Reflecting on My Time at Zaber Technologies
My first taste of the culture at Zaber was when members of my student design team were invited for a tour around the office, and I was struck by the enthusiasm everyone had while sharing about what they were working on. The conversations I ended up having made it clear to me that Zaber was a place with plenty of technical expertise and an even greater eagerness to share it.
Thus, when it came time to look for my next co-op term during my second year at UBC, Zaber was the first place I checked for openings. Sure enough, a role on the testing team caught my eye, and four days later, I found myself in a virtual interview. This then led to a longer interview—full of questions that really let me demonstrate my interests and abilities. The whole process was incredibly encouraging and I could tell that the team wanted to make sure that the role was a great fit for both of us.
Once I started, I quickly realized that a co-op at Zaber is very much what you make of it. With test requests from other teams constantly flowing in, I had the unique opportunity to pick the challenges I wanted to tackle. From this, I got to learn lots about a variety of test methods—ranging from electrostatic discharge compliance to interferometry-based position error measurement. Throughout my term, the team really valued my fresh perspective and encouraged me to suggest improvements to our processes.
Over the course of the term, Zaber provided the resources and trust for me to explore beyond what I could have ever expected from a single co-op. I got the chance to design and fabricate specialized tools and jigs with the waterjet cutter and CNC mill and merge code into our production Python repositories, all while getting feedback that helped me rapidly improve in each of these disciplines. I even had the opportunity to be a beta tester for a release of the software team's MATLAB Zaber Motion Library, and got to see one of my suggestions transform into a full feature of the package!
As for culture, I think the demonym "Zaberian" captures what Zaber is all about. It represents a culture where the "whole is greater than the sum of its parts", and everyone has something to contribute, whether that's in an absurd lunch-break hypothetical scenario or a team meeting where a fresh set of eyes can spot something new. Perhaps the best example of this during my co-op term was Zaber's annual internal hackathon: ZX Day, where I got to see firsthand the true collaborative creativity across teams at the company.
My time at Zaber was super rewarding, and was an incredible opportunity for me to develop a bunch of skills stretching across the entire engineering spectrum. My experience here has certainly shaped my perception of what a great workplace environment is—unique technical challenges along with the supportive community that defines Zaberian spirit.
Originally published on the Zaber Technologies testimonials page. Reproduced with permission.