By Claire Zimmerman

Debbie Ha (BEng’10) was a little girl when she made her first foray into Photoshop, pasting her little sister’s head on the body of a dinosaur. Her passion for creativity hasn’t waned, though her projects have gotten smaller—a lot smaller.

Practicing precision

Ha now works as a research and development engineer at Micralyne, a company in Edmonton, Alberta, that specializes in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)—miniscule electrical devices that can be as small as a thousandth of a millimeter.

When Ha goes to work, she suits up from head to toe, walks through an air shower, and then enters a completely sterile, temperature- and humidity-controlled workspace, where she works on projects like a retinal implant to help people see.

Though engineering involves plenty of math and a mind for the technical, Ha says she’s drawn to it for the same reason she loves graphic design. “I like making things,” she says. “Even when I’m just sitting at a table or listening to a talk, I tend to seek out scraps of paper or bits of putty and I’ll start making something, unconsciously.”

Finding her niche

Ha studied electrical engineering in her undergrad, during which she completed three co-op terms: first at Nova Scotia Power, second at LED Roadway Lighting and third at J.J. MacKay Canada. In her second co-op, she realized research and development was the direction she wanted to take. “I think it’s really important to try different things, and see what you like, and what you don’t like.”

A few months after graduation, Ha dove into a masters program at the University of Alberta, specializing in microsystems and nanodevices.

Throughout her time in school, Ha honed her graphic design skills with side projects, designing merchandise for Dal engineering students and the IT department at Saint Mary’s University, as well as brochures and other materials for her father’s furniture store, West Art Furnishings.

A family business

Ha’s father, Franz, moved the family from Singapore in 2001 when she was 14. “After a harrowing escape from the 1998 race riots in Jakarta, he decided that it just wasn’t safe and started looking into business opportunities in other countries.”

He chose Halifax, she says, because it was “a growing city with a market that was not yet saturated, seemed a good place to raise a family, and had good universities.”

Ha spent more than four years working in his store, doing everything from secretarial work and bookkeeping to training employees. Eventually, she started designing ads for the store.

Creative in all contexts

For Ha, the drive to create is there in everything she does—even on her days off. She maintains a side business in graphic design so she can keep her passion alive, and is currently working on a project for the University of Alberta’s nanofabrication facility. “It’s nice to be able to switch your brain to something else after a day of work,” she says.

At Micralyne, Ha’s team takes ideas from clients, then maps and develops them until they are ready for production. “In graphic design it’s similar,” she says. “A client comes to you with an idea. You have to design something that looks good, that you’re proud of, but that also pleases the customer. There’s some problem solving in there, and lots of creativity. That’s why I like them both.”