Speed Mentoring: Women Helping Women!

Hi everyone!

One of my favourite things about McMaster University is the never ending opportunities to network! I generally receive an email about 2-5 different opportunities per week from various faculty organizations. I was so excited when I was invited to a “Speed Mentoring Event – Women in Engineering”! 

This event had 10 different 15 minute workshops that would be run by McMaster Alumnae women in various leadership positions. We were allowed to select 4 out of the 10 choices and I ended up selecting 'Work-Life Balance', 'Taking Time off Work', 'Managing a Team' and 'Negotiating Salaries'.

The delicious free food was an added bonus 
to an incredibly valuable evening.

‘Work-Life Balance’ was a workshop presented by Christine Ermarkaryan, a woman with an undergrad in Chemical Engineering and Management, and her masters in Business. Christine reflected on her own experiences and the challenges she faced with work-life balance. I was challenged to prioritize different parts of my life to make sure that I balance work and play, even if sometimes work feels like play!

Next, I attended ‘Taking Time off Work’ by Anjali Tandon, a woman with a degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in French. Anjali told us about her 4 year undergrad followed by her travels through Europe. As a hiring manager, she provided us with some very valuable and unique insight on how we can approach our own time off. Her recommendation was a maximum of a year to a year and a half off to give yourself that much needed break, while not falling behind with rapidly changing technology.

Following that, I attended ‘Managing a Team’ presented by Pat Greene, a woman with a degree in Computer Engineering. As a woman who manages engineers, Pat was able to walk us through different scenarios and conflicts that tend to happen in team environments. One of the main resonating messages was the fact that it is a manager’s job to motivate the team, and the best way to do so is with effective communication.

Lastly, I attended ‘Negotiating Salaries’ by Faye Wales, a woman with a degree in Sociology. Faye had a very interesting presentation about the somewhat taboo subject matter of renegotiating working conditions. She provided suggestions such as: avoid asking about salaries in the very first interview, wait until the offer is given before debating the topic, and once the job is secured, request a salary review after 6 months have gone by.

Engaged students participating in the Speed Mentoring sessions.

The night itself was extremely valuable and fun however the networking opportunities could not be ignored. I ended up asking Anjali for her email in order to message her later. I emailed her about the thoughts I have for my own path and asked her for advice. Instead of emailing me back, she called me and we had a long conversation about my future. As an engineering hiring manager, she provided me with an unmatched perspective. It is opportunities like this that only will come with a little bit of added effort.

The moral of this post is something along the lines of ‘you miss 100% of the shots you never take’. In university, it is essential for you to take your future into your own hands. If you close yourself off to opportunities in front of your eyes, you could miss something big. Set yourself up for success, and read your emails! ~Vanessa

Winter Wonderland ~ Welcome to 2014

Welcome Back & Happy New Year!

Me and “Otis” the Eng Outreach Bear catching
 some winter rays! He’s a great hugger and always
 knows just how to cheer the team up when
we’re hit with any winter blues.

Now that 2014 is upon us, it is time to get back to the books. Term 2 started today and McMaster University is covered in a thick (cold!) blanket of crisp, white snow. I love the way campus looks in the winter: the bright snow on the trees, all the colours of coats, hats, scarves and mittens and the busy crowds of students rushing to their classes. The campus is alive with activity!

January marks the beginning of my second term of my fourth year in Materials Engineering & Society at Mac and I’m really looking forward to my classes. (I’m such a nerd!) But I really enjoy learning and I’m excited that classes are starting up again.


So as I begin the New Year, I’m continuing my work with Engineering Outreach. Christen, Sean, Brandon and I are members of a work-study team: we are able to study full-time while continuing to develop our career skills and gain valuable experience working for the University. Engineering Outreach is here for you if you’re a prospective student interested in finding out more about our programs so that you can choose a University that’s right for you!

Another great part about this time of year is seeing all my friends. It was great to catch up with everyone and hear all the fun adventures my friends had over the holidays. I can feel it; this term is going to be so great!

Until next time, ~ Danielle

Interview: Tara on the McMaster Solar Car!

