October 23, 2023
This fall, Seaspan has welcomed a total of 27 new and returning interns to provide them with valuable industry experience. Coming from a wide range of disciplines, from Finance to Welding Engineering, each intern is eager to explore and learn about the ins and outs of Seaspan. Read more to get to know our Fall 2023 interns and our internSHIP program:
ALONG SINGH
Hi! I’m Alon, I grew up in Abbotsford and I’m in my 5th year of studying electronics engineering at SFU!
What’s your position and what do you do?
I am an electronics engineer on the ESI team, working mostly on system integration for the Science and Sonar system and Aviation system for Polar and MPV.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
I am hoping to build a more proficient knowledge of the marine industry and establish strong connections within my team. I’d love to be able to use the experience I gain here to come back in the future, or follow careers in the same industry.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
Vienna, Austria. I would love to visit all the filming locations of Before Sunrise.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
I’ve been watching Normal People for the first time finally! And I’ve been listening to a little bit too much Radiohead.
CHRISTIAN SY
I am Christian Sy, currently in my 3.5 year of Mechanical Engineering at UBC. I spend my time creating Solar powered race cars in my engineering design team, playing racing simulations, and going to the gym.
What’s your position and what do you do?
I am a Structural Engineering Intern.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge on ship design and structural analysis. To contribute to Seaspan’s large-scale ship projects, that are close to completion fills me with excitement. I hope to make meaningful contributions to the structural team and delve into the intricacies of ship design and deepen my understanding of structural engineering principles.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
The Philippines! It’s been over 5 years since I moved, and I can’t wait to go back home during the holidays. It’s a city that never sleeps especially during Christmas where there are Christmas lanterns all around, and festivities filled with delicious local delicacies that you could get nowhere else!
What are you listening to or watching right now?
Song – Operation Doomsday by MF DOOM. Show – Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War
ELISA ECHELLI
Hi! My name is Elisa Echelli. I am a fifth-year business student concentrating in finance and international business at Simon Fraser University. I grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia, and in my free time I enjoy hiking and playing volleyball.
What’s your position and what do you do?
I am a Finance and Accounting Intern at Seaspan Marine and I am responsible for documentation, preparing journal entries, certain general ledger reconciliations, and stepping up to help my coworkers with various tasks.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
I hope to learn how the accounting department of a large company operates and ultimately make an impact on my team. I look forward to applying what I have learned throughout my degree while gaining valuable experience in the financial field. I am so excited to learn about the marine industry and to work for a company that truly values individuals’ ideas.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
My dream destination is Scotland because I have always loved its history. I want to see the amazing landscapes and castles.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
I am currently watching How I Met Your Mother (for the 3rd time). I recommend it to anyone who needs a comfort show.
ISAAC BURKE
My name is Isaac Burke, and I’m from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I’m currently in my last year of Mechanical Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s.
What’s your position and what do you do?
I am an Operations Intern and I help support the operations team with projects such as production line optimizations and upgrades.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
I am hoping to gain a better understanding of the day-to-day issues that the production team faces while gaining valuable on-site experience. This can help any young engineer as we can design, plan, and implement solutions that avoid problems that cause delays on the shop floor.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
I’ve always wanted to go to scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef and explore Australia.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
I am currently watching Narcos, highly recommend if you like police-style shows.
KARKIRAT GILL
My name is Karkirat Gill and I’m a third-year Business student at SFU.
What’s your position and what do you do?
I’m an HR Intern. I work with Orca, testing the new HR platform, helping in its integration and assisting with any troubleshooting.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
Since it’s my first Co-op term, I plan to learn as much as I can about HR systems. Along with that I want to explore other areas of HR as well so that I can get a clear understanding about different HR processes and gain skills to pursue a career in it.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
Scotland. I love countryside life of Europe and I always wanted to live there as a child, that’s why it’s my dream travel destination.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
Right now, I am watching How I Met Your Mother but my favorite show is The Office.
LUCIA LIU
My name is Feiyang (Lucia) Liu. I am a Master student from UBC, majoring in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
What’s your position and what do you do?
Naval Architecture Intern. I am working on Polar Stability.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
I hope to enhance my ability to interpret and comprehend information from technical reports and drawings in ongoing projects, while strengthening my practical skills in both 2D drawing and 3D modeling.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
Tokyo, Osaka and Honolulu, where I can find sushi, nigiri, sashimi and teppanyaki.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
Glimpse of Us – Joji
MEDINA MATIANIU
My name is Medina, and I’m from Kyrgyzstan. I’m majoring in Communications and minoring in Print & Digital Publishing at SFU. I am in my 4th year, and this is my second last semester.
What’s your position and what do you do?
