Let me start by telling you a bit about the Work Reports. So at the end of each co-op term every student is required to write a Work Term report which is based on the work they’ve done on their co-op terms. These work term reports are supposed to show that we can critically analyze a problem we’ve been given in the work place.

As you know, Waterloo Engineering held an even during the March Break (Women in Engineering Applicant Event) to promote Women in Engineering, because there has always been a lack of women in engineering and more recently, there has been a decline of women enrolling into engineering.  There could be many factors as to why engineering is such a male dominant profession. By holding this WiE Event we had hoped to encourage women into enrolling into engineering and address any questions, concerns, or misconceptions. Overall, the event was great and we got a lot of positive response from the high school girls!

ANYWAYS…. The reason why I had to explain all that was because I’ve decided to write my report on the lack of women in engineering….

During my research I came across an interesting truth, diversity in the workplace is essential. Since men and women tend to approach a problem very differently, it’s important to have both genders collaborating to come up with solutions to any type of problem!

At first, I thought that writing this work report would be a total drag, but this topic is kind of interesting! Especially because I am a woman in engineering, it’s cool to know why there is a lack of us in engineering.

C’MON GIRLS LET’S IMPACT THE WORLD. ENGGIRLS ROCK!

INTERESTING FACT: Women have four times as many brains cells (neurons) connecting the right and left side of their brain. This supports the observation that men rely easily and more heavily on their left brain to solve one problem one step at a time, whereas women have more efficient access at both sides of their brain and therefore greater use of their right brain.

Interesting Fact Brought to you by…

(Understanding The Difference Between Men and Women)– Micheal G. Conner 1999- 2000

So i came across this really interesting site. I watched a few of their videos and i thought their ideas were great. Essentially, they were saying that if things were fun people are more likely to engage. WHAT A NEAT concept?!!? Take a look at this video and you’ll see just what i mean.

Check out Waterloo Engineering’s new faculty BRAG SHEET ….. it’s worth the read! My quote is on the second page =]

UWaterloo is an incubator for brilliant minds! =]

This was the first year that Women in Engineering ran this Applicant event and in my opinion is was great! Such a good turn out. The highlight of the event for me was when a girl who has applied to mechanical engineering came up to me and was like ” I know you from some where! I’ve read your blogs!” I thought that none read my blogs! It was such a great feeling! So I’m if anyone is reading this and would like to give me suggestion on what they want my to write about or even just talk about Waterloo in general, please feel free to FACEBOOK me!

The event started off with the Mingling Game, which started off pretty shaky, i think it was because people felt abit awkward, but i think by the end of the game, the ice was broken, and they got to interact with some current student, which i thought was so awesome! I heard some of the current student talk about past co-op experiences, give words of encouragement, etc… It was so nice to see this, because i know it would have helped me while i was applying.

Junkyard Wars turned out great too! Some examples that the girls built was a homework eater, boat that transformed in a car, a time machine, a portatble cellphone charger in the shape of a hat, just to name a few. They all presented their invention so creatively and dramatically, which intrigued me.

The event ending with a presenting done by two of our graduating students. They talked about their past co-op terms, how broad an engineering degree is, engineering misconception, just to name a few. I even learned from their presentation! It was great!

Even though this was the first time Waterloo has run an Event like this, it was so succesfull. Next year will just be as great or even better!

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING ROCK!

It was just last year that I was trying to make one of the biggest decision any student could make in their life, choosing what post-secondary institution I wanted to go to. I knew from when I was little that I wanted to become an engineer, so that narrowed down my list a little. Mom says, “Go to Carleton, you can stay home!” Friend says, “Go to Queen’s, you can get a great education and have the best parties of your life there!” There were so many options to consider! What is a girl to do?! Teacher says, “Go to Waterloo, it’s a great school for engineering!” Then I thought to myself, why is Waterloo so great? One of the biggest reasons why I came to Waterloo was because of their co-op program. I think engineering is such a competitive career, companies hire people not only based on grades, but mostly on past experience and personality. Waterloo is the only university that can offer 2 years of work experience that count towards your 4 years needed to become a professional engineer. Through co-op you gain skills through the interviewing process and resume critiquing. Engineering is the type of career that demands practical and analytical knowledge. Secondly, I know a lot of universities that have first year classes of like 500 people! To me that seems ridiculous, because in high school we are all used to such a small setting, the abilities to ask questions, and have a one on one experience with teachers. The transition is so difficult as it is! At Waterloo, the class sizes are much smaller, which gives you the abilities to ask questions and actually get to talk to professors. You can practically touch them! Haha joking. I remember my first day of physics class; I was like wow this guy is awesome! Everyone was so engaged in his lecture and he actually wanted people to come up to him after class and ask him questions. He made a strong effort to actually know everyone’s name! Now how many people can say their Prof knows them as a real person, rather than a number?! Haha I can’t say it was like that for all Profs though! Even though this is a huge decision to make, just weigh your options, and remember nothing is written in stone! Anyways, those are the major reasons why I chose Waterloo. I hope it helped you in your choice! Stay tuned for next week’s blog.

During my first semester at Waterloo I lived in Residence, UWP to be exact. UWP is a unique rez because it’s an apartment style rez, so you have some roommates, in my case, 2, that a share a bathroom, kitchen, and common room with you. I know what you’re thinking! THAT’S AWESOME, you can meet new people and you have lots of freedom. All of which is true (Late night coffee breaks and hangout sessions), but all this new found freedom has its downs, like no moms to make any home cooked meals. I know it doesn’t seem like it’s not that big of a deal at first, but after a few weeks of PLAZA food, a girl could kill for some home cooked grub!! Also, I realized that food doesn’t magically appear in your fridge! Haha! I’ll give you the low down on the hot places to shop! Number 1, on a day that is great for walking, go to VALUMART! It’s much cheaper than sobeys and you get to pass by a petting zoo on that way there ( YES THERE IS A PETTING ZOO SUPER CLOSE TO UWP!! But don’t worry there’s no smell coming from those animals … ). Number 2, you can catch a 5 min. bus ride on the Ixpress to Conestogo mall, where you’ll find Zehr’s! It’s even better than Valumart, because they have a few sample food stands and I find they have better deals on fruit and stuff.

I would suggest setting up a chart to distribute cleaning tasks to each roommate, because I didn’t have one first semester and it was a TOTAL MESS, it was gross. One the last day, my roommate and I cleaned up together and the place looked GREAT! So I know it can be done! With all the stress that engineering students have to endure, a clean living quarter will give you some piece of mind. Another great thing about living in res is that you are super close to your classes, so you can sleep a bit more!

Also, frosh week was great, because I lived in res. As me and my roommate were walking back home from an event we saw these weird looking purple people! THEN I REALIZED IT WAS TIME, TO.GET.PURPLELIZED, so we ran back home put on some raggedy clothes! It was SOOOO awesome, by far the highlight of my frosh week! After getting purplelized, there was an awesome foam party, so everyone I touched had a bit of engineering spirit dyed on them! I could go on and on about my experiences in res, but its different for everyone and it’s an adventure you’ll have to experience for yourself!

Another important thing to remember when living in res is why you came to waterloo in the first place, which is to get a great education. A lot of people can get caught up in all the partying and lose sight of the reason why they chose Waterloo. Everyone wants to make everlasting friendship with people they meet in res, but creating a balance between school and your social life will enable you to stand beside all your new found friends 5 years from now and throw your grad caps together!!!