Hi everyone, sorry the last posting was delayed because of exams. I know I talk about school a lot in these posts – it’s kind of why I’m here at Mac! – but there is a lot that goes on outside of classes, too. My friend Tara (a graduating Engineering Physics student, on the right in the picture shown), for example, is really involved with the McMaster Solar Car Project – a team that works together to design and build cars powered only by solar energy, and race against other vehicles from around the world. She answers some questions about her work with them below:

1) When and how did you first get involved with the McMaster Solar Car team?
In mid-March of 2009, I became acquainted with some of the members of the Solar Car team through casual conversation. A few weeks later they mentioned that they planned on doing their theses on the electrical/electro-mechanical sections of the solar car. I found this topic very interesting, and accepted an offer to complete my thesis on this work. I enjoyed the experience of working on the car so much that I have never left the team since.

2) What is your role within the team, and why?
In May 2010 I became one of the managers of the electrical team, co-managing along with another member. I was selected for this role because of my experience with the team through my thesis, active participation throughout the following year, and my ability to direct and delegate. In the meanwhile, one of the projects I took on was initiating an encapsulation process for solar cells. We have a small scale process completed right not and plan to have the full scale process running before the end of this summer.

3) What is the most challenging part of your involvement?
As a manager, the most challenging aspect has been motivating super-busy volunteers to meet a set of deadlines while struggling with funding for projects.

4) How do you balance work on the car with coursework?
Ever since I joined the McMaster Solar Car project, I have found that I have gained more enthusiasm towards my course work and have become stronger at time management. Despite the Solar Car team consuming much of my time, it has made it easier for me to organize myself – perhaps because I have gained a different appreciation for time. The motivation comes from seeing direct application of subjects we have learned about in school, as well as working alongside a strong group of motivated students who are team players and willing to share their knowledge and experience.

Iron ring! And summer plans

I promise - here on this blog - to update at least once a week for the rest of April! But wow, this last month has been crazy. The final race day for the robots; finishing my multiculturalism inquiry; the Kipling pranks (make sure to spot the Eng Phys ones - we rocked this year's Kipling), ceremony, and formal; and the piles and piles of paperwork for final reports. But it's finished now - hard to believe! - and I've just got a few short weeks to write some exams, make plans for the summer, pack up my stuff, and move out of my home of four years. But I like exams, because my time is my own and I can schedule it how I please. And there's a lot of social stuff organized, spending time with friends before we disperse and it gets much more difficult to meet up.

I also have travel plans for the summer, which are exciting! After running away for the past few summers to work overseas, I feel like I've missed out on learning more about my own country. This was part of the reason I chose to do my inquiry on multiculturalism, and Canada. So throughout May and June, I'm going to do a week-long roadtrip with Liz, Adri, and another housemate; visit a friend in Ottawa; and then head off to northern Quebec for five weeks to practice my french with the Explore program - at Alma, where there is a school with a music focus. Music and French were the two skills/interests I worried most about losing when I chose engineering, so it's kind of a perfect way to cap everything off. :)

Exam time!

Exams can be pretty stressful and this year is no exception, especially since I dive right in without much of a break. My last day of classes was yesterday, and my first exam (Semiconductor Devices) is tomorrow. I have four in total this term. I have mixed feelings about exams - on the one hand, I like that I get to focus on studying and learning on my own time, without worrying about assignments due. On the other hand - they're exams! And it can be hard to settle down for a study session on a subject that I find difficult or not very interesting (Electromagnetism being a case in point. I like the cool stuff it does; I just don't like studying it).

After my exams end on the 16th (pretty early this year for my schedule), I'm staying around in Hamilton for another week to do some work on my year-long courses that don't have exams. I'm still learning how to model my engineering design project in an advanced software program, and I need to get caught up on a lot of research for my society inquiry paper. Finally, I need to prepare my report for a lab course, which is due the first week of next term. It's an engineering physics course with different modules according to your stream, and mine was the fabrication of a silicon solar cell! It was pretty exciting because my group produced the highest efficiency in the class, so I'm trying to leverage that for a summer opportunity that I'm sending an application for soon.

