COMPLETE
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SPRING/SUMMER 2018
ENGINEER THE MAGAZINE OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY
Engineering is for everyone “We’re reaching out to primary and secondary students to highlight opportunities in engineering and to help develop a sense of curiosity about the world.”
INSIDE Queen’s Engineering is dedicated to promoting engineering and collaborating with our community. In this issue we look at outreach: in our programing, on our campus, and in the classroom.
—Dr. Brian Frank, (Sc’97, MSc’99, PhD’02)
Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning)
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PLUS A special pull-out poster of our exciting new Tech ‘n’ Tinker mobile makerspace!
CONTENTS SPRING/SUMMER 2018 DEAN
Kevin Deluzio (Sc’’88, MSc’90, PhD’98) DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
1 Deans’ messages Dr. Kevin Deluzio shares his thoughts on his first year as Dean, while Associate Dean Dr. Brian Frank reflects on the importance of expanding on what and how we learn 2
Building better together The power of interdisciplinary initiatives in the university and the community
4 Aboriginal Access to Engineering: Instilling an appreciation for STEM subjects Queen’s Engineering’s Aboriginal Access to Engineering program provides support and community to Indigenous engineering students
AND COMMUNICATIONS
Adam Walker COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
Matt Mills CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Nanci Corrigan Jordan Whitehouse
6 Queen’s Engineering Outreach team teaches digital skills Queen’s Engineering Outreach receives new CanCode funding to support visits to local schools and First Nations communities 8
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Walker Design + Communications PHOTOGRAPHY
Matt Mills CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Correcting an imbalance Student outreach initiatives WiSE and Robogals draw young women to STEM
SPECIAL PULL-OUT SECTION AND POSTER The Tech ‘n Tinker mobile learning centre embarks on a journey of engineering education Queen’s Engineering Outreach’s mobile makerspace is bringing exciting and engaging engineering experiences to students, and supporting teachers 10 Alumni engagement It’s been a busy six months of events in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Los Angeles, and San Francisco
Matt Mills CONTACT INFORMATION
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Queen’s University Beamish-Munro Hall 45 Union Street Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Tel 613.533.2055 Fax 613.533.6500 Email complete.engineer@queensu.ca
Did you know? Along with our Faculty-wide outreach activities, many of our individual departments organize their own initiatives to promote engineering? It’s true. The Department of Civil Engineering is involved with the RBC Blue Water Project, for instance, while Mechanical and Materials’ Machine Shop has supplied 200 rough-cut paddles to the Thousand Islands Boat Museum.
COMPLETE
THE
SPRING/SUMMER 2018
ENGINEER THE MAGAZINE OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY
Engineering is for everyone We’re reaching out to primary and secondary students to highlight opportunities in engineering, and help build a develop a sense of curiosity about the world.
INSIDE Queen’s Engineering is dedicated to promoting engineering and collaborating with our community. In this issue we look at outreach: in our programing, on our campus and in the the classroom.
—Dr. Brian Frank,
Sc’97, MSc’99, PhD’02 Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning)
Page 1
PLUS A special pull-out poster of our exciting new Tech ‘n’ Tinker mobile maker space!
Destiney Reid is a student at Quinte Mohawk School in Tyendinaga.
FACULT Y
Dean’s Message
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n my first year as Dean, what has impressed me the most is our students—and that includes our former students. Our alumni inspire me through their generous support and enthusiasm for Queen’s Engineering. Their level of engagement sets us apart and allows us to dream big about the future. Our current students are among the very best in Canada and internationally. I’m so proud of what our engineering students accomplish both inside and outside the classroom – analyzing engineering problems, designing new practical solutions, developing leadership skills, participating on competitive teams, planning events like the Science Formal, and engaging in community outreach activities. We focus our attention on these outreach activities in this issue of The Complete Engineer.
