Meet Yosamin Esanullah, a Third-Year Bachelor of Applied Science (Mechanical Engineering) student at UBC Okanagan.
Where are you from?
I am from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, but I was raised in Edmonton, Alberta.
What brought you to UBC?
I had always been drawn to being part of a smaller campus community, but my decision was solidified when I was offered the Schulich Leader Scholarship from UBC.
Why engineering? What inspired you to pursue education in this field?
Throughout high school, I volunteered at my local space and science center, the TELUS World of Science Edmonton. Being surrounded by scientists and science communicators, my budding interest in space science flourished. It was there I decided that I wanted to help create the next big space telescope—of the same magnitude of the James Webb or the Hubble. That’s what inspired me to pursue mechanical engineering.
Tell us about your most rewarding experiences as a student. What are some of the challenges you have faced?
As an engineering student, one of the most rewarding experiences has been the transformative shift in my perspective of everyday technologies. Through my studies, I’ve gained a profound appreciation for the labor and ingenuity of the world around me—something I took for granted before.
For instance, when I cross bridges now, I first think of the painful statics calculations I struggled with in my second year. And when I take a flight, I ponder over the fluid mechanics of aerodynamic drag that’s required to make the plane fly. I take great satisfaction in understanding how things work, such as the theory of my car engine, the motor in my fan, or the lightbulb in my room.
Which leads me to one of the most significant hurdles I faced in my program, which was that I didn’t find these subjects hugely interesting at first. Admittedly, I didn’t care very much about statics calculations or fluid mechanics theory during school.
But, when I catch myself contemplating absentmindedly about how something was built, how I would have designed it, or think about the mathematical theory behind it, I realize what it was all for. The way I view the world now has fundamentally changed—it’s more calculated and curious. I have my mechanical engineering program to thank for this. These are the moments when I feel the most rewarded and feel the most appreciation for all the subjects I’ve learned, regardless of my performance in them or how unassuming they first appeared.
Tell us about your time as an intern with the Canadian Space Agency. How did this opportunity happen?
In my second year, I put together a team of students to participate in the CAN-SBX competition. We were tasked with designing, building, and testing an experimental payload to send to the stratosphere aboard a Canadian Space Agency (CSA) stratospheric balloon. It was here where I was able to meet and work with engineers at the CSA involved in the STRATOS campaign. These networks, as well as the experience of being Team Captain, set me up for success in a project management engineering internship in the STRATOS campaign that took our payload to space!
What has been your favourite experience while working with the Canadian Space Agency?
My favorite experience while working at the CSA was being able to attend the balloon launches in Timmins, Ontario last summer. For context, we had been organizing the launches all year up until that point. It was there where I got to meet so many working professionals in the space science and technology sphere and got to physically see the fruits of our labor.
Can you describe a project (or projects) you were working on?
I supported several different projects within the Canadian Space Agency. These included the Lunar Analogue terrain project, OSIRIS-REx project, and the STRATOS Campaign. As mentioned above, the STRATOS campaign launches stratospheric balloons for experiments to occur up in space. The Lunar Analogue Terrain project is developing a terrain that mimics the surface of the moon for testing purposes of upcoming lunar rovers. And, the OSIRIS-REx project was creating a sample curation facility for the sample Canada is receiving from NASA obtained from asteroid Bennu.
I’m working remotely for the CSA again this summer, and this time I’ll be helping with CUBICS and ECO-I, which are various cube satellite projects that are taken to and launched from the International Space Station (ISS).
Any club, design team, or other campus / school involvement you’d like to highlight?
I recently joined the Phoenix News, which is very different from most of the technical projects I’ve taken part in, as a writer for the Science and Technology Section. I’ve published two articles so far and hope to publish more in the coming school year!
Imposter Syndrome and the Struggles of Women in Scientific Academia
I Joined a Hackathon Even Though I Can’t Code
What is next for you? What are your future goals / plans?
Generally, I plan to go to grad school, work, and get my pilot’s license, though maybe not in that order. We will just have to see what happens!
Anything else you’d like to share about your story?
While the CSA is one of my Co-Op positions, my first Co-Op position was in an underground laboratory in Sudbury, Ontario, called SNOLAB. It’s a particle astrophysics laboratory, located 2 kilometers deep in a mine. To get to work was a 5 AM start, a trip down the shaft of a nickel mine, and a short hike to a massive cleanroom.
My job was to work on the Cryogenic Underground Testing (CUTE) Facility for the detection of low-range dark matter particles, which is essentially a project that studies crystals at virtually absolute zero, 4 degrees Kelvin!
I was fresh out of second year and had absolutely no experience in physics research. I’m so grateful that my employers at SNOLAB took a chance on me and granted me with one of the most bizarre and interesting experiences of my life.
Any advice for current or incoming students?
My best advice would be to start something no matter how early in your degree you are. Find a competition, a design challenge, or hackathon, build a good team, and just try! You never know where it might lead you.