I am a Comms Intern, and the biggest job of my team is to overlook the internal and external affairs of Seaspan. Seaspan has a very big audience of its own (> 5K employees), which needs to be interacted with. Our job is to create and manage social channels/platforms, produce and edit content, plan events, manage public relations, and engage with our employees/stakeholders.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
This is my first communications internship where there is no big emphasis on trends and social media like TikTok and Instagram. Seaspan mostly uses LinkedIn, and I am hoping to learn the communication/marketing strategies used in such an unconventional industry of shipbuilding.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
South Korea! My best friend is from there, so I’d love to visit her home country someday.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
Currently listening to “The Wind” by Russ.
NICOLAS QUINTANA
What’s your position and what do you do?
I am a Digital Ship Intern working on connecting ship’s onboard sensor data to VR and 3D experiences.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
I want to learn more about how the marine industry works. Specifically, I’m interested in learning about how to integrate modern technology into vessels to unlock efficiencies and provide new data analysis that previously wasn’t possible. I am also looking forward to working around all the Seaspan tugboats!
What is your dream travel destination and why?
I would travel to New Zealand so I could hike a portion of the The Long Pathway (Te Araroa) through hike.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
The Bear
NUDHAR HASAN TWITY
I’m Nudhar, a third-year Mechanical Engineering student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, originally from Bangladesh and raised in Saudi Arabia. An interesting tidbit about me is that I have had the opportunity to visit twelve different countries, and I certainly plan to continue with the world tour.
What’s your position and what do you do?
At Seaspan, I am working as a facilities operations intern to assist in tracking, processing and execution of CAPEX projects for the Vancouver Shipyards.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
During my time here, I am planning to gain a deeper understanding of the shipyard’s workflow and hone in skills that make project management successful.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
Japan! The cuisine, traditions, seasons and of course anime.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
Listening to: OMG! by NewJeans
SARANPREET SINGH
My name is Saranpreet Singh. I am from Punjab, India and moved to Canada in 2019. I am currently in 4th and Final year of Mechatronic Systems Engineering program at SFU.
What’s your position and what do you do?
I am working as an Intern, Mechanical Engineering here at Seaspan. Currently, I am part of the Missions team, working on the Multi-Purpose Vessel (MPV). We are in the Basic Design Phase, and I am working on multiple Ship Work Breakdown Structure (SWBS) that include Hydraulic Fluid Systems and Mission Equipment.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
I am hoping to learn Professional Engineering practices by working closely with Engineers. Specific skills that I want to gain through this internship includes Design, procurement, Technical Writing, and Functional Engineering.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
I would love to travel to Paris. It offers beautiful landmarks to visit, along with various Museums and Art to discover. Also of course, it is the “City of Light”, which has a tower named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
I am listening to Lex Fridman podcast on a regular basis. I’ve recently started watching Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space on Netflix. One of my recent favorites is One Piece, a Netflix adaptation of a Japanese animated series.
XAVIER ARDEZ
My name is Xavier Ardez. I study Engineering at KPU and I am in my 1st year in the program. I am originally from the Philippines, but reside in Surrey.
What’s your position and what do you do?
My position is Intern – Welding Engineering. I help create welding procedure specifications, witness welding, and record parameters. I also help the Non-Destructive Evaluation department by creating reports and investigation any missing or outstanding requests. In addition, I supplement the Centre of Excellence Lab by helping with destructive testing and lab report creation.
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
I wanted to learn how welding is done on ships and how they are tested. While I had some knowledge about welding and non-destructive testing before I came to Seaspan, I wanted a more in-depth and hands on knowledge on welding. Through seeing and doing, I want to be able to see how welds are welded and tested. I want to see the whole process from start to finish.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
My dream travel destination is France or Germany. I went to Germany to study and enjoyed my experience there. I wanted to explore Europe but didn’t have enough time/money. I feel like exploring France and Germany would be fun and exciting.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
Listening to Ez Mil. I finished watching it, but Extraordinary Attorney Woo is good.
YASHI CHAUHAN
My name is Yashi Chauhan, and I am from India! I am a 4th year student at Simon Fraser University majoring in Economics (Finance) and minoring in Business Administration.
What’s your position and what do you do?
I am a Campaign Associate at Seaspan, and I work for United Way British Columbia and help their company accounts run successful campaigns! (A lot of meetings and event planning basically.)
What are you hoping to learn or take away from your time at Seaspan?
I am hoping to enhance my event planning and project management skills! I also look forward to gaining real world experience in Finance (my field of study) and make lasting connections.
What is your dream travel destination and why?
My dream travel destination would be Bora Bora in French Polynesia! I love beaches, nature, and summer so, the pristine beaches, and the lush greenery make it perfect.
What are you listening to or watching right now?
I am currently rewatching Modern Family (highly recommend it!) My other favorites would have to be Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Peaky Blinders, Sherlock and How I Met Your Mother.