Speaking of applications, the next time I write I'll have some exciting news about my post-undergraduate plans! Nothing's official yet (I need to submit the application first! Happening after exams) but I'm excited to have a goal and an idea of how to get there. In the meantime, good luck with the end of classes for the year! And if you're in Southern Ontario and getting snow feel free to send some of it this way; I love the stuff and we've only had a sprinkling of it so far.

P.S. I'm a size 4 for my Kipling ring. :)

Where do I begin...

Okay, so final year right now feels kind of overwhelming. I'm trying to juggle a heavy courseload, domestics, spending time with friends, and keeping in touch with family - all while making plans for next year, which is a whole lot more difficult than in high school. Despite any difficulties, enjoy the OUAC process while you've got it; dealing with rolling admissions for graduate school and job applications is a lot more challenging than having an earliest date for a required response set for Ontario universities.

Anyhow, I try and keep my head up through all of it and I have to admit it's a really exciting time!...as long as I manage to get through the last wave of final projects for the term and my exams. But the highlight of the week is Iron Ring sizings at the Alumni Office; and this isn't just any ordinary school ring.

The Iron Ring is a tradition in Canadian engineering schools that takes place in a ceremony called The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer (nicknamed Kipling, for the author [Rudyard] who developed it). At these ceremonies, graduating engineers undertake an obligation to society to do their best work. The iron ring is worn on the pinky finger of the working hand, the idea being that the contact with surfaces as the engineer writes will remind them of their responsibilities. The mythology of the iron is that it comes from a bridge that collapsed twice during construction due to engineering errors, and killed over 70 workers - but today the rings are made out of stainless steel. The ceremony is private and only open to those receiving an iron ring, or who have worn one for ten years or longer.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Hey there!

Not sure really what to write today - this weekend was a nice one, and a good break after a really intense week including a final exam for a course I was taking online! Loads of music stuff coming up in the next while, as the Concert Band is performing on Sunday November 14th, and the a capella group that I'm part of is working on Halo. I cleaned up and readied my wall calendar for November this weekend, and although it feels exactly like two months of school have passed now, I know by the start of December it will still feel as though only two months have passed except it will be time for exams then!

Time management has been on my mind lately, and I have to say it's taken me all of university to get a system that I'm completely happy with and that works with the unusual hours of university schedules (more so in upper years when there are fewer hours of class but a higher independent workload). I managed a lot of extracurricular activities in high school, but once you start having to take care of all the domestics on top of that yourself - grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning (oh, the dishes) - it takes a while before you balance things out again. This year though, I've got some powerful extra motivation in the form of graduation! It's exciting stuff. :)

That's really all for now I guess; I'll see you in a week!

P.S. Yes, that's right. Liz and I carved a fireball jack-o'-lantern!

Perceptions of engineering

It always surprises me when I hear comments on my being a woman in engineering, because they always come from students outside of engineering. Inside the faculty, it's understood that I'm here because I love what I'm learning, and I work hard to do so - just like every other student, no difference. However, in the courses I've taken for my minor, I've started up many conversations with the usual chit-chat of what year, what program, etc. These are the times that I hear "Wow, that sounds really hard!" and - more baffling to me - "There aren't many women in engineering, are there?". I've never really figured out why people think that that's an appropriate response, and it usually throws me for a loop because it's not an issue in my engineering classes.

Why am I telling you this? Not to complain about non-engineers, don't get me wrong. What I'm trying to tell you is this: with university applications beginning soon (if not already), you're going to have a lot of friends, family, and classmates asking you what your program choices are. If you're reading this, there's a pretty high chance engineering is on your mind! There's also a pretty high chance you're going to hear a lot of the same comments that I've heard. Don't be scared off by what other people have to say. If you're worried about the workload: yes, engineering is challenging. If you're a potential 'femgineer', don't let irrelevant comments deter you. In both cases, if you love learning about scientific principles and how to apply them, that's what you need. The eng students work together and support each other, and for anyone else who doesn't get it - well, it's a chance for you to explain it so that they do!