Faces of WISEST: Ripple Patel

I still remember writing my WISEST application - What excites you about STEM? Back then, it was the large Coker plants I had seen my Pappa support at Syncrude Canada Ltd. Growing up in Fort McMurray, I was at the heart of globally renowned Albertan Engineering technologies  - a career in STEM would ensure the wheels in my head kept spinning off passion and curiosity!

And arriving for my first ever internship with WISEST’s summer research program was that first step to a lifetime of growing dreams.  I sat at a computer lab in NREF and developed 3D blueprints for Edmonton’s leading supplier of manufactured residential homes. 

Now imagine as a high schooler having the opportunity to go to production factories, directly working with clients AND making impactful contributions to the revenue/ sales of a company, this was HUGE!  Outside work, I made dorm friendships, opened my first bank account, explored the city and gained valuable mentors. The WISEST summer of ‘13 was nothing short of personal growth, the initial taste of independence, and discovering responsibilities.

I went on to study Management Engineering at the University of Waterloo. After WISEST, my career trajectory took me all across Canada and the USA.  I developed vision sensors for drones at a Boston University lab, coordinated projects at Syncrude, engineered risk mitigation for a $4B subway line in Toronto (TTC), offered consultancy to Forbes 500 companies at Deloitte, conducted IT Compliance for an American Insurance firm, led cloud migration for millions of TD bank clients, and built data centers in Washington DC with Salesforce. I currently manage an $8B Cloud portfolio as an Engineering Program Manager at Google. I mentor students in STEM as a way of giving back, keeping the positivity and appreciation for our field ongoing!

It's crazy how far my STEM journey brought me. I grew up in awe of Alberta's role in the STEM culture and WISEST opened me to something bigger than I had ever imagined! So keep dreaming, endless passion to grasp all that’s out there is all you need, I promise. The rest will all fall into place!