From aerospace engineering to beyond: Priya’s journey to JDI IT

When she was a child, Priya Dharshini Muthu’s parents used to take her to the planetarium to learn about the cosmos. These outings helped to spark in Priya a desire to shoot for the stars, first through undergraduate and graduate degrees in aerospace engineering, then an MBA and now in a shift to the field of information technology. 

Through it all, a natural curiosity and passion for continuous learning have led Priya to where she is today as a business analyst with JDI IT. 

“It’s all about how curious you are, how you want to learn if you want to move forward,” Priya said. “It’s about being open and ready to learn.” 

Through her growing up years in India, Priya developed an interest in fixing things and learning about how things fly. She also had an affinity for math and physics. While in high school, she read about astronaut Kalpana Chawla, the first woman from India to go to space, and was inspired to pursue aerospace engineering. 

Coming from a more orthodox family where women didn’t continue education beyond high school, Priya credits her parents’ encouragement for starting her on her education journey. 

“I had the privilege of pursuing education because of my parents being very broad minded,” she said. “My father was like, ‘If you want to, you shouldn’t limit yourself.’” 

Priya became the first engineer in her family and followed it up by moving to Canada to earn a master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Concordia University. 

After completing her master’s degree, Priya returned to India to help with her family’s business. During this time, she worked in the aerospace manufacturing field while starting two businesses of her own. This experience led Priya to develop an interest in business. 

“I wanted to have a broader vision of how business works, how it can be managed well. I want to pursue an MBA,” she said. 

So, Priya returned to Canada, this time to attend the University of New Brunswick in Saint John for an MBA. 

It was during an internship as part of this program that Priya was first introduced to the business analyst role, opening a door to the information technology field. Working with business stakeholders to identify solutions was familiar territory to the engineer by training. 

“It made me think that this was the right career for me because I was more active and very much engaged with the stakeholders,” she said. “It made me think that I should focus my goal toward becoming a business analyst.” 

In true Priya fashion, she saw what she wanted and went for it, joining JDI IT as a business analyst. In this role, Priya supports J.D. Irving, Limited’s Construction and Equipment Division by identifying technology solutions to address business challenges and fuel growth. It’s a role that allows her to draw upon her engineering background. 

“The curiosity for new technology is helping me understand what kind of solutions I can provide for the businesses,” she said.  

Her advice to other women interested in a career in engineering? “Pursue engineering with curiosity.” Afterall, like Priya, one never knows just where the path may lead. 

“I never limited myself,” she said. “I knew I could do it, so I just took a shot and was there.”