NOVEMBER 2020
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Vice President of Communications
Director of Publications
Delaney MacIntosh & Elizabeth DeCorby
Safiya Ahmad
Junior Editors
Cover Design
Jason Tao
Ejouan (EJ) Agena
Contributors
Copyright
Safiya Ahmad Amlan Bose Rae Callahan Subhashis Chakraborty Shreya Roy Chowdhury Celine Fong Ethan Franz Nicole Hartley Delaney MacIntosh Anjika Sabhani Adrian Wattamaniuk Diversity in Engineering (DivE)
All materials appearing in The Bridge bear copyright to their creator(s) under the Engineering Students’ Society (ESS) and may not be used without written consent.
Website essualberta.ca
Contact esscomm@ualberta.ca
@essualberta
Engineering Students’ Society of the University of Alberta
Photo: Delaney MacIntosh
DEAR READER, This edition of The Bridge gives testament to the resilience and strength of our engineering community. Despite the unfavourable circumstances that continue to stack against us all, we keep pressing on and achieving remarkable things! This year’s Engineering Head Shave is one of these remarkable accomplishments. With the help of 47 participants and 727 donors $38,837 has been raised to date (and there are still two weeks left). Our community refuses to be any less vibrant despite the times. This passion for connecting with and supporting each other is shown in the number of contributors that came together for this edition. So many people have wanted to lend their support, offer encouragement, and give advice to all of us heading into finals season. None of us are alone in this venture, and we hope this edition helps you to remember that. Warmest regards, Delaney MacIntosh & Elizabeth DeCorby Vice President of Communications
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6 Supporting & Connecting
Engineering Head Shave Social Awareness & Responsibility in Engineering Be An Engineer Mental Health & Wellness Designing Your Life The Engineering Journey
22 Features
This Is What An Engineer Looks Like (DivE) SustainabiliTea Student Feature — Willow Dew
CONT 4
36 ESS Initiatives
Engineering Culture Piece UAEC Rundown ESS Virtual Career Fair GEER Gifts GEER Yeer Scoreboard
44 Just For Fun
Winter Activities Text Debates Crossword / Maze
TENTS 5
17TH ANNUAL ENGINEERING HEADSHAVE
(as of November 29, 2020)
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As we near the end of the year, we approach the Engineering Students’ Society’s annual Engineering Head Shave. This is one of our group’s biggest and most meaningful events with a history that goes back nearly 20 years. The Engineering Head Shave originated in 2003, when Ron Wicentowich, father of Gary and Graeme Wicentowich (EE 2006, MecE 2008 Alumni) was in the midst of a struggle against cancer. Louis Bezuidenhout, an ESS executive and friend of the Wicentowich family organized ‘Razored for Ron’, a charity head shave. Ron passed away on February 11th, 2004 after a long battle, but his memory lives on in The Annual Engineering Head Shave, which has become an incredibly important event to the ESS. To date, the event has raised over $275,000 for the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
This year’s event is especially significant, as it will be the first one in the ESS’s history to be done completely virtually. The event this year will be quite different from how it has usually been run; we have had to adjust to the extraordinary circumstances and preventative measures that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main event is planned to conclude on December 1st, 2020, where we will reveal the final cheque on a live-stream. After, a video compilation will be released of all the participants who recorded their headshave/haircut, closing the live donation page. Fundraising ends December 16th, 2020.
Stage 2: Nov 9 - 30th Donation page opens on Nov 9! Contact influencers to share and fundraise Participants shave their heads/cut their hair. They may send in videos if they don’t want to shave their head live or aren’t available Dec. 1. Collect videos Stage 3: Dec 1st Live stream and cheque reveal! Compile and release video on Dec. 8 Stage 4: Dec 9 - 16th Collect more funds from the video hype Donation page closes on Dec. 16
The organizing committee for this year is getting in contact with multiple influencers and popular organizations around the Edmonton Capital Region, who will help increase participation and funds raised. Participation from the Faculty forming a team. There will be a competition between the students and the faculty to see who can raise the most money. Fraser’s Razers vs. Sheared Engineers. A 'friendly' competition between the ESS and their soon-to-be-bald leader Joey and the Faculty with their soon-to-be-bald leader Dr. Fraser Forbes will also accompany the event. May the best bald engineers win! If people don’t want to participate in the live stream or can’t, they can film their head shave/haircut instead. Participants who raise the most money will receive a free ESS Toque. Anyone (even outside faculty/UofA/Edmonton) can participate. We are trying to fundraise the MOST money possible by expanding the target demographic.
