Monday, March 25, 2013

Engaging Education at the Global Engineering Conference




Hello all those in cyber space! I hope you are enjoying March so far!


One of the cool things about university is the plethora of opportunities that present themselves. The biggest piece of advice I got in first year was “get involved”. I bet many of you have heard that in high school too. Experience is very important for engineers, and all students for that matter. In the working world, engineers in particular wear many different hats and have to fill many different roles. From efficiency calculations, to financial reporting, to presentations, we are expected to be adaptable. There is a new concept for this type of engineer: the Global Engineer.


On March 2, the Engineers Without Borders chapter at McMaster hosted a Global Engineering conference around re-framing your education. We brought in speakers and facilitators from Hamilton to Kingston, to give students an opportunity to see how approaching problems from different perspectives and how engineering fits into things outside the technical realm. Engineering problems benefit from an understanding of business, law, history – you name it!

Students from McMaster, as well as some from the University of Waterloo, University of Windsor and the University of Toronto, participated in learning sessions that provided ideas and tools around engaging their education through experiences. There was also a panel discussion between the Dean of Engineering here at Mac and York University, a representative from the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board and an engineering professor/motivational speaker.

If you want to learn a bit more about the 2013 Global Engineering Conference, check out the website at http://mcmaster.ewb.ca/gec2013/index.html. Hope to see you at next year’s conference!

Global Engineering is one of the venture areas of Engineers Without Borders Canada, an organization that works towards social change in an effort eliminate poverty through accelerating development in rural Africa and policy change here in Canada.  We have chapters in universities, cities and companies across Canada! To learn more about Engineers Without Borders, click here: http://www.ewb.ca/

Later days,
Daniela



Monday, March 11, 2013

Danielle vs. Daniela: Spot the differences!

Ciao everyone! 

Photo of Daniela and Danielle on chairs
Mirror image? Or not?
[L to R: Daniela, Danielle]
My name is Danielle, I’m new to the Hear it from Her blog and just to help you out...no, I am not the same person as Daniela. You would not believe the number of people that get us mixed up. We don’t look that similar, do we?

As you can see from the photo on the left, we both have brown hair and eyes, glasses and our names can be easily confused. But there are some differences between the two of us in the second photo. 

Can you spot the differences between us now? 

So a little bit about me...


One of these things is not like the other...
[L to R: Daniela, Danielle]
Here at McMaster University, I am in my third year Materials Engineering and Society. But since all work and no play, is not very fun, I have many interests outside of my studies. The McMaster Engineering Society or "M.E.S." has a magazine which highlights the accomplishments of the engineering students and provides the reading with MacEng news. Why am I telling you this? Well, I am one of the co-editors of this publication, Frequency Magazine. I am also involved with the Material Science and Engineering Club as the secretary this year.

Outside of the world of engineering, I am a member of the McMaster Dance Club. In the little free time that I have, I love knitting. Right now I am knitting headbands to keep the ears of my friends and family warm. It’s so exciting to become a new member of this team of MacEng bloggers and to help you get a glimpse into being a woman in engineering! I hope you’ll welcome me by reading my posts and commenting when you want to share your thoughts.

Until next time... let's have a little fun with our Mac Eng Frogger!   ~ Danielle

Friday, March 1, 2013

Is it Just Me, or Has This Semester Been Flying By?

Gizmo, the author's dog
My adorable Gizmo!

Reading week is over, and although the week of relaxation and home cooking has come to an end, there is so much going on around campus you can’t be bored! My reading week was nothing exciting. I got to go home, visit my family, and play with my dog. Isn’t she cute?

But now that I’m back at McMaster, I have so much going on that I’m too excited to sleep! Its crunch time for the McMaster Engineering Musical, which has its first show in 2 weeks. I can’t believe it! I’ve been involved for a few years now, but this year not only am I performing and choreographing, but I’ve taken on the role of assistant director. (Read my post about last year's musical here.)

This year, our theme is “The Bounds of M(u)=Sic”, a parody of “The Sound of Music”. It tells the tale of Mary, an Arts and Science student, who doesn’t quite fit in with her faculty. She is convinced she should be in Engineering and decides to take an engineering course to see if that is where she belongs. Little does she know, the course is really difficult and all but 7 students have dropped it! Will Mary be able to help her fellow classmates pass?

McMaster Engineering logo for the Bounds of Music
McMaster Engineering Musical 2013
Sound like something you’d like to see? Well, it’s going to be an amazing show. If you live in the Hamilton area and are around on March 14, 15, or 16th you should definitely come out! The show is at 8:00 pm at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, which is located at 130 York Blvd. You can get tickets at the door but we recommend you visit www.macengmusical.com and reserve some ahead of time.

Along with musical, it is also the time for the Engineering Welcome Week representative tryouts. The campus is buzzing with people showing how creative they are. If you’re on campus, stop by the John Hodgins Engineering building to see some of the shenanigans we can get up to!

Anyways, I should get back to my work. After all, I do have to get schoolwork done at some point during all this excitement!

Cheers! ~Genna