Working to Make Automation Easier
At Zaber, we're always working to lower the barriers to automation. Join David Goosen from our Mechanical Engineering Team as he shares how we try to make that happen.
My Journey to Production Engineering
My time at Zaber has followed a slightly unconventional path which has provided me with the opportunity to work in several departments. I started working on the Production team during high school. Due to Zaber’s flexibility in scheduling, I was able to work part-time during the evenings and weekends and switch to full-time work during summers and breaks. As a Production Technician, I assembled, tested, and troubleshooted linear stages and actuators, occasionally providing feedback to designers and the Production Engineering team when there were assembly issues or possible improvements to the process. I continued in this role while beginning my undergraduate degree
Building Embedded Skills - Experience from a Firmware Co-op
I first heard about Zaber through its outreach events at UBC. When I was searching for a co-op for my final term, Zaber’s strong reputation among design teams and recommendations I got from mutual friends made applying there an easy decision. I applied to the Embedded Software co-op position through the Zaber website. When I was applying, I was split between deciding whether to proceed with the firmware or software team because both suited my computer science background. I chose the firmware team and in hindsight, that was the perfect choice for me
Tech and Teamwork: Growth in Software
My time at Zaber has been a truly rewarding experience, filled with learning, growth, and collaboration. From the moment I joined the team, I felt supported and encouraged to explore new technologies and take on challenging projects. The environment at Zaber is welcoming and inspiring, making it an ideal place for someone eager to learn and contribute. In my first weeks at Zaber, I focused on getting familiar with the team's tech stack by working on smaller tasks related to the Zaber Launcher, the main app used by Zaber’s customers. These tasks helped me understand the technologies in use, like React and TypeScript, while also giving me insight into the software team’s mission
Mechanical Design: Optimal Learning Environment
Zaber has been on my radar since my first term at university, largely due to its reputation for providing Co-op students with meaningful work experience in a supportive environment. This became clear from the start of my hiring process when I was struck by the team's caring communication. I felt that the hiring staff genuinely cared about ensuring I made an informed decision aligned with my long-term career goals. With a variety of roles to fit any engineering interest, I found that by clearly communicating my aspirations, my supervisor made a visible effort to assign projects that matched my interests. While working on the mechanical team, I had the opportunity to make tangible improvements to many of Zaber’s products
MYAGI and More: My Co-op Experience
Having been part of a previous hiring process, Zaber reached out to me to see if I was interested in a Co-op position. The hiring team was accommodating; I got Covid before my interview, so the team took that into account and adjusted the process. I knew my interview would be technical and hard; I'd be expected to get lost in it, and knowing that helped. While the questions are designed to challenge you, the interviewers were good at guiding you if they knew what you were getting at. As Zaber specializes in precision motion control and has an excellent reputation amongst co-ops, I accepted an offer from Zaber believing it would be an ideal opportunity for a Mechanical Engineering student
Code and Culture: A Co-op's Perspective on Life a Zaber
My 4 months here at Zaber as a co-op on the firmware team were fantastic at showing me how companies should work. I applied and accepted my position at Zaber in a whirlwind after meeting them at a career fair just one day before the application deadline. The rush was worth it - after a quick screening followed by a more in-depth technical and personal interview with the team, I was offered the job. What really drew me in to Zaber was how un-corporate all the answers to my questions seemed, despite being quite a bit larger than any of my previous companies. They came off as a legitimately human-centric company (and have remained to do so), which was very refreshing to find
Applications Engineer
Once a happy Zaber customer; now a Zaberian striving to make other customers happy!In the summer of 2022, fresh out of university, I decided to find a role that would provide me with the best of both worlds- one that includes technical and people-oriented tasks. While weeding through various job descriptions I came across the title “Applications Engineer” posted by Zaber Technologies. I’ve worked with Zaber linear stages before so I felt a sense of familiarity and decided to apply. At that moment, I beamed with hope as the job described the balance between what I wanted. On the first day of the job, I noticed that Zaberians are welcoming and friendly
Recruitment
I understand that people’s initial perception of recruiters might be negative due to the prevalence of poor recruitment practices across the industry. However, I want to provide you with an insider's perspective on recruitment at Zaber and how we strive to make meaningful and relevant connections. Recruitment plays a crucial role in various aspects of our company. It enables career growth, fosters personal development, and ensures synergy throughout the organization. Acting in the best interest of both individuals and the company is a significant responsibility and privilege
ZX Day
Our annual hackathon is a chance for anyone at the company to put together a team and deliver something that they think is worthwhile. It's a short burst of autonomy where oversight and process tends to take a back seat to creativity and elbow grease. A number of our products and internal tools started out as ZX projects. And even if you don't work on a ZX project, the final stretch is always exciting to watch and culminates in presentations and celebrations.
Growing Culture: Impressions after Six Months
The most eye-opening lesson I’ve learned in my first six months at Zaber is the difference between imposing a company culture and actively nurturing one. Every company has their own unique culture and values. Zaber’s are based on shared responsibility and empowered decision making so everyone can actively contribute to making Zaber a great place to work, and to delivering great products to our customers. Those are great values to aspire to and you’ve probably heard other companies say things like that before. But, what has surprised and excited me most about Zaber isn’t just the culture itself, but how it is actively grown and how deeply it permeates the whole company as a result
My First Month
Being on the other side of the recruitment process was an interesting experience. Getting the opportunity to feel how some companies get back to you when they say they will, while others take a more. . . erm