Harvesting Experience

“Believe in yourself and challenge gender stereotypes and biases. Be an advocate for diversity and inclusion in STEM by pushing boundaries. Share your journey and experiences with others, especially young girls. You can be a source of inspiration for the next generation of women in STEM.” – Manika Sahu

Manika Sahu grew up in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. From a young age, she was drawn to the arts, spending 14 years as a professional classical dancer, and acting in various productions. “My decision to pursue engineering abroad came as a surprise to my teachers and friends, considering my artistic background,” says Manika, “However, my father has consistently been a source of encouragement and confidence, guiding me towards a STEM education and obtaining a technical engineering degree, while emphasizing the importance of a well-rounded education.

Manika recently completed a co-op term with McCain Foods at their Coaldale facility in Alberta. The facility primarily produces and exports frozen French fries to Japan and North America.

“I began with the Quality and Sanitation department in the 21 Day Line Validation project,” says Manika, “This project aimed to rigorously test and confirm the maintenance of sanitary conditions across the production line throughout a complete 21-day cycle. During this, I revamped the data collection spreadsheet with automated Excel functions for improved user-friendliness.” Manika didn’t have previous experience with microbiology environmental swab collection; however, she quickly diversified her skillset as she processed various samples to check air quality and the presence of mold and E. coli.

Her next project, of which she was given the opportunity to take on a leadership role, focused on Piece Count and Length Optimization for various French fry products, each with unique production specifications. The primary objective of this project was to identify the specific locations in the production and packaging processes where French fry length was being compromised due to breakage.

“I constructed my dataset and identified the drop points and possible breakage locations within both the processing and packaging areas. Subsequently, I developed a detailed plan for collecting samples at each of these identified locations.”, she says. Impressively, her dataset amassed over 15,000 data points and paved the way for high-level analysis.

On top of her projects, Manika received extensive professional development training at McCain Foods and had the opportunity to present to key stakeholders, including senior members of staff. She says the presentation was well received and marked a successful conclusion to her time with the company.

Manika praised her manager, Josiah, who helped her gain confidence which ignited her desire to excel, and her colleagues, for their guidance, kindness, and patience.  “A big shoutout to the other three interns who helped me count fries in the Piece Counting project,” she says.

We spoke to Manika’s manager, Josiah, who discussed her development throughout the work term. “A big area of growth for Manika this summer was difficult conversations. It is something all young professionals struggle with. Manika exhibited growth in the way she approached, handled, and executed these conversations throughout her work term Parsing and analyzing data,” he says, “She also learned several tools that helped her not just collect data for us but interpret it and paint a story that provided value to our operations.”

Josiah also had exciting news to discuss—McCain Foods has a 600-million-dollar expansion planned for the Alberta facility. “We are making the largest investment in company history and will double our production capacity,” he says, “The project will also have a heavy focus on environmental sustainability. It includes plans for wind turbines and solar panels to provide 100 percent renewable electricity to the facility, as well as the use of renewable biogas generated at the site’s wastewater treatment facility to offset natural gas demand. We are very excited!

McCain Foods extended a full-time job offer to Manika, commencing after graduationin the spring. She discussed her academic achievement, “I am proud to share that I will be the first woman in my family to acquire an engineering degree,” says Manika, “This achievement holds special significance for me and my parents, and I hope it can serve as an inspiration to future generations within my family and beyond.”

Updated Fbruary 2024