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by: SAFIYA AHMAD
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ne of the most important aspects of engineering, or any profession, is the impact that the work you do has on your community and the world. Social justice, awareness, and responsibility often go unconsidered in the engineering atmosphere we find ourselves in both academically and in industry. I think it is beneficial that we look into and educate ourselves on how the work we can do as engineers affects the bigger picture and pay attention to the stories of people all around the world. As we grow, explore, and continuously learn, the unique journey we each experience leads us on our way to becoming better versed in a million different things. All of these pathways make us better people - and as a result, better engineers. The engineering field tends to come off as apathetic to and uninvolved in a multitude of phenomena. I think we sometimes believe that certain issues or events don't affect us or our professions, but if you look into it, I am sure you can find some connection between engineering and the given event. Think about biased AI systems, projects that pollute water, inaccessible infrastructure or hostile architecture (etc). These all relate to different engineering disciplines such as mechanical, software, civil, and environmental. AI is a great example of how bias, unconscious or not, can negatively affect racialized or minority communities. When facial recognition and analysis systems are fed skewed data, they will return faulty results. Joy Buolamwini is a computer scientist and researcher at the MIT Media Lab. Whilst working with AI systems in her undergrad, she noticed that it would not recognize her face as a dark-skinned woman, but it would detect lighter skin. She then conducted a study focused on Microsoft, IBM, and Face++ and the accuracy of their respective
gender classification systems. They found that all the companies performed better on lighter skinned subjects compared to darker skinned subjects. Additionally, it was found that IBM had the largest error of the three companies: there was an error difference of 34.4% between lighter skinned males and darker skinned females. I don't think I have to explain why this is incredibly problematic and how it harms BIPOC communities. We have already seen how when implemented, it can promote bias and inequalities rooted in our systems (Amazon’s internal recruiting tool that discriminated against female candidates). Khalid Kadir is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley who teaches a course focused on engaging students in environmental justice, social justice, and engineering issues. He described the way engineers often interact with material perfectly. In an article from the Berkley Engineer, Kadir says, “Technical experts draw a box around a technical problem. We call it a control volume. We have inputs and outputs, and we deal with what’s inside the box. So when we draw the box around water in the Central Valley that contains nitrate, we don’t look at undocumented laborers, we don’t look at substandard housing, we don’t look at that larger picture because that’s not what our training tells us to do. We are there to deal with nitrate in drinking water. I started unpacking that in my own work and started asking about the bigger picture.” A change in mindset: one that includes empathy and awareness. Learning and understanding how we uphold and benefit from systems of injustice and privilege rooted in engineering can be instrumental to the change we hope to see in the industry and a way to practice intersectional engineering.
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Be an Engineer by: Delaney MacIntosh
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et’s skip the formalities of an L introduction — I am going to start by asking you a question.
What makes a great engineer? There are two main streams of responses I would expect from this: I. The Traditional Someone who is good at math and science and recognizes how this theory may apply to real-world situations. II. The Abstract There is no right answer, rather a common denominator of sorts; engineers tend to be well-rounded and innovative. Neither of these is more correct nor more valid than its counter. I have explored this oh-so-important, perhaps even fundamental, question that we have all pondered in one way or another as engineering students and human beings pursuing something that takes up time (i.e. a degree). I have spent many hours sorting through my mind for a perfectly shocking idea. I never found it, but it was in this search that I discovered my answer: the world doesn’t need another engineer. I hope I didn’t lose you there — I couldn’t be happier in my program. Engineering has shown me how beautiful life really is. There is a deep interconnectedness in our universe that unites all realms of thought, and the way I see it, engineering is the pursuit of understanding this sophisticated beauty. So, the world doesn’t need another engineer. What the world needs is an engineer who is willing to explore big questions through various forms of knowledge and, in their pursuit, feel humanity’s compassion. Some may argue that romanticism has no place in science and technology, but this aforementioned desire to understand our world on such a pure level is, in itself,
deeply romantic. I won’t deny that technical training and knowledge contribute to a significant fraction of the skills required to be a successful engineer — but, in engineering, significant isn’t good enough. Without compassion, we cannot apply knowledge in such a way that enhances the potential and desires of humankind. Without an appreciation for our world and the people we share it with, we blindly navigate through science and find no proper motivation to continue to learn and explore ideas bigger than ourselves. Diversity in engineering allows for this to surface, expanding the development of innovative ideas. It is my hope that by revealing this connection, more students will feel inspired to pursue and gain comfort in curiosity-based academic and career opportunities. Diversity in a group, and thus in thought, extends the span of a group’s creative boundary, allowing us to solve problems more effectively. This pursuit is a journey: a path that I hope to continue to explore. It is my goal to help build a world where all people’s ideas are acknowledged and backgrounds appreciated. I believe that this is best done through collaborative initiatives, distinctive projects, and authentic cooperation. It is these three factors, in combination, that make community such a powerful tool. In truly embracing the humanity inherent in everything we do as engineering students and, again, as human beings, our ‘toolbox’ then becomes limitless. In recognizing humanity – collective compassion for human culture (traditions and idiosyncrasies alike) – the ability to quantifiably understand our infinite universe (both material and thought-based) goes from being an impossible math problem to one of mere compassion.
