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engSPIRATIONAL

No more of this cheesy “inspirational quote of the day” business. These women and ideas are the real deal. We dare you to not be inspired by them (it’s impossible).

Pegah Garousi

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Q&A WITH EngHERO: Pegah Garousi

Pegah is a Technical Consultant at CiRBA Inc. She provides consulting services for capacity management of data centres including architecture and design, installation and configuration of software in enterprise environments and provides training to customers across the world.

Q: What’s one thing you wish you knew about engineering back when you were in high school?

In high school, I knew that engineering wouldn’t be easy but I didn’t know how much work and hours I had to put in for my studies. I had to completely change my studying techniques from the way I studied in high school in order to find the best and most efficient way of studying.

Q: What’s your proudest accomplishment as an engineer?

My proudest accomplishment as an engineer would be working on complex projects and being recognized for the work that I’ve done while being one of a few females. This always been a great accomplishment and it has greatly encouraged me to work even harder.

Q: Tell me about a time in your career when your work has been about discovery or curiosity?

I have always been a very curious person who always wants to make sure I have an in-depth understanding of how things are done and why. A few times, my curiosity has made me discover issues that no one else has discovered before and I was able to provide a solution that exceeded the one already in place.

Q: What are you doing these days?

I am a Technical Consultant at CiRBA Inc. I provide consulting services for the capacity management of data centres including architecture and design, installation and configuration of software in enterprise environments, integration, customization, operation of analyses and deliver training to customers across the world.

I studied Software Engineering at the University of Ottawa, which gave me a solid background on the life cycle of software development (requirement gathering, architecture and design, implementation, testing, deployment and support).

During my second to third year of university, I worked part-time as a Quality Assurance Analyst and changed to a Software Developer position in my last year of university. After graduation, I was interested in project management but having just graduated, I needed more experience before entering that role. And so I became a Systems Engineer, which entailed designing and managing complex engineering projects over their life cycles. Having this experience made me realize that I enjoyed solving technical problems than managing projects and so I have decided to continue my career in that.

Q: Do you feel your work contributes to society? How so?

Society today is being so technology driven, working in IT contributes a lot to the society. My work helps many of the Global 3000 companies who use CiRBA software to create leaner and more reliable data centres. With our professional services, we provide specialist advice to help reduce costs and allow them to be more efficient as well as allowing them to achieve any other business requirements by providing custom solutions.

Q: Why do we need more female engineers?

I think it’s a very common mistake that engineering is solely for men. There are currently more men than women in engineering but this doesn’t mean that it’s more difficult for women to be successful. There were about 12-15 females in different subjects of engineering in my year and we were all considered top of our classes.

I’m glad I picked engineering as I realized how interesting it was. It helps you to understand how anything around you works and it allows you to eventually be the engineer who creates one of those things.

Q: Do you think it is important for women to be involved in engineering? Or do you think having more males is sufficient and that it doesn’t really make a difference whether there are more women or not?

I believe that more women should be involved in engineering and that the male-driven stereotype should be broken. There are so much that women can contribute. Studies have proven that women are better at multitasking (which is something that is very important in a work environment). So many distractions could potentially impact the quality of your work. Women are more organized, even under pressure. During a study, they have observed that women spend more time thinking at the beginning whereas men tend to have impulses to jump in way too quickly.

In conclusion, being able to multitask effectively and think things through from the beginning are skills that women have which will give them the advantage over men. Women will not waste any time and/or money at a later stage in the project.

Isabel Deslauriers

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Q&A WITH engHERO: Isabel Deslauriers

Isabel Deslauriers is the national coordinator of Let’s Talk Science which organizes cool science activities for younger kids with the help of volunteers across the nation, with hopes of informing children about careers in science and engineering.Isabel Deslauriers in Italy

Q: What’s one thing you wish you knew about engineering back when you were in high school?

I received a lot of information about engineering from my parents. I think that one thing that is good to know is that in engineering you pick what you want to do; there are many jobs available with the same degree, so you can choose the single thing that is best for you to do as a job.

Q: What’s your proudest accomplishment as an engineer?

I think that my job, as a whole, impacts all the volunteers and kids who are involved with different projects. One of the most satisfying aspects is to able to help others discover engineering and their interests in it.

Q: Tell me about a time in your career when your work has been about discovery or curiosity?

There are two examples that I can think of. One is regarding me and using science to solve problems; I was working on cryptography and trying to discover the best code using different ways, and I really enjoyed the application of these skills and methods. The second one is when working with kids and seeing how they are amazed when discovering how to do something.

