There’s more to life than a career! Engineers tend to work 9-5 jobs, giving them time to focus on others things after work. Here’s how we see our future:
Melissa Griffin
Q&A WITH EngHERO: Melissa Griffin
Melissa Griffin is a Human Factors Analyst, whose work focuses on improving safety by improving the systems that people live and work in. Instead of trying to change how people should act, Melissa and her colleges advocate for changing the system so it’s more natural for people to interact normally.
Q: What did you wish you knew about engineering back when you were in high school?
That engineering is actually really fun! The very first day of frosh week I realized that there was a wonderful community of students who actually liked science and math, and that a lot of them were really fun. I also wish I knew that you can do a lot with an engineering degree, and it doesn’t have to mean you’ll end up behind a desk crunching numbers 24/7. In my current role, I have the chance to get out into the field and spend time with a range of other disciplines and specialists including other engineers, psychologists, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, policy makers, regulatory bodies, researchers and administrators.
Q: What’s your proudest accomplishment as an engineer?
At this point, probably getting my P.Eng. Another proud moment was when I got my first job.
Q: Tell me about a time in your career when your work has been about discovery or curiosity?
The role that I’m in now has a lot to do with curiosity and discovery. I am working in health care research as a Human Factors Engineer and as part of that we get to ask and answer research questions. I also have a lot of freedom in my work to explore areas that interest me. For example, right now I do quite a bit of work with different hospitals and cancer centres, helping them to make their technologies, processes and environments safer for patients and staff. I look at workflows, how people tend to interact with technologies, and how different polices and regulations affect the healthcare system. When we see something out in the field that is of interest, often, if we can find supporters and funding, we are able to further explore these areas to improve patient safety.
Q: What’s your job now (title, company, description)? How did you get there (education, internships, mentors, other experiences)? Where did you think you were going when you started out?
Human Factors Analyst/Engineer at University Health Network (UHN) as part of the research team HumanEra. I am part of a multi-disciplinary team that tries to improve patient safety by improving the systems that people work and live within. We know that people have certain strengths and weaknesses and instead of trying to change how people should act, we advocate for changing the system so it’s naturally easier for people to interact correctly. I had no idea I’d end up where I am now. I started in Mech Eng at Queen’s University, and ended up working in the automotive industry for 2 years, first as a Project Engineer and then as an Account Manager.
After a couple of years there I realized I wanted to do something that had more of a positive impact on other people. I came across the Masters of Clinical Engineering program at U of T, which appealed to me because it included several internships. Through this program I completed a thesis about applying human factors to home care environments, and did an internship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the Clinical Engineering department, at the Toronto Rehab Institute in the Dysphagia Lab, and at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, where I currently work.
My thesis supervisor was a great influence on me and is now my boss. When I started out, I had no idea this kind of job even existed and didn’t know much about human factors. Having my undergrad Mechanical Engineering degree opened the door for me to get into the Master’s program that led to where I’m working today.
Q: Do you feel your work contributes to society? How so?
I definitely think the work I do contributes to society. Our teams’ mandate is to improve the safety of patients and health care workers by making the systems they work and live in safer. We get to be activists for patients and front line staff and highlight ways in which things could be improved. We also do a fair bit of education for front line staff to help them identify areas of risk, so they can make their own practices safer and more robust.
Q: Why do we need more female engineers?
I think women are able to provide a unique perspective for many engineering problems. In the work I do, I am often interacting with nurses, who predominantly tend to be women so I think it makes it a bit more comfortable and easier for them to open up about what they do and the challenges they face in their day to day jobs. Also, many of the female engineers I know are great mentors. We need more female engineers because we can be creative problem solvers, empathetic, and approach problems from a slightly different perspective than our male counterparts.
Q: Do you have any hobbies/passions that give you a unique perspective in engineering?
I love to travel and so seeing how other countries approach design and technology has always been interesting to me. There are often several possible solutions to a problem or challenge, especially when it comes to systems and design, and so seeing how different cultures take on these challenges can be inspiring and useful in helping you think about your own engineering challenges.
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Eng Pranks!
Engineering is a demanding pursuit. Every once and awhile you need to let loose and prank!
Here are 10 amazing #engPranks!
