Education and Career No.1

I am a very recent grad from Trinity Western University (TWU 2009 (wahoo!)), with a BA in General Studies, a concentration in Education, and Minors in Computer Science and Art. I am also a not so recent grad from British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT 1995), with a diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology - CAD/CAM.

My career no.1 was with an Engineering Manufacturing company Fibron Machine Corp. which latter became part of Voith Paper . I filled many roles with this company over my 10 years including: Design Engineer, Application Engineer, Internal Sales Manager, Shipping & Receiving, and Purchasing & Inventory. It was a great experience! I worked with wonderful people from all over the world while in Coquitlam BC, Canada and Krefeld, Germany.

After working in Germany I found that my options were limited so I decided to change direction and pursue something new. My current direction is to explore teaching and I plan on completing a Bachelor of Education in 2010 and receive my teaching certificate. Career No. 2... well we will have to wait and see.

Computer Science and Education Research

Several of my undergraduate courses required research essays and I found myself often making connections to my interests in both Education and Computer Science.

• EDUC 200 Principles of Teaching & Learning - Technology in the Classroom
• EDUC 310 The Exceptional Child in the Regular Classroom - Autism and Assistive Technology
• CMPT 480 Social & Ethical Issues in Technology - Technology, Education and Gender
• EDUC 365 Social Issues in Education - The Relationship Between Race and Gender in Education for Minority Women in Fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

How I Got Here

This is one of my professors from the Computer Science department, Dr. Alma Barranco-Mendoza. It is completely her fault that I am participating in DREU. Well not really... I was working on a self directed course last summer that was connected with the intelligent guided e-learning system she has been working on. I was interested in continuing this work for this summer and was looking to apply for grant money. The day that I met with her I was not feeling well. There were several applications that we were looking at completing so I went home knowing that I had only one day left to apply for the DREU grant. WARNING: Filling out an application while sick in bed in not recommended. I am not the type to skip over the small print. (In fact I usually read the agreement contract when installing new software before clicking on the agree button). In this case I did not look at any details, I just filled in the form. It wasn't till later that I realized it was only for an experience in the United States! Oops! A happy mistake, after I got over the shock.