Q: What are you doing these days?

I’m a national coordinator of outreach at Let’s Talk Science which is a non-profit organization that plans and does hands-on science activities with kids in order to make them interested in science. In terms of education, I have a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. I was always interested in science and I attended a science camp during high school that made me interested in engineering, teaching and research. I also volunteered with Let’s Talk Science, because it brought together my interests.

Q: Do you feel your work contributes to society? How so?

I think that my work is helping to move our society towards making a better world. Especially because I’m part of a non-profit organization, I can really feel good about helping others make the most of their abilities.

Q: Why do we need more female engineers?

I think the question is that why aren’t there naturally more female engineers? I think we should give a chance to any girls to know she can to in engineering. Boys and girls are equally interested in science up to grade 5, and girls tend to be less interested afterwards, which is still unclear why, but it could be caused by stereotypes and their surroundings.

Q: You have done some work related to beekeeping and RC airplanes. Could you tell me about them and what made you interested in them?

As a child, I was always interested in science, like playing with ants and experimenting with their lifestyle and what influences it. I was also interested in artistic and mechanical things. RC airplanes are one of my hobbies that bring my interests together.

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Check out Let’s Talk Science

Kim Farwell

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Q&A WITH ENGHERO: Kim Farwell

Kim is a senior technical advisor for extraction and she is the first female to reach this position in her company, Syncrude Canada Ltd. She got there by getting a chemical engineering degree, an MBA and a certificate in oil sands technology.

Kim Farwell Journey Map

Q: What’s one thing you wish you knew about engineering back when you were in high school?

I wish I knew that I was going to enjoy it as much as I do.

Q: What’s your proudest accomplishment as an engineer?

I’m proud of that I received the Early Accomplishment Award and was president of APEGA in 2010. I’m also proud of the time I figured out a very interesting technical problem at the plant.

Q: Tell me about a time in your career when your work has been about discovery or curiosity?

My work was about discovery and curiosity when I solved a problem at the plant. A geologist and I figured out why oils weren’t coming off the separator by applying the fundamentals we had learned to real life.

Q: What are you doing these days?

My job now is a senior technical advisor for extraction and I’m the first female to reach this position in my company, Syncrude Canada Ltd. I got there by getting a chemical engineering degree, an MBA and a certificate in oil sands technology. I also have a co-op degree with six work terms, all with different companies. When I started out in high school, I was planning to be a political journalist but my friend convinced me to enter a Popsicle stick bridge contest. We drilled holes in the Popsicle sticks, put ribbons through them and won.

This is when I really started to consider engineering as a career path. Also, I went to Shad Valley and I worked with Xerox to study a pigment used for photocopiers. This helped me realize that I wanted to work in the field of chemistry.

Q: Do you feel your work contributes to society? How so?

I do. I secure Canada’s energy future with every drop of oil. My work provides jobs and energy to the world-without any ethical issues like in Nigeria or environmental issues.

Q: Why do we need more female engineers?

We need more female engineers because engineering is very much a team effort. You need a team of diverse group of people so they can solve problems and female engineers bring a different skill set.

Q: If you could recommend something for girls in high school what would it be?

I would recommend that you make lots of female friends. They are going to give you strength in all your tough times, ground you when you’re being mistreated and encourage you to never give up.

Laura Paul

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Q&A WITH EngHERO: Laura Paul

Laura Paul is a field engineer, and sustainability analyst working forLaura Paul Morrison Hershfield. Every day, Laura helps minimize the negative impacts buildings have on the environment and optimize the positive ones.

Q: What’s one thing you wish you knew about engineering back when you were in high school?

There are so many related fields you can work it rather than just typical design streams. There are lots of social sides to Engineering as well, rather than just purely technical work.

Q: What’s your proudest accomplishment as an engineer?

One of my proudest moments as an Engineer was getting my iron ring presented to me by my Grandfather, Malcolm Paul, who also was a Civil Engineer. The iron ring is worn by Engineers as a reminder of the ethical obligations associated with our work.

Q: Tell me about a time in your career when your work has been about discovery or curiosity?

When I first go out on a construction site as field engineer it was a time when everything was new, and I was learning a huge amount. I was able to take the theory I learned in school and put it into practice. I learned a lot about materials, and constructability, and how each individual component worked with others in a system. I would highly suggest for all Engineers to have experience in the field on a construction site.

