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Student Life in Engineering

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Ever wondered what being a university engineering student is like? We interviewed real eng students, getting them to answer all the questions we think you’re dying to know the answers to!

What’s the “can’t miss” Engineering event of the year?

Heather Aitkin, Toronto Metropolitan University: My favourite engineering event is the “Go Eng Girl” event, hosted by the Women in Engineering group. We organize different engineering-related building activities for attendees from grade 6-10… Those kids build the most amazing roller coasters and almost always beat the parent-built roller coasters!

Chandler Button, Western: The annual Western Engineering Competition! There are Participants complete a variety of tasks, including designing a car that goes through a course with hills, grass, mud, and water. It is a 5 hour challenge with a limited amount of supplies (Dollar store items like motors). It’s pretty cool to see what people come up with. Everyone is really creative so the results are unpredictable.

Engineers Without Borders Run

Sharon Flaherty, Western: For me, the “can’t miss” Engineering event of the year would have to be the Engineering Formal, which is held in March. It is the best event of the year where everyone sees everyone!

Dany Awad, Ontario Tech University: ENGSOC’s Annual Reverse Career Fair. It’s basically a career fair where students get to showcase their projects, achievements and professional portfolio to visiting employers. Normally it’s the other way around hence “Reverse”. It’s a great event where you get to speak with a variety of employers and show case your hard work.

Engineering Student Fair Participants

Sabrina Gomez Vila, Toronto Metropolitan University: We celebrates the National Engineering month in March with numerous events. One of them is the Bug Push, a fundraising event for sick kids foundation that consists of pushing a Volkswagen bug around the Quad in our campus for 24 Hrs.

Jordan Hill, Toronto Metropolitan University: There are also a lot of pub nights – engineering students generally don’t need an excuse to have a good time.  If you like to get dressed up, we has an event in April called the “Billy Ball” where the dress code is semi-formal and there is dancing, a meal, and an open bar.

How was frosh week?

Engineering Frosh Week
Lucy Davidson, Toronto Metropolitan University: Frosh week is an amazing way to get to know your fellow classmates who you will work with for the next four years. We hold an exiting and jam-packed frosh week that makes you feel part of the community as soon as you step on campus the first day. Engineering has some cool traditions as well. Purpling happens during frosh week as well as lots of other fun actives all over the city. I made some really good friends during frosh week and I’m still very close with them now.

Elizabeth Morrow, Waterloo: Frosh week was the best! It really makes you feel like a part of something crazy and awesome. During frosh week I met some of my best friends, and also my boyfriend. My frosh leaders ended up being an amazing resource for me throughout the year and some of my closest friends, helping me with preparing for co-op and dealing with engineering life.

Eng Purple in Front of CN tower

Tell us about your extra-curricular activities… Why are you a part of it?

Lucy, Toronto Metropolitan University: I love being apart of the Women In Engineering society as I am really passionate about promoting engineering to younger women and showing them what it’s really like and how much fun it is.

Engineering Formula 1 TeamElizabeth, Waterloo: During my first term, I joined Formula SAE. It was a lot of fun, for a few hours a week we learned 3D modeling and machining, real skills that I could use to get a coop job. I’m also in change of organizing fun events for all the engineers in my year through the Engineering Society.

Carmen Che, Waterloo: Dragon boating… it’s a fun, dynamic community that helps me meet people from across all grades. Finding my place in this community was truly an unforgettable experience.

Chandler, Western: I’m a part of BIG SISTER LITTLE SISTER; this is when first year women get paired with an upper student to make a connection. Your ‘big sister’ helps you with classes and the transition from high school to university… sometimes you even eat lunch with them. In my first year, I was in BIG SISTER LITTLE SISTER. My “big sister” was like my real sister and a good friend. She kept me in the loop and made first year better. Then I wanted to get more involved and become a “big sister” myself, so I decided to run for positions on executive.

Dany, Ontario Tech University: I’m the founder and president of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, UOIT Chapter. It all started when I realized that there is more to the actual profession than what we learn in class. Math, science and design are all necessary tools in order to become an engineer but team work, communication skills and time management are just as valuable and you get to learn many of those skills by being involved on campus.

A gang of orange engineers
Natasha Phidd, Waterloo: I’m a big reader and often read mystery novels to relax and give myself a break from my studies. I’m also really into dance, so I like to that as well to relax. Also you can’t ignore some good retail therapy, my friends joke that I have a shopping addiction, but the truth is that I just really enjoy fashion. Everyone can always tell when I’m walking around in the engineering buildings because I’m one of very few that actually wears heels and makeup, but it’s just who I am and my major doesn’t have to change that.

