Meet Jessica Gray
Jessica, digging a trench with a 3-pt backhoe attachment to install a drain next to her parents barn.
Jessica is currently working as a Design Engineer at Salford Group. She graduated with a Bachelor of Engineer Science from Western University in 2020.
In her free time she enjoys hiking/canoeing, running, DIT projects, and gardening.
A fun fact about her: “For the past few years, I have been working on developing a new machine for applying fertilizer. After building a handful of prototype machines last summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Texas and Western Canada to visit my machine in action. It was very interesting to see the differences in crops and agricultural practices. While the area of Texas, I was in, grows mainly cotton and sorghum using pivot irrigators for 60 acre fields, Western Canada (Saskatchewan & Manitoba) grow mostly Canola, wheat, and barley on large 300+ acre fields.”
When did your love of STEM begin?
My interest in engineering began in the shop with my dad where I watched him build and fix all sorts of things. I loved that he could figure out how to make just about anything work with whatever hardware & scrap steel we had laying around. When I had a school project or wanted a vaulting barrel, we would design it and make it. The most annoying part about all these projects for me was that my dad always insisted on using parts that we already had instead of buying new parts. A large portion of my time was spent just figuring out how to make the project work with our inventory of parts and materials, forcing me to come up with innovative new ways to use old parts. While my friends final products looked beautiful with all the right components, mine looked mismatched with various sized angle iron, perforated metal tape, and fasteners. Looking back years later, I realized that’s what engineering is all about: coming up with new ways to solve a problem using the resources you have.
What is the best part about working in the field of STEM?
The best part about my job is that I have the ability to make other people’s job easier. I design farming implements and so every time I create something that I think will make the final product easier to manufacture, easier for the farmer to operate, or will improve the accuracy/functionality of the machine, I feel a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes it takes many iterations of a design before I get it right, but coming up with ideas and developing them is part of the fun for me. At my current job, I am also very involved in the testing and validation of my designs which I really enjoy because I get to see exactly what works, what doesn’t, and (sometimes) why.
What advice would you give young women interested in a career in STEM?
My advice would be to find someone in the field you’re interested in and learn from them. Ask questions and keep asking follow up questions if you don’t understand the answer. I’d also say to not worry too much about remembering absolutely everything you learn in school. If you get good at learning and understand concepts, there is so much information a quick Google search away.