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s s e n Well mental health &
Mental health can be a difficult topic to discuss; however, it is so important that conversations regarding mental health and personal wellness are normalized. Please do not hesitate to reach out to a friend or a counselling service.
ou may feel down sometimes. Whether or not you are acing your midterms, having a problem in your relationships, or facing financial difficulties, you can still be depressed. The point is there doesn’t have to be a “problem” for which you are depressed. And it’s completely OKAY to feel down! The key is to try and get out of it. I was shocked to learn that I was depressed because, you know, life was normal. I was basically watching a youtube video on depression and I noticed that I
had literally ALL the symptoms of a depressed person. I was lacking the motivation to do anything, quitting on planned outings with friends, overeating or eating nothing, having health issues, finding no meaning or goal in life, etc, etc. Then I decided that I gotta get the heck out of this situation, and I did! I tried reaching out to friends and shared my feelings and let them know that I was struggling. And you have no idea how much it helped me get over some of the negative thoughts which I had at that time. I could literally feel a physical and mental
change in myself. I started to feel normal again. I no longer had those symptoms and was actually able to focus on my studies better. And all I did to overcome the situation was just TALK to my friends. Communications can do wonders for you if you are feeling low. I shared my thoughts with them, and knowing that there’s someone who’s listening to me and is there for me, felt really good. And it just didn’t help me. Some of those people, to whom I reached out to, told me that they were going through a similar situation and we were able to support each other. So folks, please reach out to people and share your thoughts. You never know, you might also be helping your friend along the way. Talking about mental health is still not normalized and let us change that. So again, if you feel down, please REACH OUT to friends and family and remember it’s okay to feel down sometimes.
Amlan Bose
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rying to find a healthy balance between academics, extra-curricular, and social life is difficult by itself. Trying to maintain your mental health and manage mental distress on top of that can often seem hopeless. One of the biggest challenges that I have had to overcome throughout my university experience so far is how to set boundaries for myself. Generally, I find myself quick to offer help, but slow to accept it, difficult to say no to others while all too easy to say it to myself. Learning to set healthy boundaries has helped me to manage my stress and prioritize my mental health in all areas of life. Setting boundaries boils down to learning when to say yes, and when to say no. This line can be a difficult one to draw but is imperative to creating a healthy balanced life.
regarding help and invite available support in to help me when needed. As I mentioned before, a huge aspect to setting boundaries for yourself and interactions with others is learning how to say no. I often find myself being asked for help; to take on another volunteer role, an extra shift at work, to participate in yet another project. Although this can be flattering, and it feels good to be needed, it's more important to learn your own limits. Burnout is real, and acknowledging who you are and your realistic capacity is crucial in preventing it. Saying no can feel like failure, but this is not the case. Learning how to say no when your plate is full, and knowing when you've reached your limit, is healthy and key to maintaining mental health and minimizing distress.
It takes time and practice to learn how to set boundaries and stick to them. Try to be gentle with yourself throughout the process. Acknowledge and evaluate your needs and limitations so you can begin setting realistic boundaries for yourself. Remember, it is never a sign of weakness to accept help when you need it, or to say no to something being asked of you when you have nothing left to give. In order to help others, you first need to take care of yourself so you have something to give.