What’s the best thing about being an engineering student?

Stephanie Irving, Ontario Tech University: The best thing about being in engineering is that you make friends for life. We go through so much together in 4 years that the bonds we make are almost unbreakable.

Lucy Davidson, Toronto Metropolitan University: To be a successful engineering student you have to be dedicated and that’s something that’s recognized by people. Studying engineering is extremely rewarding.

Taylor Stanbury, Western: Engineering covers a wide range of topics, so what you’re really learning is how to be a good problem solver, and you can apply that to anything throughout the rest of your life. It may seem intimidating – it is a lot of hard work – but if you put the effort in, it’s worth it.

Gang of Engineering Friends
Jordan Hill, Toronto Metropolitan University: The best thing about being an engineering student is how much cool stuff you learn.  First year can be a bit of a drag because you’re really learning the basics that will allow you to learn all the cool stuff. But when you get into third and fourth year and realize that you can design something yourself, it makes you feel very proud of yourself.

What’s a typical day in your life look like?

Heather Aitkin, Toronto Metropolitan University: A typical day in the life involves attending class from 8AM to between noon and 6pm, depending on the day. After classes and labs have finished, I either work on group projects or go to the library to study for the evening. The majority of the semester has involved long working days, but I make sure to see to my friends and take some time for myself as well. I try to never work after classes finish on Friday. Taking Friday afternoon/evening off every week has been an excellent way to see friends from outside of school and relax a bit. It’s good to recharge mentally and do something other than homework.

Elizabeth Morrow, Waterloo: Last school term I would wake up around 8, get to class for 8:30 for 3 hours of lectures until lunch. The top floor of EIT has a little cafe with grilled cheese sandwiches that a few people from my class would get lunch and finish off our assignments due that afternoon. My afternoon consisted of labs and tutorials. After class I would get something to eat, do some work, and then head over to the student shop for a few hours. After that, I might go get ice cream with some friends and catch up with how their programs are going.

Stephanie Irving, Ontario Tech University: A typical day in my life usually involves waking up late, around 11 or 12, then going to class. If I have more than one class that day, I’ll typically stay at school to try and get some work done. After I come home, I’ll make dinner, finish any work I didn’t do and then watch TV. My day usually lasts until 2 to 4am. (Others prefer to get up earlier and go to bed earlier, I like to be a night owl)

What should all high school students know about engineering school? Looking back, what do you wish you knew?

Heather Aitkin, Toronto Metropolitan University: Thinking back to why I didn’t like any of my classes in High School, I think it was largely because I didn’t see how any of it was applicable to what I would end up doing. I now realize that I missed an opportunity to recognize my strengths in design and creative thinking, and I missed the opportunity to see how much I enjoy calculating out answers to problems that I understand. Engineering is SO APPLICABLE to everyday things, but I had never thought of it that way when I was in High School.

Engineering student on a unicycleTim Carroll, Toronto Metropolitan University: I wish I knew that engineering is basically a program devoted to leaning how to problem solve, independently use critical thinking and being able to communicate your ideas.

Elizabeth Morrow, Waterloo: High school students should know that engineering is hard but not impossible. Don’t be scared off. Also the rumors about having no social life aren’t true at all. I’ve met some of my best friends in engineering, and being stressed out sometimes during the week results in some pretty funny adventures on the weekends.

Sharon Flaherty, Western: All high school students should know that if you’re interested and passionate about engineering, it’s very doable. The community is very inviting.

Jordan Hill, Toronto Metropolitan University: Creativity is far more important than a high IQ. Yes, being very intelligent is useful when it comes to acing that calculus test – but after second year, a lot of your courses will have a design project component which requires a little more independent, thinking-outside-the-box and a lot less number crunching.

Maxine McCurdy, Toronto Metropolitan University: That it’s an option! There are so many engineering jobs out there that this degree can really lead you anywhere. Engineering didn’t even cross my mind in high school. It was not the direction I was headed when I finished school. Never was suggested, or thought of at all. I also wish I had known that taking grade 11/12 Science classes are important in keeping your options open!

How is being an engineering student different from any other student experience?

Sabrina Gomez Vila, Toronto Metropolitan University: As an engineer, I have the power to use my ingeniousness to create something radically new and revolutionize the world.

Chandler Button, Western: My fellow classmates are friendly and not very competitive. Even though the course load is heavy, having classes with the same people and working with teams makes me feel like I’m never alone

Ryerson Women in Engineering team

Elizabeth Morrow, Waterloo: Being an engineering student is very different from any other program because the community feels so small. Your profs know you by name and check up on how you’re doing, the upper years are your friends and mentors, and every single student’s experience is vastly different because of coop.

