Author: Adiki Puplampu
Date: 07 December 2024
High school students rarely get the opportunity to work on mechanical engineering projects with real-world industrial applications. So when the opportunity to become an ELITE Program intern was offered to Adil Adetunji, he jumped at the opportunity and made the move from Calgary to Edmonton for the summer.
Looking to gain some professional experience before starting his final year of high school, Adil was on the hunt for an internship program. After some Googling he came across the ELITE Program and was drawn to the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in engineering and the learning opportunity presented by the entrepreneurship design series.
For Adil, the appeal of engineering is the way solutions can be used to improve or change processes that in turn change the world. While working in the Advanced Heat Transfer and Surface Technologies Lab at the UofA, Adil got a taste for this world changing work.
Adil worked on analyzing surface coatings to understand how they’re affected by erosion. The types of coatings that Adil analyzed are used to reduce wear on industrial parts making them more effective and longer lasting. Even more specifically, Adil’s work focused on coatings that are applied to airfoils.
While transitioning from the high school context of assignments with clear expectations to more self-directed learning was initially challenging for Adil, once he adjusted, he appreciated the independence and level of self-direction he was able to exercise in his work.
“Having the opportunity to work on your own project that’s self-directed for the most part gives you lots of clarity, because instead of just being told what to do, you actually have to do it yourself and then you’ll know whether it’s something you actually really want to do.”
Receiving training on industrial grade engineering machinery in the lab and being able to brainstorm personal future research was one of the highlights of Adil’s internship experience. Though he doesn’t yet have a clear picture of his dream job, spending the summer working on thermal spray coatings was an eye-opening experience and he sees himself doing something that integrates and applies materials science.