Q: What are you doing these days?

Sustainability Analyst, Morrison Hershfield, I work doing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) consultancy and assessments, which includes helping designers reducing energy and water, choose less impactful materials, and improve the indoor environment for occupants (such as access to daylight and views).

I got here through experience on LEED projects, obtaining LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) accreditation with specialties in: Building Design and Construction, Existing Building Operations and Maintenance, and Neighbourhood Design

I didn’t really know where I was going when I started, but I was hired by a General Contractor, so if I hadn’t learned more about sustainability I likely would have been headed towards general Project Management on Building projects.

Q: Do you feel your work contributes to society? How so?

Absolutely. I think that the buildings we live and work in affect us immensely – from the way we feel, to how healthy we are, to how they impact nature and the environment. Working as a Sustainable Building Specialist allows me to minimize the negative impacts buildings have and optimize the positive ones.

Q: Why do we need more female engineers?

I think the perspective of women is unique from the perspective of men (not better or worse, just different) – and encouraging many different perspectives always enhances decision making.

Q: What does a typical day on the job look like?

A typical day on the job involves working and coordinating with a team.

The Technology of Touch

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Procrastinating? We’ve got just the thing! The YTT have pulled together a series of TED Talks that they LOVE. Grab some popcorn and get comfy, because you’re about to get seriously inspired by these amazing engineering projects.

What is this TED talk about?

It’s about haptography, which is combining haptics (touch technology) with photography. The basis of this is that they can recreate the feeling of touching something using computers.

What’s amazing about it?

It’s really cool altogether! An example that the speaker gave was with dental students. They attached an accelerometer to a dental tool, and the main dental professor touches extracted teeth with it. The movements are recorded and recreated for the students. They watch a video and follow along by holding a repeating tool (which moves the same way the dental tool did).

How did it inspire you?

This is an incredible technology which has endless applications, anywhere from training dental and medical students to online shopping! It’s definitely going to become more popular and more developed as time goes on, but the implications of this technology are what inspires me. The possibilities are endless! People could do almost anything with this technology, which I find really interesting and inspiring.

What surprised you?

The main idea of it all, as weird as that sounds! I’d never heard of haptography before, and now, after hearing about it for a very brief time, I can only imagine the ways that it could be used. It’s so cool that there’s a technology that could allow you to feel like you’re touching something through a computer! I never knew that was even something that could be done!

Did you ever have an idea about developing something yourself that solves a problem in the world? Tell us all about it

I’ve thought about the idea for a technology where you could feel and smell things in a movie, TV show, or video game, but never really thought about the potential that it could be done. I never really thought about it that deeply, more as just an idea. If it could be done, however, it would be an incredible development for these forms of media. This wouldn’t solve a problem as much as it would just enrich movies, TV shows, and video games to make them better.

Moving Sculpture

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Procrastinating? We’ve got just the thing! The YTT have pulled together a series of TED Talks that they LOVE. Grab some popcorn and get comfy, because you’re about to get seriously inspired by these amazing engineering projects.

What is this TED talk about?

On a surface level this TED talk is about how a man fused his engineering and artistic sides together to create moving sculptures. On a deeper level this ted talk is about the moving cycle (like his work) of getting your internal aspirations to materialize and then how they are perceived by the external world.

What’s rad about it?

It is rad because it shows you a whole new area of engineering that I never thought about. It also manages to show how machines and the acute detailing attentiveness you need to create them are beautiful things.

How did it inspire you?

At first it made me feel very comfortable and sort of special in a way because I could relate to him about being an introverted person who communicated by physical creations. Then it further inspired me after I realized how he merged two strong passions of his together even though normally you wouldn’t think of them as one, it inspired me to listen to all my passions and try to find a way for them to work together like he did.

What surprised you?

What surprised me was my own reaction to his creations, normally I am someone who is not really into industrial or readymade art but I actually was very moved by how gracefully and intricately his machines worked and they always had a proactive function rather than a destructive one which is very nice especially in this era.

Did you ever have an idea about developing something yourself that solves a problem in the world? Tell us all about it

I’ve never really had a concrete idea of a product or invention that could change the world because I always thought since math and science weren’t my forte I wouldn’t be able to figure it out. But I have been thinking about programs I could start that would use yoga and poetry as the basis for attaining a holistic mindset and strength for those living in impoverished communities and empowering social change but I’m not sure yet how to do this because as someone from a middle class upbringing I don’t want to come off as ignorant and superficial to their real issues.