Q&A with Matthew Kloet

Matthew Kloet

Fourth Year Mechatronic System Engineering and with a Long-term Co-op

Matthew is a student ambassador here to answer your questions. Click here to contact Matthew.

Why Western Engineering?

I chose Western Engineering because my Mom went here when she did her undergraduate. She’s a French teacher by education and greatly enjoyed her time here, and recommended I apply as well when I was applying for universities back in grade 12. I was also initially attracted to Western’s business program and general fist year. I ended up taking some economics and accounting courses in case I decided to pursue the business direction but ended up just pursuing just my Mechatronics Degree.

What do you do in your spare time?

I spend a lot of my time reading, it’s my go-to relaxing activity. I also love to cycle in the summer, I’m a massive road cyclist and have cycled in quite a few different places in my life, feel free to ask! I also love to ski, so when it gets too cold to bike I switch to skiing as much as possible, both cross country and downhill. I also play a lot (probably too many…) videogames, mainly RPG’s and shooters. I’m currently playing through Baldur’s Gate 3 and Armored Core 6!

What is a fun fact about yourself?

I have toured almost all of the Netherlands by bike when I was 10 years old! My family and I went on a vacation trip to the Netherlands and bringing only what we could carry on a bike, toured around most of the norther parts of the Netherlands over the course of 24 days. It was a great experience and one I hope to do again when I graduate this spring!

Can you talk about your experiential learning experiences?

So I’m just finishing up my fifth year of Mechatronics Engineering and I was very lucky to get a co-op at a Hamilton based engineering firm called L3Harris WESCAM. WESCAM makes cameras for helicopters and planes, and I joined their electrical engineering new products team and got to design PCB’s, code microcontrollers, and even ship some of my own work to our newest product lines. I loved working there, I got to work on interesting projects and the environment was fantastic. The work environment was hybrid, but because I was working on proprietary and controlled hardware for a large portion of my work, I was in the office most of the time. Getting the chance to experience working at a large engineering firm for 16 months really lets you settle into the groove of a 9-5 lifestyle, and greatly helps you decide what you want to pursue later in life based on what you did or did not enjoy.

Study tips for current/future students?

So, I personally really struggle with calculus and advanced math. I found that doing the homework problems regularly greatly helped me succeed. Doing it regularly kept me informed and engaged with the content and made going to class easier to stomach when I knew most of what was going on. I ended up having to take first year calculus twice, and the second time around I had more time to do homework and it greatly helped my grades. In first year you’re extremely busy and prioritizing your workload is just a part of life.

Can you talk about your residence experience?

In my fist year I lived in Essex hall, the apartment style dorms with private bedrooms and a kitchenette. I value my alone time and loved having my own private room to retreat to when I was “peopled-out”. I lived on the living-learning floor, where everyone on the floor is also a first-year engineering student. I would recommend applying for that. When you have an exam, everyone else in engineering has the same exam, you rarely get loud neighbors around exam season. Around January I found a three-bedroom apartment with two friends from Essex Hall and we signed the lease for the next year. Residence is a great half-step out into independence, not fully left to your own devices but still requiring lots of adult choices like time management and getting along with your roommates. Thankfully your food is taken care of by the cafeteria and your rooms get cleaned twice a month by cleaning staff so I could just purely focus on my education.