Ross Jespersen of Seaspan on Living the Dream
Ross Jespersen says he is lucky.
When he graduated from the University of Victoria back in April of this year, with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he jumped right into what he describes as his dream job: working on the power systems of the Sir John Franklin, the first of the three Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels (OFSV) that Seaspan is building for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS).
That may seem like a very specific dream for a young graduate to have, but there’s a backstory. Ross is from a long line of people who have made ships and boats their business. His great-grandfather, back in Denmark worked in a shipyard, as did his father before him. When Ross’ grandfather came to Canada, he started a business building and repairing yachts in Sidney, British Columbia. Ross’ Dad runs the business now, and, at one time, Ross thought his future lay there too. That is, until he actually worked there for a few summers. “That was some pretty tough physical work,” laughs Ross, “It got me thinking, hard, about pursuing further education.” Read more »
Building the Next Generation of Shipbuilders
Peter Kim was a new graduate of UBC’s Electrical Engineering program when he saw a posting for an exciting job at Seaspan Shipyards. Even though he did not quite meet the experience requirements for the position — “they were looking for someone with five plus years, I had two years as a co-op student,” laughs Peter — he decided to apply anyway. Long story short, he got the job; is closing in on four years at Seaspan as a Junior Production Engineer; and, it’s fair to say that neither Peter nor Seaspan have looked back.
Peter has barely seen the time go by. “With three National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) projects in the yard at once, we have many very interesting challenges that I really enjoy,” he explains. “And the beauty of working at a shipyard is that I get to see the results of my efforts as ship construction progresses. When a new vessel launches into the water, I have the satisfaction of knowing that our team’s work helped make it better,” Peter adds with a grin. Read more »
All Stories:
- 09/05/18 - Ross Jespersen of Seaspan on Living the Dream
- 07/10/18 - Building the Next Generation of Shipbuilders
- 05/02/18 - Women in Trades Warmly Welcomed at VSL
- 03/26/18 - Industry and Academia Partner to Prepare the Shipbuilders of Tomorrow
- 03/06/18 - The Hughes Family of Seaspan: Shipbuilding is in Their Blood