10) LET’S GET MARRIED
At the University of Michigan during a lecture a group of students assemble to put together a fake weeding. It begins with an a cappella group standing up and signing while the bridesmaids and groomsmen walk down the aisle to the front of the class. Followed by the entry of the groom from the side. Afterwards numerous students begin throwing rose pedals while the bride walks down the aisle. The priest enters and begins the ceremony. Soon enough another student objects to the marriage saying he wants the education he pays for every minute. Which causes students dressed as security to come in and take him out of the class. Then the students get married and the a cappella group sings as they all leave the room. This video is funny because the students put a lot of time and effort into it, there were many people involved and everyone went along with it (even the teacher).
9) EXAM FLASH MOB
This prank/flash mob took place at university of Toronto (#Represent) during the engineering exam so the beginning seems normal. Students sit down and concentrate on the paper. Till music comes on and the teacher starts asking what’s going on and student after student sing a verse but to everyone the teachers begin playing their violin. Shocker.
8) A BUG ON THE CLOCK TOWER
Engineering students at UBC decide to go to the extremes of pranking to bring back to their tradition of initiating this in the past, after a two year gap of no pranking. After seeing this, I wonder, how did they even get a beetle up to a clock tower, with the use of a gigantic ladder perhaps? Engineering students clearly think outside of the box when it comes to pranking. The engineering students have not stop with their pranks after their bold statement with the use of a volkswagon beetle since they also have “renovated” their Dean’s office into a janitor’s closet. It is amazing how the dean of UBC can laugh at the prank, and joke around with it as well. Maybe he was reminiscing about his old pranking days when he was studying in university? This video showcases the different ways UBC engineering students relive their stress from studying, completing labs and assignments, and writing examinations.
7) CHICKEN DANCE
This Prank only gets better after a student dressed in a chicken costume and performs the chicken dance at Michigan University during a lecture, a rather impatient and annoyed teacher decides to put an end to the interruption by, jumping over the desk and running after the chicken, this pranks reaction from the teacher made it all the more fun to laugh at !
This prank started with just a mild idea and in the end become a rather great and funny event.
6) AVAST YE MATEYS, WE’RE BOARDIN THIS HERE COMMENCEMENT
The engineering department at this college interrupted the graduation ceremony to pull a prank. They started playing music and all the students as well as the man giving the speech on stage were absolutely startled. The engineering students clicked a control and the system started to unravel a funny flag from the top of the stage. This was a funny idea because you could tell everyone was very tense and nervous about this graduation. Everyone got a good laugh out of it and you could tell it eased up the mood.
5) CAR ON A DOME
In May 1994 the Great MIT Dome was topped with a campus cruiser car fully assembled complete with a dummy driver. This car actually turned out to be a Chevy Cavalier which was broken apart and fully assembled a top the dome then painted to look like the cruiser. I love this prank not only because it took more than the usual amount of skill (building a car on a domed surface) but the car they chose to symbolize was one of authority and I find it funny and exciting how they manipulated that.
4) PLAY TETRIS WITH A BUILDING
Engineering students at MIT transformed one of the campus buildings into a giant and interactive Tetris game. Not only was this fun and visually entertaining but it blew up a popular culture fad of our age which was pretty ingenious in my opinion. It was accomplished by attaching coloured LED lights and controls and syncing them to input across the street at podium.
3) THIS IS NOT THE DROID YOU’RE LOOKING FOR
In 2010 the students at Carleton College transformed the Goodsell Observatory into the famous R2-D2 from Star Wars. This prank is particularly amazing because so much effort was required to create this work of art and the result was hilarious. The old building was simple and boring. Since pranking during the first year for engineering students was a tradition, the students took advantage of the opportunity to transform the typical building into something creative, new and funny. Lastly, for all the Star Wars fans in campus, this sight must have been a delightful surprise.
2) BLACK MAGIC
It is awesome because you expect one thing but see another happening due to the unique properties of Gallium. To the outside, it looks like an ordinary aluminum spoon, but give to a person to use to stir their tea/coffee/hot chocolate and the spoon will “disappear”. It’s a well known science and engineering prank. It is related to engineering because of their long tradition of using unique things in “ordinary ways” and flips the concept that all the things that engineers come up with are solely because they are helpful (they can play practical jokes too!). This video reveals how the trick is done (because Gallium has a different and lower melting point/temperature than stainless steel or aluminum.
