Name: Shailaja Sajja
Program: Electrical and Computer Engineering
University(s) / College(s) Attended: University of Waterloo
Education / Degree(s): Masters of Applied Science
Current Job Title: Business application analyst
Current Employer: Techna Institute, University health network
Fun Facts About Me
Share one fun fact about yourself: I am left handed and enjoy painting in my free time.
The most inspiring engineer I know is ....... Because ........ ?: There are several, its hard to decide on one. Can say Thomas Edison as he dealt several challenges at a young age and yet made important breakthroughs.
Profile Questions
Why did you choose to study engineering?: I had an interest in mathematics and was interested in furthering that interest into real-world applications. Engineering seemed the most obvious choice to realize that.
How do you apply your engineering degree to your current career?: My current and previous roles have involved working closely with medical imaging technologies. In addition to the use of concepts learnt in some of the electrical engineering courses such as signals and systems, the skills acquired during my engineering degree(s) such as the general problem solving approach and ability to evaluate solutions from different viewpoints come handy daily.
What do you love most about your career?: I like being able to work in multidisciplinary environment and collaborating with people from different cultural and educational backgrounds (physicians, statisticians, marketing people, etc.). This helps in more holistic development of solutions and also everyone benefits and learns from each other’s experience and expertise.
What advice would you give to someone hoping to pursue a career in engineering?: Firstly, don’t let stereotypes stop you from pursuing your dreams. Secondly, seek out mentors from an early age. Thirdly, along with engineering concepts, focus on developing other aspects of your personality like good communications skills and creative thinking. Lastly and most importantly, everyone has a unique journey so believe in yourself and show up as best you can to every opportunity and keep trying.