When Didi was in grade 11, she volunteered at a build event hosted by Neil Squire’s Makers Making Change (new window) program, getting to build assistive switches for people with disabilities. Learning hands-on skills like soldering for the first time, the experience sparked an interest in engineering.

“I’ve always really liked to do things with my hands, like I’ve always been a very crafty person, and up until that point I didn’t really know how to apply that,” she shares. “I also really like to help people, and I really like science.”

“I don’t think I would have ended up going into engineering if it wasn’t for an event like that.”

Five years later, as a biomedical engineering student at Simon Fraser University (new window), it was only fitting that Didi would join the Makers Making Change team for her first co-op (new window) term.

“It was the best co-op experience I could have ever hoped for,” she says. “I don’t think I could have asked for a better experience.”

One of the major projects she took on was designing a Musical Grasping Training Aid (new window). Based on a design challenge from a clinician in the community, the device plays music when a user picks it up, and stops when it’s put down, motivating the user to pick up and grasp the device, helping teach cause and effect. Didi learned some valuable technical skills working on the project.

“I didn’t really have any mechanical or design experience. And so, I didn’t have any previous experience with Fusion or CAD modeling software. Through the project, I actually had to learn how to use that type of software,” she explains, noting that she also improved her coding skills.

Other projects included working with the research and development team on updating documentation and creating documentation templates — good documentation helps makers of all ages and skill levels to build devices more easily — as well as doing quality control, checking devices made at build events and, if necessary, fixing them.

However, one of Didi’s fondest memories of her time at Makers Making Change came during another aspect of her work — hosting build events for students much like the one she attended in high school.

“There was one event that really stood out to me, it was a school in Surrey, and it was mostly elementary school children — this was pretty much their first time soldering. And they were so curious. It just reminded me of how giving children opportunities to test out these skills can really show them things that they may like but never have known,” she explains, noting how outreach like this can help inspire more women to get involved in engineering and provide opportunities for greater diversity in STEM-related fields as more students see it as an option.

“It was very full circle, seeing where I started and how I progressed, and then I was able to give back to the same community.”

Now back to her studies after extending her time at Neil Squire’s Makers Making Change program with a second co-op term, Didi looks back fondly on her time here.

“It was so amazing to see how the connections that we make can always come back and surprise you in ways that you may not have expected. For me, that first interaction with Makers Making Change really kind of set my path, and to be able to come back and be a part of the team that impacted me in such a positive way was so nice.”

While she hasn’t decided what she will do after she finishes her degree, Didi — who had considered going into medicine before choosing engineering — knows she wants to use her skills to make a positive impact.

“That’s what drives me,” she says. “And I think that’s why Makers Making Change was such a great fit, because I don’t really want to be just selling something to people. I want it to be able to positively affect them.”

“I always want to be involved in something that will ideally benefit people in the community.”

This post originally appeared on the Makers Making Change (new window) website.