Emma Helmers, Western: My friends from other faculties were always super jealous about the closeness I had with my peers. Part of the reason that my classmates and I shared such a good relationship was because we received many projects that were time-consuming and challenging, therefore we had to spend time with each other. I think it breeds a good community, good friendships and good teamwork. Even at work now (I just graduated) there’s the same sense of teamwork, especially in field work as we get it done as a team.

3 Super Cool Engineering Traditions

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Engineering has a very rich history with many fun traditions that have been performed by engineers all around the world for decades. Many of these traditions are still alive and well and are practiced regularly by engineering students in Canada and many other countries. Today we are going to learn about the history of three notable traditions that all engineers-to-be can look forward to participating in one day! 

Iron Ring Ceremony

  • The Iron Ring is presented to graduating engineering students as a symbol of their dedication to holding up ethical standards in the profession once they are practicing engineers
  • The Iron Ring ceremony is primarily a Canadian Engineering tradition although there are some similar ceremonies in the United States
  • The first Iron Ring ceremony was performed in 1925 in Montreal 
  • The idea was created in 1922 by a University of Toronto professor, H.E.T Haultain
  • Now this ceremony happens annually at school across Canada! 

Purple!

  • This was probably the strangest sight to see during the first week of university! Engineering students walking around with purple skin! 
  • Purple is a very significant colour for all engineering students. The origin of the purple traditions is not verified but it is said that this colour is used because it was the colour worn by the marine engineers on the Titanic, it is also speculated that it is because purple was the colour of the engineering corp in the British Miltary. 
  • During orientation week, new engineering students dye their skin purple in this super funny tradition!

Boiler Suits/ Patches 

  • Boiler suits are another very fun engineering tradition to look forward to! 
  • This tradition started in Sweden in the late 1960s and spread to Finland, Canada and other countries after that
  • Engineering students would write all over their boiler suits and attach different patches to their suits. They also trade patches with other students and collect as many as they can!

Have you gotten WISE?

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Being a woman in technology comes with a lot of barriers given the lack of representation. However, that hasn’t stopped women from pursuing their dreams and passions by joining STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) related fields. In fact, society and culture are changing for the better, and more people are creating an inclusive landscape. This change and inclusion are long overdue. Given this struggle and perseverance, it’s always helpful and vital to have support systems in place to aid women in breaking into STEM. WISE is a fantastic organization and resource for women around the world who are breaking into STEM as a career. Learning about resources like WISE can help you no matter what stage of your career or education you are at.

What is WISE?

The great thing about WISE is they aim to spread awareness and change across the board. This means they have programs and events in place to reach; employers, educators, students, professionals, research institutions and the general public. This is fantastic because each of these groups has something to learn when it comes to women in this industry. More importantly, real change happens when a high percentage of the population understands and welcomes the change, and that is exactly what WISE’s goal is. This organization reaches these groups by hosting local events across the world, reaching schools by providing educators with in-class workshops and creating videos and other promotional media online.

WISE’s Goals?

Every organization concerning women in STEM has the implied goal of spreading awareness and representation for women in science and engineering. However, this group has specific goals laid along with their course of action. WISE’s long term goal is a balanced representation of men and women in STEM both in classrooms and out in the workplace. Their short term goal is one million more women working in core STEM occupations by 2020. Having these goals is so important because it means this organization is moving towards reachable and tangible targets that will make real change.

Events

Events are a great way to bring like-minded people together to share their interests and skills. These events can in particular help young aspiring engineers to network, and learn from successful women in their field. WISE holds several webinars that connect professionals, students and curious people around the world. Having the advantages and skills of the internet at our disposable is connecting people like we have never seen before. What better way to use this connection than spreading skills and knowledge? These events allow professional women in STEM to speak on their experiences, and teach new skills to all that attend. WISE also hosts events to track the progress of women’s inclusion within post-secondary institutions. This is very important because it keeps these institutions accountable and on track. When striving to reach such important goals accountability is everything. These events are also great for problem-solving and sharing success stories.

Where Can You Find WISE?

Several colleges and universities that offer engineering programs have a WISE institution inside of their school, connecting students to this powerful organization. An example is the University of Toronto, located in Ontario. These in-school programs allow students to have hands-on leadership experiences within this community of females. It is a great opportunity to apply what you are learning in the classroom to invoke real change. Much like the original organization, these in-school groups host several events. These events all take place at their school to spread WISE’s goals locally.

I hope the discovery of this organization inspires you to seek education and community within these STEM-related groups. They are a great way to learn from professionals and find much-needed support. Education and success is not a solo journey, and having a strong community by your side is always an asset.

