Jorge Octavio Virues Delgadillo
What are your main responsibilities or activities in your current position?
Give lectures to bachelor and graduate students, as well as perform research in topics such as food rheology and characterization, mechanical behaviour of biological materials and food products, etc.
How does your current work relate to your graduate degree?
Mechanical behaviour and rheology help me to undestand the basics of all material behaviour and properties, doesn´t matter if the material is a living tissue, a food product or a synthetic polymer. And thus, my graduate degree help me a lot in my lectures and research activities, doesn´t matter if the material analyzed is new for me.
What do you like and what do you find challenging about your current position?
Developing new research projects is always difficult but exciting for me.
Is your current career path as you originally intended?
It is more or less is what I wanted, although some times we don't have the funds needed for a research activity and we need to find other options.
What motivated you to pursue graduate work at UBC?
To get a PHD degree that help me be positioned in a well known University and once there, help students with their academic chores and research activities.
What did you enjoy the most about your time as a graduate student at UBC?
The great advice from my supervisors and all the things you might be able to do as a UBC student.
What key things did you do, or what attitudes or approaches did you have, that contributed to your success?
Honesty and hard work in all the activities you need to perform. Always give a 110 % in all you want to do.
What is your best piece of advice for current graduate students preparing for their future careers?
Always give it your best effort, even when things are not going well, collaborative work helps a lot to solve some of the problems you might have in your thesis project.
How did you find out about/obtain your current position?
I got a job interview in the university where I did my bachelor degree, so that was a lucky surprise for me.
What challenges did you face in your graduate degree, or in launching your career?
At some point I needed to finish my doctoral thesis in only one month because I got the job offer almost at the same time of my final graduate dissertation. It was a challenge, but I needed to do my best to address the problem.
How are jobs normally posted and filled in your organization or industry?
There's only one or two full time professor job interviews per year, so it's difficult to get a job in my University. The jobs are normally posted on the website of the institution.