Star student builds a bright future

“The last time I was in a newspaper, I was about ten,” laughs Craig Bakker. But behind his laidback and unassuming demeanour is a very accomplished student whose time in the spotlight is long overdue.

The mechanical engineering student graduates at the top of his class this spring with both the Governor General’s Silver Medal and the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering Medal.

From a young age, Bakker says he had an interest in building things. When he began university, engineering seemed a natural fit with his love of math and physics. “It suits me,” he says.

Bakker, who is from Winfield, BC, says he chose UVic because of the reputation of its engineering program. He was also drawn to the Canada-Japan Co-op Program in which UVic participates, as he studied Japanese in high school. He spent his third year in Japan with the program, which connects Canadian undergraduates with Japanese businesses. It added a year to his degree, but the extra time at UVic allowed him to complete a minor in math, a discipline he finds very useful in mechanical engineering.

In the engineering program, Bakker has made some lasting connections. He praises the support he has received from the Faculty of Engineering. “They’re a really helpful group of people,” he says. The sense of community among engineering students has been huge as well, he says, “even if it is brought about by extenuating circumstances—long hours and late nights.”

Even with the heavy workload of the engineering program, Bakker has found time for fun. During his degree, he has sung with a vocal jazz choir, played soccer, and danced with the swing dance and ballroom dance campus clubs. Not only that, but Bakker is also active in his church, teaching Sunday school and providing technical support.

Winning the award is important to Bakker in a way that goes beyond academics. “It’s important to me not just as an engineer but as a Christian,” he says. In some circles, he says, religion is seen as anti-intellectual and unscientific. Bakker is proud to show science and religion can be united. “It’s important to speak in actions louder than words that those stereotypes are not necessarily true,” he says.

Even at the time of his graduation, Bakker isn’t slowing down. He will miss his own convocation, as he will be in Japan to present a paper at the World Congress on Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, an international engineering conference. In the fall, he begins a three-year engineering PhD program at the University of Cambridge on a full scholarship, skipping right over a master’s degree. In the meantime, he plans to take the summer off for a very well-deserved break.