Staff writer
For a long time, Sundiep Tehara believed that engineers built bridges. Period.
It’s easy to understand where she got that idea — her father, an engineer,
does in fact build them.
“For the longest time I didn’t want to be an engineer because I really didn’t
want to build bridges,” she says.
Eventually Tehara realized there was much more to engineering and, thanks
in part to encouragement from her high school science teachers and an aptitude
for math and science, entered engineering at UBC.
She chose the chemical engineering option with an eye to working later in
waste-water treatment.
“It’s something that is of growing importance,” she says. “In high school
I was hearing more and more about environmental issues, and engineering seemed
to be an area that would allow me to apply knowledge to a real problem.”
Tehara’s quest for knowledge will take her to graduate school next January,
likely in an engineering master’s program at McGill University. In the meantime
she will continue to amass work and research experience with the National Research
Council (NRC) in Ottawa. This will be her third summer doing research there
on an NRC scholarship aimed at encouraging women to pursue graduate studies
in engineering.
“My experience in Ottawa has been really useful. It’s allowed me to gain experience
in a number of areas and is making it easier for me to decide what to focus
on in grad school,” says Tehara, who was recently named a Wesbrook Scholar in
recognition of her academic record and ability to serve, work with, and lead
others.
Tehara has also been active in encouraging high school students to consider
engineering as a career. A presentation she made to high school students in
1995 led to her involvement in an award-winning video put together by the Faculty
of Applied Science. The video, Engineering the Future, features Tehara and another
engineering student as they take viewers on an informal tour of engineering
at UBC.
“The video looks at more than just the academic aspect of engineering,” says
Tehara. “It looks at the social aspect as well and gives a pretty good impression
of what engineering is about.
“It’s important to get that message out and to expose people to the profession.
When you hear about the options, such as bio-resource engineering and chemical
engineering, it becomes pretty clear that engineers do a lot more than building
bridges.”