1) EMBEDDING A CAR IN A TREE
Students from University of Western Ontario’s faculty of engineering decided to play a prank on their entire school by “embedding” a car within a tree. It’s awesome because it is technically impossible but made possible through engineering. It’s funny to image how people would react to seeing a “floating” car in the middle of the green space, a bit surreal. The acronym ERTW is also painted on one side of the car. It apparently stands for “Engineers Rule the World”. It really shows that engineers like to work hard (devising the prank) but also like to play hard (having a bit of fun despite their busy schedules).
Jane Simmons
Q&A WITH EngHERO: Jane Simmons
Jane Simmons is an environmental engineer who has been involved with various awesome projects with Engineers Without Boarders.
Q: What’s one thing you wish you knew about engineering back when you were in high school?
I wish I knew how much of an opportunity there was to make a difference on lots of things I cared about… that engineering wasn’t just a boring math or science subject.
Q: What’s your proudest accomplishment as an engineer?
Before I did my masters I got to work with a small municipality having some trouble figuring out how to calculate their water usage, and I got to work really closely with some people in their homes. We put together an easier way for them to do these calculations. It was a bit of a long process but when we finally got the program up and running and they were able to use it, and really appreciated having it, I think that was one of the proudest moments I’ve had.
Q: Tell me about a time in your career when your work has been about discovery or curiosity?
Almost everything we work on has an element of discovery, it’s a big part of what we do.
Q: What are you doing these days?
I’m an environmental engineer in training, about six months away from getting my full engineering designation. I work for an engineering consulting company in their water and waste water group, working on a lot of environmental projects related to water and waste water for municipal clients.
Q: Do you feel your work contributes to society? How so?
Water and waste water affects everyone every single day. A lot of people don’t think about how water gets to their tap, of where is goes when you flush the toilet. It’s sort of an “undercover” important thing that people are affected by.
Q: Why do we need more female engineers?
I think if we’re going to actually solve some of the really big problems, whether it’s climate change, health, related to transportation or anything else, we need to have people from a variety of backgrounds working on them and thinking about it.
Q: Do you have any hobbies/passions that give you a unique perspective in engineering?
I’ve been involved with Engineers Without Borders for about 8 or 10 years now. So much of what they do is about applying the engineering problem solving approach to really important problems that you wouldn’t really think of as being engineering problems. Things like poverty and economic development. So problems that come to me in my daily life and professional life I think, “So how can I approach this problem, and what sort of tools do I have to bring because I am an engineer and because I have that way of looking at things.
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Check out Engineers Without Borders!
Ann Makosinski
Q&A WITH EngHERO: Ann Makosinski
Ann Makosinski is an amazing young talented student who contributed in the field of engineering by creating a power-less battery using the human hand. She greatly impacted society positively and helped others without electricity see in the dark.
Q: What’s your proudest accomplishment?
Bringing awareness to people who have no electricity, it’s nice to help kids in counties without power.
Q: Tell me about a time in your career when your work has been about discovery or curiosity?
One of the times when curiosity came was when I was small and asking what is this? about everything around me. And trying to find out what it is like for example; bugs, questioning everything about me when I was small helped me along the way for a curious path into engineering in the future.
Q: What’s your job now (title, company, description)? How did you get there (education, internships, mentors, other experiences)? Where did you think you were going when you started out?
I’m in high school, grade 11. I work at Kumon and have been attending since I was grade 3. I help kids read and write. My parents told me to join but later on, they (Kumon) offered me a job there. I wasn’t that smart when I was young so I didn’t know what to do, later my parents helped me with my studies by placing me there, it helped me a lot.
Q: Do you feel your work/invention contributes to society? How so?
Well, I hope my invention helps the society. I want to help others see in the night especially if they don’t have electricity. I’m really looking forward for my invention in the future to be a useful device.
Q: Why do we need more female engineers?
We need more female engineer because females have bright ideas as men, and also the media is causing more stereotypes, so we really need to get the word out there and that woman have good ideas. Not all woman have to become for example housekeepers (not that they’re bad) ,there are other opportunities out there for them.
Q: Why did you want to contribute in the field of engineering?
I just wanted to explore a bit. For example like my invention, I wanted to see if humans can create battery-less flash light. I was just interested.
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Want to learn more about Ann’s invention? Check out her CBC article here!