Engineering grad still acts up

Stretch

When Nathan Stretch first came to UVic in 1999, he seriously considered taking theatre. Active in drama in high school, he was passionate about the stage, but also had strengths in the sciences.

Ultimately, he decided on electrical engineering, which combined theoretical science with a degree of creativity and hands-on application.

"There's always that struggle to find something you enjoy doing that could also provide you with a future," he says. "I'm really interested in the theoretical aspect of engineering, figuring out how things work down to their most basic level. It also gives me the opportunity to problem-solve."

Stretch particularly enjoyed his final engineering project. He worked with fellow students Cameron Muhule and Angus Errington to build an underwater locator device that uses sound waves. It could potentially be used to track undersea divers from the surface.

The project tied for first place in a competition judged by members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It's fitting, then, that Stretch has won the IEEE Victoria Section Gold Medal as the top student in electrical engineering. "The whole process of putting our knowledge to use and seeing our education in practise was very exciting," says Stretch. "It was a great experience."

This summer, Stretch is interning at an electronics company in Belgium. After that, he's considering an MBA. Of course, he could also return to acting - he recently appeared in a public service announcement that will appear on CH-TV this summer. For this graduate, anything's a possibility.

Stretch was assisted during the course of his studies by several scholarships, including the UVic Excellence Scholarship, the UVic Entrance Scholarship, and the Norman Yarrow Scholarship in Engineering.