EngHERO: Markio Shimoda

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Markio Shimoda is in her final year of engineering at the University of Waterloo. Although she was a little nervous about how much studying she thought she would have to do, she knew she wanted to be an engineer and “Professional Problem-Solver”.

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

I wish that I knew that engineers are typically knowledgeable in a lot of different fields! That means in university you have to do a bit of everything, which can be really annoying when you come across a subject you don’t like. But it is also great because it opens a lot of doors for future careers and industries!

When you decided to go to school to become an engineer, were you nervous and stressed out about all the math and science? What made you push through and become an engineer? What’s your proudest accomplishment so far?

I wasn’t too worried about all the math and science.. although maybe I should have been! I was actually nervous about how much time and studying it would be. I’ve always pushed through because I believe that changing the world through technology is what I want to do with my life. I am most proud of making it through each year so far! Engineering isn’t easy and it’s a huge accomplishment to say you finished a semester!

Were you sure that you wanted to become an engineer when you were in grade 12?

I was very sure. As soon as I heard someone call engineers “professional problem-solvers” I knew that was what I wanted to do with my life. Engineering is the best way to combine science, math, creativity, and change!

Tell me about a time during your studies when your work has been about discovery or curiosity?

All engineering work has aspects of creativity. Whether it’s design work, optimizing a process, or managing a project, every engineering job allows you to transform your ideas into reality and finding the best possible solution. In school, there are plenty of opportunities to use creativity in your design projects and extracurriculars.

What are you doing these days/what do you plan to do after you graduate?

I’m heading into my final year of engineering when I’ll be working on my big final design project! After graduation, I’m hoping to work in project management, in a company doing robotics, health entrepreneurship, or anything that is new and exciting!

We’re Looking Forward to University

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“I am looking forward to the spirit of all the students. The passion and energy of everyone at the university motivates me to be happy and enjoy my time while learning there.”

“What appeals to me most about university life is being able to join a large community that extends deep into the roots of career, entertainment and interaction.”

“I like how diverse universities are. You’re able to meet so much new different people and learn about their beliefs and culture.”

“The university I’m going to has a lot of bike trails from the campus into the town where there is a weekly farmers market I plan to make us of! ”

“I can’t wait for that away-from-home experience, where you get to live on campus by yourself and have fun with your friends.”

“I think it would be very cool to live with a room mate. I think it would be a different kind of experience, and it would be pretty cool to move out of the house. I would have to be responsible for my own food and laundry, and I think it would be a good way to appreciate all that my Mom does for me!”

“The lecture halls are intriguing… may be weird but i find it way better than a school class room. It’s different! ”

“I think that it’ll be great to have classes full of people who actually want to be there, and who are all academic and interested in the same careers as me!”

“What appeals to me most about the university life is being in a dorm with my friends. I think it would be really nice to live with your friends and study with them rather than studying from your bedroom at home alone.”

Jennifer Littlejohns

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Q&A WITH EngHERO: Jennifer Littlejohns

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

I guess in high school I probably wish that I knew what options are available for someone with an engineering background in terms of employment. I don’t think people understand the wide range of engineering jobs that can come about with a degree, you know for example you can go into management of people or projects or you could do an actual technical job with calculations or you can go into sales there’s really a wide range of opportunities when it come to an education in engineering. So I think that’s misunderstood, in high school a lot of people think that engineering is always very technical calculations and you’re going to be chained to a desk in an office doing math all day but I think really that is very rarely the case.

Really? Rarely?

Yeah it’s not always that traditional engineering job, now it’s more management that goes into it, more presentations, and relationships with marketing and sales like it’s very unlikely to go into that traditional idea of what engineering is.

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

Oh, that’s a tough one! I’m going to have to say I worked for a company called Iogen Corporation and we were attempting to commercialize bio fuels. This unique process to make bio fuels from agricultural waste and my proudest accomplishment was probably when we first started making ethanol efficiently. I remember the first day when we were kind of making a net profit on the on the plants, that’s probably my proudest accomplishment.

It was really great to experience. You know when you work so hard towards something and it actually come true it’s the quintessential biggest benefit of being an engineer it’s when you…

Finally get the eureka moment?

Yeah! It’s so unbelievably satisfying it’s pretty great. Are you going to be an engineer when you grow up?

I’m really looking into it now, being able to talk with all these different types of engineers…it sounds really interesting and there’s a lot of different things you could go into with engineering, there’s so many different options. 

I think there really is. The biggest thing for a high school student I think is I somewhat fell into engineering.

Oh yeah? How so?

