Mai never imagined how fascinating and complex submarines could be.

As a Materials Graduate Engineer at ASC, she’s been diving deep into the criticality of every single part that goes into a submarine. Her rotations through different areas of the business have shown her just how crucial each part is when they come together to form an entire system.

Growing up with a father as a mechanic, Mai was inspired to become an engineer by weekends spent pulling apart and re-assembling all kinds of machines and cars. As she puts it, “all the little parts that may seem insignificant actually mean a lot. The whole machine doesn’t work without the part. It shows that everything has its place and is important to the machine.”

Now as an engineer, Mai brings this mindset to her work with submarines.

While the systems on a submarine appear overwhelming due to their complexity, she’s ready to tackle the engineering challenge with the support of her senior mentors.

“It’s a new challenge every day, but I’m learning so much in the graduate program,” says Mai. ”My growth as an engineer is driven by the exposure to different engineering specialities during my rotations, and the support from my team leaders who are always open to answering my questions.”

Working in the Full-Cycle Docking (FCD) team, Mai is currently on her third rotation of the two-year Graduate Engineer Program, and each rotation has given her invaluable opportunities to meet new people and discover her engineering speciality.

“It’s a fast-paced team in FCD and compared to the other teams I’ve worked with, no two days are alike. There’s a variety of projects you can work on, all within this one team” says Mai.

The graduate program isn’t just about growing as an engineer; it’s also about being part of a community of passionate, like-minded engineers.

Being part of this community gives you the chance to present to your cohort, sharing experiences and insights from your rotations.  

“We present about our previous rotations so the rest of the cohort can learn more about each specialty and to know what to expect in future rotations,” Mai explains.

“I’m presenting at the next monthly meeting, and while I’m not the biggest fan of public speaking, I’m really looking forward to sharing a little bit about my experience in the FCD team with the rest of the group.”

While Mai is proud of the technical skills she has developed during the first 18 months of the program, she also sees the bigger picture and has become a more confident and well-rounded engineer.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to tackle the challenges of working in such a complex environment with submarines,” says Mai. “Knowing I have a strong support system behind me pushes me to be the best engineer I can be.”

Looking to the future, Mai hopes to become a leader to younger engineers. Her journey is a testament to the power of mentorship and seizing the opportunity to learn as it presents itself.