Rae Callahan
Setting boundaries boils down to learning when to say yes and when to say no. When people talk about boundaries, there is always a large focus on learning how to say ‘no’. I agree with this sentiment as saying no is really important, but so is learning how and when to say ‘yes’. Accepting help when you need it is really challenging sometimes. I used to consider it synonymous with giving up or failing. This was until I realized that I had never thought about it that way when someone asked me for help. Learning how to accept help when I needed it was an absolute game changer for me. What improved my university experience even more was learning to say yes to letting go of my negative views
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DESIGNING YOUR LIFE [CW: SUICIDE, SELF-HARM, ALCOHOL ABUSE]
by: Nicole Hartley
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I came into engineering thinking I was an absolute hotshot—the untouchable exception to all the rules. I flew through highschool like a breeze, and claimed my valedictorian title like it was my birthright. At this point, everything had come easy to me, and I assumed university would be more of the same.
I started my first co-op placement, working 12-14 hour days surveying. I was taking my meds and going to therapy. I was also cutting my arms, and planning my suicide. Dissociation was a near-constant state for me at this point; always out-of-my-body and unable to connect to feelings of pain or consequences.
But that was not the case.
Still, not a single person around me had noticed (aside from my then-partner) because I only showed myself to be the cool, adventurous, always-down-to-party girl.
To start: I moved from a small town to a big, promising new city (yeah, I know. It’s not New York, but it could have been, the way it appeared to me at the time). I was in residence, and I had 70 new friends, with countless parties, concerts, and clubs to go to. My focus shifted very intensely from academics to adventuring and painting the town with all the new people in my life. Not far into my first semester, I had started having frequent meltdowns over how poorly I was doing in class, yet I continued to avoid my responsibilities and dug deeper into the party hole. During first year, it was standard practice for me and my friends to get blackout drunk 3-4 nights/week. In my second year, another large shift occurred. I was spending countless days in bed, crying or just staring through a cloud of fog. Then, suddenly, I would have a set of days bursting with energy: running and jumping and fidgeting and planning huge new adventures. I would binge drink, or, on nights-in, I would be awake at 4 in the morning doing push-ups. I was wearing myself into nothing; shit-talking my own reflection for being a failure. I looked around at all my peers, who were succeeding (deceitfully) without a hiccup, and berated myself for not being able to do the same. As the self-talk grew dangerous, I reluctantly went to visit a psychologist. From there, I was sent straight to a doctor, and lazily handed anxiety medication. The 8-months or so that followed were vicious and extreme.
Eventually, I came to find out that my proper diagnosis is Bipolar Disorder. Previous to being on medication, in low cycles, I would sleep for 16 hours/day, and exist in a haze. In high cycles, I felt unstoppable. I would sleep for 3 hours/day, and run circles around everyone. A proper diagnosis, however, was not the instant saving grace that I imagined it would be either, though. For another 6 months, I was still intensely victim to the brutalities of this illness. I continued to self-harm (some ways in which I didn’t recognize at the time): cutting, disordered eating, alcohol abuse, and extremely unsafe sexual involvements.
The turning point for me was the night my best friend stopped me on the wires of the High Level Bridge. My facade was up; no longer able to hide it from the people in my life, or myself. The reality hit that I had to heal myself, or I was going to die. Nobody could do it for me. It has taken me three years to find the correct combination of medication, therapy, and coping mechanisms to safely navigate my mental disorder. It still comes viciously, at times, but I recognize it now, and I know that I want to live, even when I don’t. Beyond the medication and therapy, I had to adopt many new strategies for wellness: reducing my course load, pursuing creative outlets, feeding myself properly (arguably the most important one, for me), and connecting with individuals and groups who understood my challenge and, more importantly, recognized my ability both in spite of and because of it. My story is not uncommon. University is isolating, frightening, and, occasionally, detrimental to students’ self-efficacy and wellbeing. I assumed for far too long that I was just stressed, like everyone else, and unable to cope. This was both true and untrue: I was stressed, and I wasn’t able to cope, but this wasn’t just the university experience, and it heightened the danger when I brushed it off as such. University is challenging; Engineering is challenging. Neither are worth your life. Every day belongs to you, and every day you have the control to change your circumstances. Drop courses, switch programs, seek help, reassess your dreams. Don’t be afraid to leave something behind when it does not suit you. You don’t owe anyone the proof of what you can do. Plus, if you ask me, rejecting what is expected of you in favour of what calls to you is the bravest and most challenging move you can make, and it is where you’ll find the life worth living.
