Get to know F&S: Christine Tan
The fields of engineering and mechanical operations have traditionally been dominated by men, but that hasn’t stopped Christine Tan. She is one of four managers of building operations at the St. George campus—and the only woman.
Building operations managers ensure mechanical systems such as hot water boilers, ventilation systems, and fume hoods are running well and providing a safe and comfortable environment for the University community. They also work closely with faculty, students, and staff on maintenance, operational, and financial issues for required repairs and renewals while minimizing any impact on the users.
With a background in chemical engineering, Tan began her career in sugar manufacturing as a process engineer on the production line. From there, she became the maintenance supervisor of a food and pharmaceutical processing plant.
“There were very small profit margins in this industry, and it was critical to avoid production down time,” said Tan. “In this type of environment, you learn to think outside of the box and come up with ideas about to do things more efficiently and with minimum cost impact.”
Her role at the processing plant evolved into a manager position. From there, she began her career at the University of Toronto in 2011 as the first woman mechanical maintenance and operations manager at the Mississauga campus where she learned a lot about maintenance work and developed a keen interest in all kinds of operational equipment. She then moved downtown and continued her role at St. George.
Tan holds a strong conviction for gender inclusivity in the workplace. Throughout her career she’s been the first woman to hold each of her roles.
“Women have a lot to offer but are not given enough encouragement to enter this primarily male dominated field,” said Tan. “Having a gender balance will improve the mechanical operations field as both genders have different approaches to solving complex problems and collaborating with colleagues.”
F&S has embraced this vision of a diverse workforce and women are actively being empowered to take on leadership roles.
“We have lots of women in different groups within F&S and we recently hired a new building engineer who is a woman, bringing our total to three in this non-traditional role, which is so good see,” said Tan. “F&S is changing and hopefully we will have a more vibrant and diversified department moving forward.”
This is not the only change happening at F&S.
In January 2021, Tan took on a secondment to support F&S’s digital transformation, which is focused on implementing an integrated asset management system that will enable F&S to digitally manage maintenance work and physical assets. Part of the project involves an app that delivers service requests directly to staff on a mobile device, who will benefit from more timely and richer information on the client’s need as well as the history of the equipment they have to repair or maintain.
With her blend of industry knowledge and interpersonal skills, Tan is playing a critical role by gathering high quality equipment data and collaborating with staff across the team who will use the mobile app to ensure it meets their needs.
“Understanding the equipment and using well-structured digital data is paramount to knowing how to fix it and maintain it,” said Tan. “And people skills are the most important aspect of any collaborative process.”
She hopes to continue to improve the daily workflow for users.
“I want to be an expert on the system and have a working team to manage asset changes and understand the overall impact on the user experience.”
Tan has trailblazed in the operations and maintenance sector. She will continue to set an admirable example for women in similar fields to make their mark with every opportunity.