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Megan Bellemare hasn鈥檛 quite decided which path she鈥檒l take next, but as convocation day approaches, she鈥檚 grateful to Dalhousie Engineering for opening so many doors along the way.

It all started with the chance to explore different engineering disciplines before choosing the one that suited her best.

鈥淏eing able to take a variety of engineering courses in first year helped me make an informed choice.鈥澨�

Once she selected Chemical Engineering, she decided to add a Certificate in Biomedical Engineering, a decision inspired by her family鈥檚 background in healthcare. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to be in patient care like my dad or sister,鈥� she laughs, 鈥渂ut biomedical engineering was a way to still engage with healthcare, just from the technical side.鈥�

She says her decision to pursue Chemical Engineering proved to be a great fit adding that she loved the smaller class sizes compared to other programs at Dal Engineering. This made it especially easy to get to know her classmates and benefit from the support of professors. Connecting classrooms to industry

Over the course of her degree, Megan completed multiple co-op placements, each in different industry, opting for variety instead of long-term placements. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know exactly what I wanted to do,鈥� she admits, 鈥渟o I tried four different types of jobs in four different industries. I was able to say, 鈥極h, I like this鈥� or 鈥業 don鈥檛 like that.鈥� That flexibility made a big difference.鈥�

Her capstone project also gave her the opportunity to explore new areas and bridged her Chemical and Biomedical Engineering backgrounds. Working with her team, Megan helped design a theoretical bacterial vaccine manufacturing plant for Nova Scotia, focusing on the tetanus-diphtheria (TD) vaccine.

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Although they couldn鈥檛 build a full-scale prototype, the project allowed her to apply what she鈥檇 learned in class to a real-world problem and deepened her understanding of vaccine production.

Overcoming challenges

Although the program was challenging, Megan faced her own unique obstacles after being diagnosed with ADHD in the second year of her engineering degree. This made upper year courses more difficult. It wasn鈥檛 until she connected with Dalhousie鈥檚 Accessibility Office that thing began to turn around. 鈥淕etting the accommodations I needed made such a difference, and I saw my grades increase from B鈥檚 to an overall 4.0 GPA鈥� she says.

Outside of the classroom, Megan volunteered for societies such as Women in Engineering Society, the Chemical Engineering Society, Atlantic Council of Engineering Students (ACES), and the Canadian Engineering Competitions, where she put her bilingual skills to use translating documents between English and French. She also participated in the intramural sports. These opportunities gave her a chance to make new friends and strengthen her connection with the engineering community.

Looking ahead

And that鈥檚 what Megan says she鈥檒l miss the most, the friends she made. 鈥淐hemical Engineering is a smaller program, so you really get to know your classmates and professors. We studied together, struggled together, and celebrated together鈥�.

With graduation just days away, Megan plans to return to her home province of Ontario after convocation. She hopes to explore industry roles before considering graduate studies. But no matter where her path leads, Megan remains open-minded about the future.

鈥淐hemical engineering is so broad, you can go into almost anything.鈥