Melanie Worobetz ChatterHigh Profile

Background

Melanie grew up in Leamington, Ontario. During high school, she wanted to pursue a career in a creative field. She initially attended Dalhousie University where she earned a Diploma in Costume Studies. She then studied Fashion Design at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), earning a Bachelor of Design. 

As much as she enjoyed the creative outlets of costume design, she struggled with finding a sense of purpose and wanted to work to make a difference in the world. She returned to Dalhousie as a mature student to earn her Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering. Through her course work and various co-op work terms, Melanie has found that engineering offers numerous problem-solving opportunities that require creative solutions. 

Career

Melanie worked as a freelance costume designer and as a retail manager for several years. She enjoyed many of the creative aspects of the work, but especially the combination of creative design and the technical execution of creating costumes and apparel. Melanie thrived at problem solving and agility and hoped the pivot to engineering would allow her to flex those skills.

Melanie started as a co-op student at Irving Oil’s refinery working as a Reliability Engineer. She enjoyed her work terms so much that she wanted to continue working with Irving Oil after graduation. Melanie is currently an Engineer in Training within Irving Oil's New Graduate Rotational Program. As part of the company’s Engineering Services Mechanical Engineering Team, she works on project teams to design and procure new and replacement equipment for the refinery. Melanie loves that she gets to work on multidisciplinary teams to complete a variety of different projects to make the refinery more reliable and efficient using all the skills she has developed throughout school and her previous career path.