"The best weekend ever!" ~ Engineering Experience Weekend

Ciao everyone! 

May is a beautiful time on campus at McMaster University, and the warm weather arrived just in time for our annual outreach event for high school students considering our engineering program. As the coordinator for our Engineering Experience Weekend, I was pleased to welcome 66 prospective students for an overnight event that started just as our May @ Mac Open House wrapped up this past Saturday, May 11th. 

Along with my 18 undergraduate student leaders and five design challenge leaders, we greeted our guests with warm smiles and enthusiasm. The visiting high school students were assigned a team and a team colour, with each team led by two of our leaders. The weekend was off to a great start!

The orange team is hard at work.

On Saturday night, we held a design challenge, where the students had to build a bridge to span a 75 cm gap. But there was a catch! The bridge could only be built from one side and needed to extant over to the other. The teams were given popsicle sticks, glue guns, tape and string as well as a remote controlled car to help them with their task. It wasn't an easy challenge, but all of the students can up with fantastic designs! 

Sunday morning, three McMaster Engineering alumni came to judge the bridges build for the design challenge. It was great to have Mac Eng graduates come back for this event. Everyone enjoyed the design challenge presentations and some of the students’ parents came to watch them too! 

The green team presenting their bridge to the judges.

Congratulations to the red team for wining the design challenge.

EEW would not have been possible without my wonderful team of volunteers! They are all fantastic leaders and I cannot thank them enough for all their help! 

To all the amazing students who came out to EEW, I hope you had  as much fun as I did! I enjoyed getting to meet you all and I know the team leaders and design challenge helpers did too. I look forward to welcoming you in the fall!

Until next time,
Danielle

Some of my wonderful volunteers.

P.S.Here are some helpful links for new students:

• The McMaster Engineering Accepted Class of 2017 is a great Facebook group for meeting future and current Mac Eng students.
• If you want more information on how to register for courses, FAQ's on Eng 1 and living in residence, see our acceptance page.
• The McMaster Engineering Society runs a program called Ask and Undergraduate Engineer. If you would like to participated, email vp.academic@macengsociety.ca

Farewell to First Year: How I Survived Engineering 1

It's hard to believe that only eight months ago I was being greeted by Welcome Week reps for the first time. I had never entered the engineering 'BLUE' lounge before and had never lived in residence; I hadn't spent more than a few hours on campus at all! But here I am, a first year, getting ready to complete my finals, move into a house and prepare to enter level two in the engineering discipline of my choice. It can be a stressful and scary time, but looking back on my experiences so far makes me feel fantastic about how I spent my first year here at McMaster University.

Vanessa - in pink - at the Fireball Formal

Ever since Welcome Week, the upper year engineers have been nothing but kind and welcoming! They helped me to find my place and feel at home very quickly. First semester for me was all about hitting the books and figuring out how to adapt to the academic side of things. But once I started going out to more events that the faculty was hosting, I began to really feel like a part of the community...a part of the 'Mac Eng' family.

Daniella & Vanessa volunteering

Some of my favourite memories from Engineering 1 would be getting to wear my prom dress again at the Fireball formal, giving back to the neighbourhood by helping to clean up Westdale, laughing my butt off at all of the jokes in the Engineering Musical and wearing a pink baby onesie for 5 days straight in my successful attempt to earn a Redsuit.

I originally decided to attend Mac because everytime that I visited, I felt this really strong sense of belonging between all of the people that I met. As a grade 12 student, I desperately wanted to know that feeling for myself. And now, I can confidently say that the way to get to that point is to seize the numerous opportunities to get involved and put yourself out there as often as you can. It may be scary at first. I sure felt that way at the beginning of the year - but now I get to look back on my first year and be proud of everything that I have accomplished.

 To all of our high school followers, I hope that you get to enjoy your first year of university like I did. And if you end up at Mac one day, I hope I get to meet you! ~ Vanessa

The Redsuits help clean up the local community - Westdale

A tradition continues during exams: fun yet...salty?!

Well, it’s that time of year again…final EXAMS.

Although you may shudder at the thought of writing 4 to 6 three-hour exams in the span of two weeks, exam season is a very exciting time around campus. For example, McMaster's upper year engineering students will get together and hand out saltine crackers to the first years as they enter their exam sessions in order to calm their nerves and settle their stomachs.

It’s so much fun cheering them on and getting them pumped up to write their exams! And the University provides lots of support for students who need a little extra help. You can always visit the Student Success Centre or Student Wellness Centre for counselling, academic and peer support.

Check out some photos of all the goofy Redsuits in their element, handing out crackers. We all remember how it feels to be an 'Engineering I' student going through our first set of final exams. As you can see, our Redsuits are here to greet new students arriving in September, but they continue to welcome the new members of our Mac Eng community throughout the year. This is just one of the many established traditions we value and continue to bring to life! Check out our McMaster Engineering Society website page dedicated to our traditions.

 

Happy Thoughts...

With the end of exams comes the beginning of summer! The sun is shining and the weather is (finally) clearing up. I can tell you that makes it very difficult to study indoors.

However, I’ve got to power through and study for these last few exams in order to enjoy my summer. Then it’s nothing but fun and frolicking all summer long! Maybe I’ll have time to get some work done in there…

Hope everyone has an amazing summer.
Cheers! ~Genna

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

Danielle vs. Daniela: Spot the differences!

Ciao everyone! 

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

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

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 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

Helloooo February!

With Fireball behind us, and midterm season around the bend, it’s time to pull our socks up, and retreat back to our favourite chairs in Thode Library. For all prospective students, your applications are out! Now comes decision time, and that dreadful waiting period when you check your email and mailboxes all the time to see if you've heard back from any schools.

My friends and I goofing off for the cameras! I'm third from the left.
The guys were being girls and the girls were being guys :P

True to my word though, I’ll first let you know how Fireball went. To begin with, I learned a very important lesson that night. I learned that my sister’s shoes (being a size too big) are actually kind of a big deal when you’re trying to run to catch a bus. I think I have a scar on my foot now. I will never wear shoes too big again. No matter how cute they are!

The 2012-2013 president on the left, Erin,
handing off the "MES president sword"
to next year's president Emily!

 



Other than my shoes… Fireball was a blast! The food was delicious, the people were fantastic, and the outfits were glorious. Emily Au was named the new McMaster Engineering Society president (3rd female in a row I might add), and tons of awards were given out to some amazing students we have here at Mac! If you want to check out some of the photos from that night, they’re posted to the MacEng Society’s website here: http://macengsociety.ca/culture/events/fireball-2013/


Coming up next week is the Engineering Level II Info Fair. At McMaster, all engineering students take a general first year and then apply to the programs of their choice for second year. It is (in my opinion) one of the best aspects to the program. You don’t know how many of my friends changed their minds after first year! The Level II Fair lets first year students speak with professors and upper year students to get a good feel for the programs before they make their choice. We have seven engineering departments, some with different streams such as nuclear engineering (part of engineering physics) or electrical and biomedical engineering. You can add on our optional programs like co-op, management or society too. Check out our programs at: www.eng.mcmaster.ca/departments.html .

MacEng has got some great traditions and a rich student life. If you applied here, and you’re interested in learning a bit more from a student’s perspective, don’t be shy! We’ll be hosting an online chat session on February 25th: http://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/future/chat/ . The site will be updated soon. I’ll be online, along with some other students to answer all your questions!

 ~Helen