Co-op Spotlight: Basil Syed

Ontario Power Generation, Oshawa, Ontario

Age: 20

Program: Computer Science, Brock University

Year: 3

Length of Co-op: 12 months

I was hired as a co-op student for two work terms at Ontario Power Generation in January of 2023. My program is four and a half years long, with eight study semesters and three work semesters. OPG extended me for another term, which means I did all my work terms consecutively. A lot of students do their work terms in different places, but my university recommends if you get an extension offer you take it, because you’re more likely to be involved in bigger projects when you’re there longer. 

My job involves developing digital tools for the performance improvement team, which can involve anything from creating a database to a simple program where you press a button and an email gets sent out to someone. 

A few months into my co-op, a project lead asked our team to develop a report from data that comes from an organization outside OPG. About 30 stations across North America use this data and, at that time, all the stations were analyzing the data manually. At OPG, this was done 10 to 15 times a month, and it took at least three hours every time. It’s complicated because if one option is selected, you have to look at upwards of 30 other options and make sure they are not selected. 

I did most of the work on this project myself. I created an AI model to replicate what was being done manually. Every time I got feedback from the team, I would need to retrain the AI model and add to the functionality of the code. Now the program is on a website where people can submit their data and get a report in two and a half minutes. I heard there were talks of sharing the program with other stations, which is really cool.

One of the biggest things I’ve gained from my co-op experience is an introduction to the corporate world. In meetings, I see how people interact with each other and go about various procedures. This is different from a school assignment, where you largely get to do what you want. All of a sudden you need to get approvals and to document stuff so others understand what you’re doing. 

Everyone at my placement has been really helpful. People would ask me to fix something, but I had never seen or used the tool before. I would call up the person who built the tool and ask for help. I never had one person say, “Oh, I’m too busy, I can’t help you.”

Going back to school will be a change in pace. At university you’re always on the clock, whether you’re studying, or working on assignments or hanging out with friends. But it will be a good change.  —As told to Claire Gagne