Say hello to Owen Wood, a 3rd-year Mechanical Engineering student with a minor in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan. For the past 4 months, Owen has been part of the SKYTRAC team as the DAO Co-Op in our Kelowna office.
Early Beginnings
Engineering appealed to Owen because it fed his curiosity. He always wanted to dig into how things work and use that understanding to solve problems. His first connection with SKYTRAC came through UBCO’s Industry Night. A conversation with Lindi sparked his interest, and a follow-up chat with Karolina sealed it. From there, he decided to leap into the world of aerospace.
I was drawn to engineering because of my consistent desire to understand the world better and play a part in solving complex problems.
Life at SKYTRAC
For Owen, three words capture the culture at SKYTRAC: Collaborative, Focused, and Constructive. Every step of his project(s) involved working with teammates and reviewing each others ideas. Owen also observed the team’s unwavering attention to the task at hand and their proactive approach to process improvement and progress.
The team is always searching for ways to improve the processes to maximize efficiency
Lasting Impressions
Stepping into aerospace with no prior background, Owen was struck by how much unseen work goes into meeting strict regulations. For him, it was eye-opening to see how carefully everything is reviewed before it ever reaches an aircraft.
One of the highlights of Owen’s Co-Op was his work on the BHC407 DLS-140 and FDM installation kits. His firsthand experience with aviation certification procedures and increased understanding of SKYTRAC’s operations were both the result of seeing the project through from beginning to end.
Support from teammates played a huge role, too. Wilson, in particular, became his go-to. Whether they were assigned tasks together or Owen just had a question, he could count on Wilson for thoughtful, constructive help.
Advice to Future Co-Ops
For Owen, the best advice is not to hold back on questions. He acknowledges it is important to first check documents and resources for answers beforehand, but if that does not help, then asking away is the way to go.
Ask as many questions as you can… don’t be afraid to do so!
Life outside the office
Some of Owen’s best memories came outside of work. His first team lunch at Habibi was a highlight. Not only was the food great, but he also discovered that Dave tried building his own guitar pedals, something Owen always wanted to do. Blackberry Bubly also became a bit of a theme during his placement. Whenever the fridge was stocked, it was his go-to pick-me-up to power through the day.
Music continues to be his outlet beyond work, whether recording tracks or playing with his band, it keeps his creative side alive alongside engineering.
P.S- From diving deep into Excel tools like Power Query and VBA, to supporting install kit development and learning the rigor of aerospace certification, Owen’s Co-Op has been full of growth and discovery. Along the way, he built strong connections, picked up new skills, and added plenty of personal memories that made his time at SKYTRAC stand out.
For career/Co-Op opportunities, visit skytrac.ca/careers.