I honestly didn’t know what it was about: I knew there was calculations and design and sure, that’s great, I’m a creative person, but you can really get a job out of university. That’s like the biggest benefit; you will find a job straight out of university. With a university education, there are very few streams where that is pretty much guaranteed right, but I’m sure you know that.

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

I hold a PhD in chemical engineering and I work with research and development, essentially. So my entire job is taking things from the bare bones and then translating that into something manufacturable in an engineering sense. Creativity and innovation is very important in my job, taking something from a theoretical idea to reality. Say a sensor, I work on sensors right now for the medical industry, taking a scientists concept of a sensor that would work and actually constructing something that we can manufacture efficiently in little time with little cost. You have to use every creative bone in your body to make that work. In a nutshell, my job has to always have that element of discovery and curiously.

That sounds crazy! I would be so stressed out thinking about how you have to take just a concept and change it and invent something totally new. Does that element of stress ever get to you when you’re working?

Well there’s a lot of people and a lot of support so it’s fine. The people are realistic, they all have realistic expectations of what can be done but you know, sometimes upper management expects the impossible. Although, like I was saying before, it’s not just the traditional engineering there’s also “okay I have to market this to upper management and kind of explain why this can’t be done”, so that kind of falls into the other element of relaying to people what can actually be done and what can’t.

Q: What are you doing these days?

I work for a company called Abbott Point of Care and were manufactures of medical diagnostic sensors. Basically you can put a couple of drops of blood in a cartridge and then it tells you on the spot what’s wrong with a patient, so you can do diagnoses in an emergency room very quickly instead of having to send it away to a lab to get analysed. My position is the senior engineer for the company. My job description, I work hand in hand with RMB as well as manufacturing and I’m kind of the middle man. I take the concept of a sensor invention from RMB and make it manufacturable. I went into engineering initially because I wanted to be a brewer, I wanted to brew beer.

Really? And that has to do with engineering?

Oh yeah, that’s totally engineering! So I did internships at Labatt brewery and different places like that and then I ended up going to grad school for bio reactor design, which is fermenters for beers and wine and things like that. That’s what I ended up getting my PhD in. Then I worked for a company doing the same thing, making ethanol. Then about a year ago, two years ago now, I totally made a switch in my carrier path and I went into bio- chemical sensors. So same sort of degrees would apply but totally different research areas and I made a bit of a leap and that was due to pure interest.

You know it’s funny, a lot of the engineers I have been talking to have started out in one field and then half way through say: “You know what? This other thing sounds really interesting”, and then they go and they change fields completely.

Yeah! That’s the power of engineering too, a lot of the skills apply to a wide range of areas. You just have to figure out how to market yourself to say to a company “okay I have these skills and I have this background which could be different but I also can do this job if I apply my skills in a different way”.

Where did you think you were going when you started out?

I didn’t think that far ahead, I’ve got to be honest. I just did something that kind of sounded interesting, sounded cool, I didn’t think about the long term. It was honestly a bit of luck that things ended up the way they did.

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

Well I’m going to say yes because diagnosing patients more rapidly now, right on the bed side basically, means lower health care costs and more lives saved. It’s really neat, very efficient, useful technology.

Q: Why do we need more female engineers?

I think first of all to be even, it should be even and it’s not. Also because females bring a pragmatic sense to engineering and a level headed sort of methodical way to a project that I think is really beneficial.

And in your experience did you notice an overwhelming divide in male versus female enrollment in classes and in your actual workplace and stuff like that?

Not in undergrad I didn’t, when I was doing my undergrad at Guelph, I mean it wasn’t 50/50 but there were a lot of women in engineering. Then when I went to grad school I was one of only a handful that were in graduate school and those grad school positions are the ones that lead to upper management right? You see that in the workplace too, at the intermediate level you get pretty 50/50 with women and men but as you go up the ranks in the senior positions and definitely in executive there are not as many women. Why that is I do not know but there is something wrong with the system when that’s the case.

Yeah I agree. So you said you went to the University of Guelph – Did you like it there? Like I’m still in high school so I was just thinking “what universities are good for science and engineering?” and Guelph was one of the ones that I was looking at.

Oh I loved Guelph. Absolutely! It’s got a really great campus, a really great feel. When I was there the engineering program was small, it was just starting out, and I think it’s a bit bigger now but it’s still on the smaller side. So with that you get really great professors that are really invested, you get a really good community of students. Yeah, I would recommend Guelph. Also I did my grad school at Queens and I liked it because there’s a lot of stuff there. The engineering environment there for an undergrad is a lot more intense then Guelph. If you’re a more laid back person then I think Guelph would be the place for you.

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