I’m a
MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Aboriginal Access to Engineering at Queen’s University is committed to increasing the number of Aboriginal engineers in Canada. By promoting math and science to elementary and high school students, supporting the efforts of their teachers, enabling access to post-secondary study, and ensuring young people have what it takes to succeed, we are encouraging more Aboriginal youth like Lydia to become qualified engineers. You can find out more about both our program and engineering at www.AboriginalAccess.ca. Special thank you to Ronald Anderson, PhD, PEng, for his review of text and suggestions for this publication. Special thanks as well go to Lydia Brant for her feedback regarding the storyline for this book and for allowing her story to be shared! The development and production of I’m a Mechanical Engineer was generously supported by the McLean Foundation.
Produced by Aboriginal Access to Engineering Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Queen’s University First printing 2016 Text ©2015 Melanie Howard Illustration ©2016 Peggy Collins Typeset in Book Antiqua, Diffie and Tekton Pro
Hi! I’m Lydia, and I’m going to be a Mechanical Engineer!
When I was a kid, and even through high school, I wanted to be a doctor.
What I really like about engineering is that it is a helping profession. Engineers have to think about people’s safety, and in the type of engineering I’m studying, people are always first in mind.
I get asked a lot if I am a me Mechanics IS a very import chanic - like, do I build cars and stuff like that. an ever ything. We don’t all work t part of mechanical engineering but it’s not What mechanical engineers on cars...or even other vehicles. do is design. We design machines and tech of daily life. We even design nology that help people in almost ever y part machines that make other ma chines!
g said, I That beinr happy that am supe al engineers mechanic igned all of have des les that they the vehic have.
Really Lydia? How come?
Well, as you know Mew, travelling has always been a big part of my life. That’s because I have always lived far away from most of my family. While I was growing up, we lived in Calgar y. My parents grew up in Ottawa, and my grandparents grew up in Tyendinaga. To get to all of these different places, we have to use a variety of vehicles. My grandparents mostly used the train...my parents used their cars to get back to Tyendinaga, and me... well, I have to take a plane to go back home. I’m actually headed to Calgar y this summer!
Aw man, Lydia...I thought you could help me design my solar car project! Hey Mew! You know, I *could* help you with that. But how about while we work on it, I show you some of the other cool stuff mechanical engineers do? We could even take a ride in some of those vehicles we’ve been talking about!
ks That sounds cool. Wesa th wi ip got to go on a tr Robert, did you know? d ask…. Let me text my mom an
Okay, she says I can go!
Awesome! first stop, So Tyendinaga we’re givin Kaitlyn a r g too - hop ide in!
So Kaitlyn, are you an engineer like Lydia?
Actually I am, but a different kind. I’m a geological engineer. I did meet Lydia at school though, because we were both studying engineering. Turns out both of us have family that live in Tyendinaga! She’s giving me a ride out so I can visit. Hey that’s what Robert is right? Wesaks told me about him and all the stuff geological engineers do. Lydia is going to show me some stuff about mechanical engineering today!
That’s cool! Because you know something? Engineering is everywhere!
Bye Kaitlyn!
So Lydia, what are we doing here?
Well today I have to help my Tota with his air conditioner. It’s starting to get hot out now that summer is coming.
Whew, yeah it’s totally hot at my school. I wish we had air conditioning!
That’s rough. When they built your school it probably wasn’t par t of the design to have air conditioning. Did you know mechanical engineers design those systems....the systems for heating and cooling large buildings? It’s called HVAC Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. Ha ha...well, you have V too, otherwise you wouldn’t feel much of that H. Heat is a bit more important for the school months too right? Not much use for air conditioning in the winter!
Man, I think we only have H at my school *groans*
Traditional structures were built with heating and ventilation in mind.
So where are we headed next?
I wanted to take you to a cool project I heard about at a conference about water power. It’s called a run-of-river dam, and this one is on Chapleau First Nation territory.
Water power? Yep! Using a dam to generate (make) electricity. Mechanical engineers worked on this project along with geological engineers, civil engineers, and electrical engineers. Engineers like to work in teams to solve problems.
Seems to me like mak a dam is like making ing problem, not solving a Don’t dams kill wildlif it. and flood ever ything e ?
That’s a very important concern Mew. Yes, building a dam can flood areas and lead to destruction of habitat. That’s why I am interested in this dam. It’s a run-of-river project, which means there is no holding of the water that would lead to flooding. The First Nations involved with this project wanted to ensure that it made electricity to supply power to their community and the surrounding areas, while at the same time making as small of an impact on the environment as possible. So that is one of the problems the engineers helped solve. They designed a solution to make the project run-of-river. So the water just goes through it and creates electricity? That’s pretty cool. So people can have heating and cooling in their homes right? And TV...lights...cell phone chargers... Yep! A project like this we call “green energy”. That means we are not burning oil, gas, or coal to make the power. It is better for the environment and uses the power of Mother Earth through the water.
Like what? Oh, wind power that comes from the four winds, geothermal energy using the heat of Mother Earth...biomass, which uses the plant life that has already passed and can be regenerated...solar power that comes from our brother the sun. Green energy sounds good. Is that just water power?
Nope! There are lots of other green energy technologies. Mechanical engineers work on all of them.
Look down there that is the first 100% Aboriginal-owned solar farm in Canada – it’s in Alderville First Nation. There are a lot of green energy projects happening across Turtle Island.
Hey like my solar car! But whoa...that looks like a farm of solar panels! There’s so many, oh man, how did they make that many??? That must take forever...
Yes, if everything was made by hand it would take a long time! That’s where robots can be very useful!