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WELLNESS RESOURCES U of A Counselling and Clinical Services www.ualberta.ca/current-students/counselling/index.html U of A Peer Support Centre www.su.ualberta.ca/services/psc/ U of A Sexual Assault Centre www.ualberta.ca/current-students/sexual-assault-centre/index.html Text4Hope www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page17019.aspx togetherall togetherall.com/en-ca/ Crisis Services Canada Call 1.833.456.4566 Text 45645 Access 24/7 Call (780) 424-2424 Alberta Mental Health Help Line Call 1-877-303-2642 City of Edmonton Counselling Services 1-877-303-2642 Online Crisis Chat Canadian Mental Health Association edmonton.cmha.ca/programs-services/online-crisis-chat/ & more
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The Engineering Journey
A Message of resilience, hope, and inspiration TEXT: SUBHASHIS CHAKRABORTY
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Photos: ESS Photography
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SustainabiliTea with Dr. Ania Ulrich By Shreya Roy Chowdhury & Celine Fong
We had the opportunity to speak with Ania Ulrich, PhD, PEng. Dr. Ulrich is a professor with the University of Alberta, in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, whose research focuses on biological remediation techniques to clean contaminated soil and groundwater, particularly in oil sands tailings. She’s the first female associate dean of engineering, and is the associate vice president of research for the university. Her other notable work includes her contributions to Engineering with Decency — a movement that encourages engineers to embrace the compassionate side of their work, keeping societal needs at the heart of innovation. She spoke to us about her journey as an engineer, balancing responsibilities and opening your worldview. Q: Could you talk a little bit about your journey as an engineer? What led you to this point in your career?
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A: Well, that’s an excellent question seeing as I am the very first engineer in my family. For my family, education was everything, so my parents expected me to become a physician especially because my brother was also studying medicine. I actually was in sciences at first, but it didn’t really click for me and this really worried me. That’s when my dad sat me down and told me to follow the path of least resistance.
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He said "Develop your skills, and follow what’s easy because what’s easy to you, you might think is easy to everybody else, but that’s not the case. It’s easy for you because it’s the gift you have." I listened to that, and that’s when I realized I loved math; I loved the environment, and I wanted to help people, so I began my journey in chemical engineering. While looking into grad school, I was really inspired by the field of bioremediation. I found a Canadian woman who was a pioneer in this field at the University of Toronto, studied under her and she was so amazing. That’s what sparked my love of bioremediation and I started to realize “Wow I can really make an impact with my work“ I never thought I’d be an engineer if I’m gonna be totally honest, it kind of happened by chance. Q: Could you tell us a little bit about the Engineering with Decency program and what inspired it? A: I actually came across a program called The Rural
Studio, and that was really the whole inspiration behind Engineering with Decency. It involved architecture students going to some of the poorest communities in the US. The students lived in the community and they helped people living below the poverty line. What started to happen over time is that the community members started to give back to the students by teaching them about their community, and their valuable experiences. It developed into this beautiful relationship. When I became a professor I started to do projects like that in my own research team. One of the first teams, Fraser and Travis, went and lived in an indigenous community and they were so terrified because neither had a lot of connections to that demographic. That was 10 years ago and they are still in connection with that community, and they worked with the community on their water systems. That was amazing for an indigenous community, especially in Alberta too but it was really hard on the students. Both of them went through what I call a crisis of privilege, where you really start to understand how privileged your life is. Even though it was a challenging experience, it was incredibly eye-opening for them and they came out the other side wanting to be of service, which to me was so amazing.
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Photo: Dr. Ania Ulrich
In engineering, how we teach in our undergrad program it’s very discipline focused. We discretize knowledge into little bits because it’s easier to control and understand. But the reality is we live in an incredibly connected world, and it was the indigenous communities that rocked my paradigms. That whole experience just completely changed my view and as an associate dean, I had the opportunity to start and create a bigger Engineering with Decency program. The idea of the program is to embed undergrad and graduate students more into their communities, to really help build emotional and social intelligence in engineering students.
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Every engineering program is graduating technically amazing engineering students. You’re all going to have such a solid foundation in that, but what I have noticed in my career is that your emotional and social intelligence is what sets you apart. So the Engineering with Decency program really helps develop that because it connects you with empathy, compassion, and caring.
