The MacCast Unconventional — Peter & Andrew
Welcome to The MacCast Unconventional, where we celebrate the inspiring stories and successes of more than 210,000 Mac alumni worldwide. Discover incredible journeys, innovative discoveries, and life-changing experiences that our alumni have embarked on since their time at McMaster University. We aim to keep you engaged and entertained as we delve into the diverse industries, groundbreaking research, and impactful contributions made by our remarkable alumni community. From entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators to artists, athletes, and social change-makers, join us as we uncover the stories that define McMaster graduates.
Whether you’re looking for career advice, personal growth, or simply want to stay connected with your alma mater, The MacCast Unconventional is your go-to resource for inspiration and entertainment. Tune in for a dose of inspiration and fun as we showcase the immense talent and achievements of our McMaster Alumni.
Enhancing paediatric care in Africa was not what Peter (’06) thought he’d be doing when he graduated
Even through many career changes, he’s always kept a focus on helping people
When Peter and his girlfriend (now his wife) were applying to university, they knew they needed to find a school they could both attend, so it had to have a diverse educational offering — and McMaster was it. So they applied, and got accepted, and set out to learn the things they needed to know to help reach the goal of changing the world.
“By the time we finished, the master plan was that we had just taken four years for ourselves to invest in our learning and growing,” he says. “And we both had a sense that maybe we ought to spend the same amount of time, the next four or five years, doing something for other people.”
After graduating, Peter found himself working as a Corps and Communication Officer for the Salvation Army in Canada. For him, it was a transformative experience, and he learned a lot from the community members he worked with. From there, he and his wife looked to work for NGOs and Non-Profits that set out to support and enhance the lives of other people around the world. It was a career journey that saw them move to the middle east in 2012, where they worked for various humanitarian and educational organizations in countries such as Kuwait and Iraq.
Now, he is the Executive Director at BethanyKids International, which provides compassionate paediatric care across seven countries in Africa and offers training programming to health care professionals.
In this week’s episode, you’ll hear Peter talk about why he and his wife felt compelled to pack up their lives in Canada and move around the world for a career journey that puts community at the centre of it all.
For Andrew Edwards (’07), returning to his east coast home wasn’t supposed to lead to a career journey in marine technology
What started out as a six month visit home turned into an amazing career journey
Andrew was first drawn to McMaster because of its reputation for being a big university with a small-town feel. That, and being an east coast kid, he felt the all-too-well-known draw to the big city.
“I fell in love with Mac at first sight,” he says. “The campus, the culture, the people…I had no regrets.”
The idea was that after graduating with a degree in engineering, he would find a job somewhere in Ontario and only return home for visits. But when his grandfather in Newfoundland needed some extra help, Andrew found himself moving back east for what he thought would be a six-month stint. But after applying for, and ultimately accepting, a job as a research engineer at Memorial University, six months turned into years and a career journey he never considered.
“It really started me on this path that I didn’t anticipate,” he says. “Newfoundland really is a phenomenal place…being near the ocean embeds itself.”
Andrew has since found himself working for several companies that specialize in marine technology, helping to develop technologies such as training simulations for marine applications. Most recently he started as a senior Engineer with a company that specializes in sustainable mining from the seabed.
Listen to this week’s episode of Mac Alumni’s podcast, Unconventional to Learn more Andrew’s incredible career journey and his work in finding new ways to deliver responsible seabed mining for a sustainable future.
McMaster has more than 210,000 alumni living in 140 countries around the world, and they are some of the most amazing people you would ever want to meet. The Unconventional podcast will introduce some of our alumni who are working — in the arts, as cutting-edge entrepreneurs, leading the way in health, education, technology and more — to make our world a brighter place in their own unique way. Download the latest episode, or catch up if you’ve missed one, on Apple, Spotify, or Soundcloud.
