Swati Shrivastava (MSE 0T8+PEY), Master of Engineering student
Special Process Quality Engineer, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty
Meet Swati Shrivastava (MSE 0T8+PEY), a Special Process Quality Engineer at Messier-Bugatti-Dowty who is complementing her day job with a part-time Master of Engineering (MEng) degree in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering (MSE). She is tailoring her study with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Innovation & Technology in Engineering (ELITE).
Swati chose to pursue an MEng after four years of working in the mining and aerospace industries to further her academic and technical expertise — something she felt would help her excel in her current job and advance her career overall. While a career advantage played a big part in her decision to go back to school, Swati admits she also returned because of her passion for learning. “I’ve always loved school — from lectures and taking notes to making new friends,” she says. “And U of T Engineering has a very distinct and positive environment. It’s nice re-living those good-old school days as a graduate student.”
“It’s a highly effective program that allows me to combine technical, management and business-related courses, giving me a broader perspective.”
Through her more technically focused courses, Swati is building upon her MSE undergraduate foundations in a way that links directly to her industry experience. She is also taking a wide range of entrepreneurship and leadership courses through the ELITE certificate. Courses like Project Management, Operations Research and New Product Innovation are giving her the tools to upgrade her business and managerial skills. “It’s a highly effective program that allows me to combine technical, management and business-related courses, giving me a broader perspective.” She adds, “I find myself referencing my lecture notes constantly.”
Juggling a full-time job with part-time study has been a challenge for Swati. “It takes a lot of dedication and determination, not to mention time management. But at the end of the day, this program is helping me learn and participate more efficiently in the technical, managerial and high-level dealings in my work environment.”
—Article from the 2013 issue of Skulematters, the U of T Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering’s alumni magazine.