McGill Alumni Portal

When Yiming Xiao, BEng’09, was in the third year of his Bachelors of Engineering degree, he wanted to get some help in choosing his concentration, getting an internship and deciding what to do after he graduated.  So he signed up to get a mentor from McGill’s Mentor Program, run by the McGill Alumni Association (MAA) and McGill’s Career Planning Service (CaPS).

Yiming was matched with Jennifer Ng Ain Kin, BEng ’94, who had volunteered to have her name on the list of mentors.  Jennifer has been a mentor with the McGill’s Mentor Program since 2002.  Yiming takes over the story:

“Knowing my wide interests in visual arts and science, Jennifer suggested that I think outside of the box to explore options that would combine all my interests. At the same time, she offered me many constructive suggestions regarding my resume and cover letter writing from a perspective of an experienced professional. From her, I learnt more details about the application of electrical engineering in medicine to industry. This, along with my summer internship at the Montreal Neurological Institute, helped me to decide to redirect my career objective and go into medical imaging.  So I applied for the Masters in BioMedical Engineering at McGill.”

Jennifer not only helped Yiming make some academic and career decisions, but also encouraged him to join the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), “the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity.”  Jennifer has been an IEEE member for over 20 years and has been an active volunteer for over a decade within various levels of IEEE. Yiming got involved in their activities locally in Montreal and beyond.

Yiming says:  “ With the encouragement of Jennifer, I applied for the IEEE Life Member Graduate Study Fellowship, which is only awarded to one candidate worldwide and I got it!  Funding opportunities for international students pursuing Master’s degrees are rare, so winning this scholarship has enabled me to further my training in the field of biomedical engineering.  

Living a well-balanced life in engineering school is tough. I am quite grateful that Jennifer would patiently listen to my questions when I couldn’t get any answers from my peers or parents, and share her personal experience in the industry and wisdom of life with me to help me make well-informed moves in my career path.”

Last November, Jennifer came to Montreal from Ottawa, where she currently resides with her young family after a decade in the United States, to be with Yiming at the IEEE Montreal Section AGM Banquet where he, as the guest of honour, was recognized for this great accomplishment.

Jennifer recalls the event: ” Words cannot express how proud I am of Yiming and regardless of the prestigious IEEE award; he has accomplished a lot on his own. I must say we shared a very memorable moment at the AGM last November since I met him for the first time in person.  I conduct all my mentoring online, and through long distances usually, so I typically would never meet my mentees.

Mentoring for McGill or IEEE (where I also mentor my peers), the mentor-mentee relationship relies on a certain level of anonymity that both parties become quite comfortable with. Each mentee’s needs differ and the journeys that I have travelled with each one of them became more interesting and fulfilling than the destinations themselves. Even in this era of constant accessible technology, I try to impart my mentees with substantial and sustaining life lessons over immediate successes.

I would like to encourage other McGill alumni to become a mentor today!”