June 2007 Issue
MEMBER PROFILE
Career Choice Stems from Classroom Talk
BY BARB CHABAI
For
Alberta Women’s Science Network
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Jessica Vandenberghe, P.Eng. |
Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted with permission from the website of the Alberta Women’s Science Network, an organization dedicated to promoting and supporting women in science. The article is part of a new project of AWSN, called Aboriginal Women in Science. Visit www.awsn.com for information.
As a high school student, Jessica Vandenberghe, P.Eng., discovered her future career upon hearing a presentation on engineering. Now, she regularly stands in front of classrooms, helping kids recognize their potential — just like someone else did for her.
“Growing up, I wanted to be an artist,” says Ms. Vandenberghe. “Then one day, in Grade 10 or 11 in high school, this person came in and told us all about engineering. I had never even heard of the profession before, but it all sounded very interesting. I was a fairly smart, a straight-A student, and realized that I could make a much better living in the field of science.”
Ms. Vandenberghe did her undergraduate studies and later completed a master’s degree at the University of Alberta. Since 2003, she’s been a research engineer at the Syncrude Research Centre in Edmonton.
“One of the things I like most about research is that the projects are smaller scale and you are able to carry things out from beginning to end. When you’re a process engineer at a plant, your work involves more day-to-day troubleshooting. You don’t always get to see things through to the end because there are so many things coming at you,” she says.
Ms. Vandenberghe works in the bitumen production group, which focuses on the process areas from mining through to the end of extraction, before oil is sent to upgrading to be refined.
“Our group looks at new technology and different technology that we could possibly apply to oil sands. We start testing it, either at a fundamental level or on a bench-scale level, then slowly scale it up. As it goes along, we dismiss it or figure out different ways to make it work, then we move to a full-scale project and finally, implement it into the plant.”
Ms. Vandenberghe is a big advocate of mentorship, both inside and outside
of the workplace. In her department, she is currently helping develop a mentorship
program that will be underway soon.
Outside of work, she is an active volunteer for Alberta Women’s Science
Network, and Women in Scholarship, Engineering Science and Technology, as well
as the Edmonton Science Outreach Network — the group that sponsors her
classroom visits to explain to students and their teachers the science of the
oil sands.
“The last presentation I gave was for a Grade 5 class — that fun,
inquisitive age,” she says with a chuckle “Some of them have heard
of engineering but most have no idea of what an engineer does.”
In the classroom, Ms. Vandenberghe conducts interactive experiments about scientific
properties. She uses everyday ingredients ranging from pop cans to popcorn kernels.
She also does jar test demonstrations with real oil sand.
“We put a bit of oil sand in a jar with some water, shake it and then watch the bitumen float off. It’s very easy for the students to watch what’s happening as you explain that this is what our processes are based on — how the oil floats while the sand sinks,” Ms. Vandenberghe explains. By the expressions on the children’s faces, she can see that her message is getting through.
“In Grades 4 and 5, they think the sky is the limit, but maybe they don’t know how far that limit can go,” she says. “Based on the questions that students of all ages tend to ask, they really don’t know what’s out there for them.”
Ms. Vandenberghe says she’s fortunate that she didn’t feel any discrimination or gender barrier as she pursued her career. As well, her teachers, family and friends were very supportive.
“I did my first year of college in Grand Prairie and made friends with the only other girl in the engineering class. We both went into chemical engineering and the two of us kind of stuck together,” she recalls. “By university, we had a pretty good core group; six of us who studied and helped each other. We kind of felt our way together along the way.”
Ms. Vandenberghe, an Aboriginal, says that her post-secondary education and career path have brought her closer to her biological roots. In university, she volunteered in Native Students Services and later tutored at Edmonton’s Amiskwaciy Academy. At a conference last summer, she met Senator Lillian Dyck, a strong advocate of women and of Aboriginals, who has since become Ms. Vandenberghe’s personal mentor.
Ms. Vandenberghe’s adoptive family is of German heritage. “Lillian is half Native and half Chinese, so I thought her influence would help me get more in touch with my Aboriginal culture — since I grew up playing the accordion and eating sauerkraut,” she says with a laugh.
As much an eager protégé as she is a passionate mentor, Ms. Vandenberghe says she often relies on the advice and experience of her trusted professional advisers.
“I do have some really good mentors right now. My team leader here at Syncrude is enthusiastic and helps me to visualize my future. He says, ‘Well, here’s where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.’ That excitement really motivates me.”
Cutlines for photo: Jessica Vandenberghe, P.Eng.