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Q: That sounds incredible! On the research front, could you speak about the current research that you’re doing with bioremediation?
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A: Yeah absolutely! Where my heart really lies in that research is with respect to orphan wells. During an economic downturn the companies that were responsible for these wells file for bankruptcy and then the wells are given back to the provincial government. The inventory of these orphan wells have been increasing over time. Alberta has a very boom-bust economy where we’ve relied so much on oil and gas that we haven’t really diversified, so we are starting to have more and more of these orphan wells. The problem with that is that we can’t just let them sit, we have to do something about this because once contamination hits the subsurface and especially groundwater, that contamination moves even though we can’t see it. The techniques that we currently use, like dig and dump or injecting chemicals, are pretty archaic. They can work quickly but a lot of times there’s a second or third issue that arises that we didn’t anticipate. This is why I love using nature because nature gets it sorted out. There are organisms that have evolved to be able to eat these contaminants and ones that I focus on can actually degrade benzene. Benzene is in gasoline, and it’s a concern because it causes leukemia. These bacteria will go to a benzene, eat it as a food source and make CO2 and water, it’s amazing! What happens is if you can use these bacteria, they grow very quickly up in population size while there’s a food source and then die right back down. So they are very effective and efficient. My research looks at understanding environments where there’s no oxygen which tends to be the subsurface. So my lab has big chambers that have airlocks where you have to bring in samples and there’s no oxygen. We work with these big gloves, kind of spacey, NASA type stuff and we try to understand how to optimize these bacteria because they do grow slowly and it does take time to really understand how to make them efficient, and a lot of the sites don’t just have benzene floating around all by itself. There’s a whole
Q: Thank you for speaking with us today. A: Oh, you’re so welcome. Take care of yourselves and your mental health especially because it is a bit wild what we’re all going through. Take care. If you’d like to hear more about what inspired Dr. Ulrich’s passion for sustainability, her dreams for the future of engineering, and the responsibility professors hold when discussing sustainable practices in the classroom, check out the podcast!
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bunch of other contaminants with them so we try to understand the impact of the co-contaminants as well. There’s so few people that work in this area because it’s very challenging and slow. But we’re starting to be able to show and to provide proof to the government and industry, and it’s starting to take off for some of the other compounds that we work on where they’re realizing nature is helping us humans that created all of this contamination in a sophisticated, elegant way.
Volunteer with ESS Sustainability
Listen to our Podcast
Stay tuned for more sustainability interviews each month! 33
STUDENT FEATURE
Photos: Willow Dew
Get to know Willow Dew 34
The project manager of EcoCar, communications coordinator of UA-Wise, and past marketing coordinator of the APEGA Student Liaison Committee — meet Willow. Going into her fifth year of chemical engineering, she has stepped into a variety of roles within and beyond engineering. Being an advocate for sustainable energy, she started on the Research and Development team at EcoCar, then advancing to become the Project Manager. The EcoCar Team took first place at the Shell Eco-Marathon and were also the first team to build a fuel cell from scratch.
Of all the experiences she has endeavoured, her fondest memory is of her co-op in a small town in France where she studied carbon emissions among 500 other researchers. Willow’s dream is to work at many different places throughout her career and experience different regional cultures; immersing herself in the French culture, language and experiencing local customs is just one example of this. By working in France, she realized that every region has different perspectives, problems, and solutions to them. With this, she would like to pursue graduate studies in Europe in order to gain more research experience.
During her time in France, she struggled to get comfortable with the French language and culture. After getting ahold of it, she strived to make bridging this culture gap for francophones coming to Alberta easier by volunteering as a tutor at Francophonie Albertaine Plurielle (FRAP). Apart from being involved in the engineering community, Willow also plays the cello and spends her time teaching cello to young children; music is something she feels that she can take with her everywhere she goes. Her advice to incoming first year students is to get involved in as many things as you can, and take advantage of all the resources available to you!
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Photos: Delaney MacIntosh
Photo: edmonton.skyrisecities.com
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UAEC RUNDOWN University of Alberta Engineering Competition
Here is a rundown of the events that took place in the competition!
