions on population exposure and health.

Please visit the webpage of my lab for more information on my research, projects, publications and vacancies. If you are interested in joining my group, please get in touch by email (lauraminet@uvic.ca) with the subject "CLAIR lab opportunities".

Professor Sunila Akbar (ECE PDF 2T4) 

Assistant Professor – Teaching Stream, York University

Sunila has joined the Lassonde School of Engineering as a Sessional Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream) in July 2024. Earlier, she had been a Postdoctoral Fellow and an Instructor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto since October 2021. She completed her Ph.D. from King’s College London, UK, in 2018, under the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship. 

With about twenty years of experience in academia and industry, Sunila has acquired and applied diverse skills and knowledge in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her current research interests include machine learning driven optimization for cognitive radar resource management and statistical modeling, analysis, and design of spectral and energy efficient wireless networks. She has published multiple papers in reputed IEEE journals and conferences. She has been serving as an associate editor IEEE Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering since June 2022. She is a Senior Member of IEEE and a Fellow of Advance Higher Education, UK. 

Sunila is passionate about teaching. She believes in example-based learning, helping students relate theoretical concepts to real-world applications. She is committed to fostering inclusive learning, ensuring all students feel valued and supported. 

Dr. Jon Albert Obnamia (ChemE PhD 2T3) 

Senior Environmental Engineer, Transport Canada 

Jon’s PhD assessed the greenhouse gas emissions of alternative fuels for aviation to evaluate the potential of various fuel options for decarbonizing aviation. As part of his PhD program, Jon completed an internship with Transport Canada and provided technical advice as international standards were being developed at the International Civil Aviation Organization, a specialized UN agency that works on globally harmonized standards for aviation. Presently, Jon is a Senior Environmental Engineer at Transport Canada’s International Aviation branch where he continues to provide technical advice to inform policy and regulatory development of environmental and sustainability standards for aviation.

Dr. Saja Al-Dujaili (BME PhD 1T2) 

Senior Manager, Global Scientific Affairs and Science Communication, Electrophysiology, Boston Scientific 

Bio & photo forthcoming

Moderated by

Professor Lisa Romkey

Associate Professor, Teaching Stream and Associate Director, Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education & Practice (ISTEP)

Lisa Romkey serves as Associate Professor, Teaching and Associate Director of the Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education and Practice at the University of Toronto.  In her position, Lisa teaches courses for undergraduate and graduate students in engineering & society and engineering education. Her research focuses on engineering teaching and learning, with an emphasis on sociotechnical thinking and life-long learning.

Lisa also serves as Director of the Collaborative Specialization in Engineering Education, which offers an opportunity for research and study in engineering education through the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education or the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.

Through her career in higher education, Lisa has spearheaded various projects in K-12 outreach, curriculum development, student engagement and teaching support. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Guelph, and Masters and Doctoral Degrees in Education from the University of Toronto.

Concurrent Panel Two

Cuilian Fang (ChemE MASc 2T2) 

Physical Science, Researcher, Environment and Climate Change Canada 

I'm a nature loving applied scientist working in the Transformation, Innovation and Engineering Division of the Meteorological Service of Canada in Environment & Climate Change Canada. I've worked on assessing wind farm impacts on weather radar signals, testing new instrumentation for our national weather monitoring network, and more. I have a research based Masters, MASc, in air quality & atmospheric chemistry from Chemical Engineering at UofT with the Southern Ontario Centre for Atmospheric Aerosol Research. I focused on quantifying the health impacts and oxidative potential of non-tailpipe vehicle emissions. In my free time, I enjoy portaging, hiking, reading, and exploring new recipes. 

Professor Rafid Reza Mohammad (ECE PhD 2T0, MASc 1T8)

Assistant Professor, Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa

Rafid Mahmood is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa Telfer School of Management and a Senior Research Scientist at NVIDIA. He received his PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto. His research focuses on data-centric frameworks to operationalize ML models, targeting applications in healthcare, autonomous vehicles, and generative AI. He is a winner of the 2023 Pierskalla Best Paper Award for Healthcare Operations Research, and a Finalist for the 2023 MSOM Practice-Based Research Competition. He was also a speaker in the 2023 ICCV Tutorial on Learning with Noisy and Unlabeled Data for Large Models Beyond Categorization.  

Griffin Copp (BME MASc 2T4) 

Clinical Engineer, University Health Network 

Griffin Copp recently started as a clinical engineer at UHN having completed a Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto and an undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from McGill University. With a strong passion for healthcare efficiency, Griffin focuses on optimizing medical device integration and capital planning to enhance clinical workflow and patient outcomes. Outside of work, he enjoys skiing, tennis, and exploring emerging technologies that could shape the future.

Nazli Eser Kaya (MIE MASc 1T9)

Lead Human Factors Engineer, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

Nazli Eser Kaya, P.Eng., MASc is a Lead Human Factors Engineer with extensive experience in the nuclear industry, currently working on next-generation small modular reactor designs at GE Hitachi (GEH). Building on her expertise in industrial and mechanical engineering, she has earned recognition for advancing Human Factors Engineering (HFE) methodologies, mentoring teams, and driving process improvements. Nazli is a dedicated advocate for diversity and inclusion, having served on the board of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers' (OSPE) Diversity Taskforce and co-founding the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NAYGN) GEH Chapter.

Her academic journey includes a MASc in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto, where she completed a specialization in Psychology and Engineering. Throughout her career, Nazli has delivered numerous professional talks, published research, and received awards for her work in HFE and road safety.

Passionate about mentorship and professional development, she has led training programs, organized events, and represented her industry at prominent conferences such as Women in Nuclear Canada and Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control & Human-Machine Interface Technologies (NPIC&HMIT). 

Moderated by

Professor Fiona Coll

Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the Graduate Centre for Academic Communication (GCAC) and the Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education & Practice (ISTEP)

Fiona Coll is Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education and Practice (ISTEP) and Graduate Centre for Academic Communication (GCAC). Her research focuses on graduate writing pedagogy and explores the role that affect plays in writing-skill development, the impact of peer-based learning strategies on individual writing practices, and the history of technologically mediated approaches to writing. Fiona's work has appeared in Scholarly Editing, Interdisciplinary Digital Engagement in Arts & Humanities, and Victorian Review. She is co-editor of Writing Together: Building Social Writing Opportunities for Graduate Students, forthcoming in January 2025.

Meet the Rest of the Organizing Committee!

Professor Lydia WilkinsonAssistant Professor, Teaching, Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education & Practice (ISTEP)

Lydia Wilkinson’s teaching focuses on providing graduate and undergraduate engineering students with the skills required to navigate the communication tasks of their academic as well as future professional careers, as well as enriching engineering education humanities-based thinking, knowledge and pedagogies. Her current research investigates interdisciplinary skills transfer with a specific focus on humanities integration for engineers.

Joanne LieuGraduate Professional Development Coordinator, Office of the Vice Dean, Graduate Studies

Joanne Lieu is the Graduate Professional Development Coordinator at the Office of the Vice Dean, Graduate Studies in Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto. She develops and coordinates professional development events programs for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Joanne has an HBSc, BEd, MEd, and PhD from the University of Toronto.