ROBOTS?! Robots! Robotics in manufacturing is something that mechanical engineers also design. It’s called mechatronics – it combines electrical engineering with mechanical engineering to make a robot that will be very precise at repeating tasks.
a LOT of panels. ed ed ne rm fa r la to That so s has to be able er t it el an p se o th f o h nv Eac of the sun and co take the energy y do it with component to elec tricity. Theyour little solar panel par ts – just like nics makes sure that ever y there! Mechatro n to the best of its ability. piece will func tio
Robots help us speed up the process of making products like solar panels, make it precise, and take away from the boredom that would be experienced if a human worker was doing the same task. Lydia, that’s good in some ways, but don’t you think we make too much stuff already? We shouldn’t be speeding things up so much.
You have a point Mew, we probably could slow down manufacturing so much stuff. But robots do make things precise – which is very important when you are making things like parts for this plane, medical equipment, and anything else that could risk people’s safety.
Robot manufacturing, with people doublechecking, makes things safer in the long run.
My ears are blocked up still when I listen to something – it’s like too loud.
Kind of – two different reasons though. The air pressure change is what’s bothering you today, and it should go away soon now that we’ve landed. When you listen to loud music, you’re actually damaging your hearing!
Oh no!
Did you know that sound is something else mechanical engineers work on? You hear those jet engines? Did you see how the people working around them wore headphones? Those have been designed to block the sound. Just like the structure of the airplane, and of this bus!
Mechanical engineers usually work to reduce the sounds people hear, so they won’t damage their hearing around all of our machines and vehicles.
Big drum eh? I like my hand drum.
Cool! But sometimes I like it loud! Like when I’m listening to music – and my drumming group can be super loud too, when we’re singing!
I made this myself – not everything is made by robots, right?
et a Hey Lydia, b engineer mechanical these! didn’t design
Sorry Mew, they probably did. Our helmets too!
Really! It’s called biomechanical engineering. So the bikes themselves, that’s pretty much straight-up mechanical engineering. But looking at ways in which mechanics impacts the human body – like how we can be protected from forces from falling off a bike – also mechanical engineering.
Really?!
Wow, that’s cool!
That’s what I’m studying. I want to be able to help people who have lost limbs by designing better prosthetics.
Prosthetics?
Artificial legs, arms, hearing aids…that stuff.
Wait what?! I though doctors did that? t
Medical doctors help of course – but mechanical engineers are the ones who design the actual prosthetics.
Like that lady’s running leg – it’s very different from a leg she would use just for everyday work at an office, right? That is so cool! So engineers help para-lympian athletes? Mechanical engineers help ALL athletes!
Athletes use all kinds of equipment that need designing by mechanical engineers! And then there’s carbon fibres, which make things much lighter and can be molded into all sorts of shapes... Shoes, skates, sticks, bats, even balls. Name a sport, a mechanical engineer has probably designed something for it.
Okay – lacrosse Wooden sticks ! That is the ancient game. and stone balls .
pick lacrosse. Aha, I thought you’d y back knew Stick makers waaaaaapes of wood there were better tyaterials for to use, and better m stringing.
They w materia ere early and tha ls engineers, enginee t is mechanic al ring!
I didn’t know engineer of that, especially m s did all echanical engineers. That’s pret ty cool.
Engineered materials have made our lives much safer and easier. Notice all the vehicles we’ve used to get from one place to another today?
Boats Lydia: Mew:
Yeah, there were lots of them!
Lydia: (Mew looks impressed)
Lydia: Think about modern lacrosse equipment though – helmets, balls, composite shafts, specialized shoes – all of that was designed partly by mechanical engineers and the research they do into materials and biomechanics.
There are the panels cars are made of, that crumple and protect the driver in crashes. Mechanical engineers did that too, but it’s not ALL we do. I really like that engineers help people, and that’s why I am studying to be one!
How about you Mew, could you be a mechanical engineer?
Well, not sure I like m aking MORE stuff, but I can see how so metimes new stuff is needed and helps pe ople better live their lives. That’s so mething I could do. And green energy – THAT is cool!
I agree wit how about h you – so hey…. we get to work on th at so
lar car?
Meet
Lydia Brant
& Kaitlyn Brant
Lydia Brant is a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, who was raised in Calgary, Alberta. As a young student, Lydia noticed that math and science were the building blocks to so much knowledge in this world, and she became particularly interested in sports medicine during high school. Part of what fuels her passion in engineering is the interaction of machines with people’s everyday health and well-being; Lydia hopes to one day help people who have been injured by creating new prosthetics that fit better and are more versatile than existing ones. In the meantime, she’s completing her studies at Queen’s with an aim to graduate in 2017. “Take advantage of the resources you have at school!” advises Lydia. “Engineering isn’t impossible, and you can definitely do it with some hard work. At Queen’s I took up the offer of tutoring in my first year; although I had high grades from high school, tutoring helped me understand how to balance engineering courses and better manage my time.” Lydia has been very involved while at university: hands-on in designing parts and building a dune buggy for the Baja SAE team, and applying her time management skills to help organize a major student-run conference. She also enjoys time outside of class playing intramural sports like soccer and dodgeball, taking weekend camping trips, and skating on Lake Ontario in the winter.
Kaitlyn Brant graduated from Geological Engineering at Queen’s in 2016. She and Lydia were instrumental in creating the Queen’s University chapter of AISES, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Kaitlyn is also a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte; although they haven’t yet figured it out, Kaitlyn and Lydia guess they are probably cousins, somewhere down the line!
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