Senior Design Senior design is a competition involving teams of up to four students in their third year and onwards tackling a design problem drawn from practical issues. This year, students were faced with designing a contained workspace that is relatively easy to set-up, comfortable, and most importantly, meets the safety specifications set in place. Teams had 6 hours to develop a presentation showcasing their solutions which ranged from a self-raising workstation to dual-workstation design for a compact office. Each team had impressive rendered models of their designs and informative presentations that impressed the judges with their innovation. The winning team this year placed an emphasis on functionality and provided a design that provided the benefits of a modern working environment with the added safety of a thermometer, two-way microphone and speaker system, and an air filter. We are proud of all competitors this year and wish them the best for upcoming competitions!
Junior Design Competitors were asked to design a make-shift hand with everyday supplies. A design competition remotely was always expected to be a challenge, but the competitors came up with some amazing designs. While everyone decided to go with a very conventional approach to the solution, the winning team came up with a very interesting solution. This team decided to use the scissors as a base and use the other supplies as support. This innovation, along with a great presentation, led this team to victory.
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Communications Engineering communications required the competitors to explain an engineering concept at a level where the average person can understand. This required a week of preparation, and focused on their presentation and public speaking skills. This year, the winning competitor explained the concept of Telehealth, a medical engineering term.
Impromptu Debate In impromptu debate, competitors were asked to use analytical techniques to present, with minimum preparation, a reasoned point of view of a resolution that was not disclosed beforehand. The goal was to assess the competitors' abilities to convey ideas and develop arguments. This year, we had two debates that allowed for competitors to experience impromptu debate for the first time and develop their critical thinking and public speaking skills. Resolutions discussed paperless education and imposing a ‘sin’ tax on fast food. The winning team was able to effectively organize their arguments while refuting the opposing team’s points. The variety of resolutions encouraged competitors to change their perspectives in order to develop arguments for or against the proposed change. We are excited that competitors were able to gain experience in an important life skill and wish them the best for future competitions!
Programming The Computing Engineering competition had the largest number of teams this year, with six different groups competing. They were instructed to create a mobile app to be used when a medical emergency happens. This app would simply require the press of a button, and it would contact the closest medical center as well as any emergency contacts. The app also required multiple accounts, so that other individuals may use the app with different contacts. The winning team was able to deliver on the requirements, while showing a good understanding of how to manage their time properly and focus on the most important aspects of the deliverables. Every participant received unique feedback regarding their code and presentation which was a great learning experience for all.
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Innovative Design Unlike the other competitions, competitors chose their own topic for the competition which has not yet been thought of in our society. They presented a PowerPoint virtually to the judges of their new idea. The winner of the competition, Tarush Raiwani, came up with an anti-fog eyewear design solution. This is a real necessity in today’s times, as he pointed out, for frontline workers and people wearing eyewear with masks and in the cold weather!
Consulting Competitors in the engineering consulting competition were challenged to design a detailed solution to a large-scale problem to potential clients. This year's competition was to solve how a company would transition to a pandemicfriendly working environment. The winning team, Sunglasses at Night Engineering, presented their multi-stage and adaptable solution for working in a pandemic to potential ‘clients’.
Re-Engineering Competitors in the re-engineering competition were challenged to apply the re-engineering process to an existing product or piece of technology. This year's competition was to design or re-design a desk that would prove suitable to a specific engineering field or career. The winning team, Enggisaurus, designed a simple motorized standing desk with a glass surface.
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As you can see, engineering incorporates so many different skills; UAEC highlights some of these diverse activities!
Old UAEC Photos or something about WEC?
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Things To Do in the Winter 1 Ice Fishing
3 Design a Snowman in CAD and Build it
5 Send a Handwritten Letter
2 Movie Marathon (Netflix Party)
4 Bake Cookies From Scratch
6 Ice Hockey 45
Text Debates Published November 28, 2020
With Ethan Franz, and Adrian Wattamaniuk
Music.
Apple Music or Spotify!
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Who won!
What should they debate next!
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ACROSS
DOWN
5. A board for making an experimental model of an
1. Stress at the onset of plastic deformation.
electric circuit.
2. The physics principle behind the collapse of the
7. A type of transform that converts a function of a
Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
real variable to a function of a complex variable.
3. A solid, cohesive aggregate of grains of one or
8. The solution for an un-driven, damped oscillator.
more minerals.
9. Company credited with making the first single-chip
4. CEO of SpaceX.
microprocessor
5. The most commonly observed effect of dispersion.
10. A quantity used to describe the ability of a force to cause rotation of a body about a specified point or axis
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SOLUTION
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