Queen’s Engineering and indeed the field of engineering has undergone significant transformation. As we begin celebrations for our 125th anniversary this is a perfect time to reflect on the evolution of the Faculty, from its beginnings as the Kingston School of Mining and Agriculture in 1893 to becoming one of the top engineering programs in the country. As we move towards a future where every job is a tech job, society is looking to engineers to contribute in a wide variety of ways. Today’s engineer may be working with health professionals to design new treatments or therapies, or collaborating with business partners for a new startup. Our alumni are thriving in all segments of the economy, and some are working in jobs that did not exist when they were students. With such an amazing range of career possibilities, we believe that it’s important to capture the interest of potential future engineers as early as possible. In this issue of The Complete Engineer, you’ll learn about our new Tech ‘n Tinker trailer, a mobile makerspace lab filled with educational technology tools to stimulate design thinking and invention in elementary
students. The lab travels to schools and community events around our region to provide experiential learning around the math and science curriculum, and to support teachers who may not have the background to integrate new tools, such as 3D printers and coding tools, into their class plans. The mobile lab is part of our Connections program, designed to raise awareness of engineering careers and to challenge students to think more broadly about career opportunities. The program also provides professional development opportunities for elementary- and secondary-school teachers, helping them bring their math and science curriculum to life. The Connections program is part of our larger outreach activities, which also include our very successful Aboriginal Access to Engineering program and Science Quest, which is run by our students and offers in-class workshops, student clubs, and summer camps for students from kindergarten to grade eight. These activities are great recruitment tools for future students, but more importantly they are an investment in our next generation of explorers. Our Tech ‘n’ Tinker trailer features the phrase “Ignite Your Imagination” along its side. We hope that the stories in this issue inspire you and get you as excited as I am about our next 125 years! Dr. Kevin Deluzio (Sc’88, MSc’90, PhD’98) Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
Associate Dean’s Message
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ver the past decade, Queen’s Engineering has been reimagining how we prepare engineers to solve societal challenges. We have always included rigorous training in foundational math and science, and now we supplement that with the tools to think creatively and work collaboratively to address the problems in our world. Professional and critical thinking skills are crucial for engineers to thrive in an interdisciplinary environment. We are striving to train our students to be systems-minded, strong communicators and team leaders. In fact, industry representatives tell us that they look to hire Queen’s students because they know they can quickly take on leadership roles. The way we deliver our curriculum has also evolved, with instructors using a broad range of teaching approaches, teaching spaces, and technology to support learning. They’re supported by a team of educational specialists who help develop content and provide tools for the classroom. These tools also expand our reach, giving students across the country access to our programs via our expanding online courses and programs. We’re reaching out to primary and secondary students to highlight opportunities in engineering and to help develop a sense of curiosity about the world. Our outreach activities, including those run in our Aboriginal Access to Engineering program and new Tech n’ Tinker makerspace trailer, provide
critical support for students and teachers in the elementary- and secondary-school systems through guided projects and resources. We are particularly focused on supporting teachers in the elementary system who may not have an educational background in science and engineering. As our world becomes more complex, we must continue to expand on what we learn and how we learn it. That means ensuring that our curriculum is inclusive, interdisciplinary, and culturally sensitive, and that it can adapt to new ideas and new challenges. The skills that we give our students today are the foundation for discovery tomorrow.
Dr. Brian Frank (Sc’97, MSc’99, PhD’02) Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) DuPont Canada Chair in Engineering Education, Research and Development THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 1
BUILDING BETTER DEVICES: Queen’s Engineering students Leigh Janssen and Olivia Roud are working with Kingston resident Jim Stinson this summer to develop assistive devices that will enable him to read and write more independently.
Building better together Interdisciplinary initiative lets Biomechanical Engineering students make a difference in the community
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aving access to the best assistive technologies can mean the difference between dependence and independence for people living with disabilities. The simple joy of reading an exciting novel, for example, can be out of reach for someone who can’t comfortably hold a book upright and open or turn its pages long enough to get lost in the story. “I’m at the point where I either need someone to read to me or I can listen to audio books,” says Jim Stinson, who uses a wheelchair and has multiple sclerosis, which affects his ability to hold a book or a pen. “But a big factor in reading a book is that you get to imagine the different scenarios. When the story is read to me, someone else develops the characters with their imagination. I like to do that myself.” There are lots of assistive devices on the market that propose to help people with similar challenges, but mass-market devices so often demand compromises from end users. Results are just so much 2 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER
better with custom assistive devices, or devices that can be infinitely adapted over time to an individual user’s specific needs and wants.
We’ve worked around some things that were difficult for me, and the
devices they’ve developed are very good solutions for people who
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have difficulty reading or writing. I have nothing but great things to say about the engineers and occupational therapists who work at Queen’s. —Jim Stinson
That’s where Queen’s Engineering students come in. Fourth-year Biomechanical Engineering students
Olivia Roud and Leigh Janssen, under the supervision of Queen’s Engineering Professor Dr. Claire Davies (Sc’97), are working with Stinson this summer to design, build, and refine the devices that will enable him to read and write more routinely and independently. “This was our first experience getting to work with an actual end user and someone in the community,” says Janssen. “As undergraduates, our projects are often based on hypothetical problems involving imaginary people. Getting to work with Jim, an actual client, and address his needs directly is great experience. Jim gives so much more information and feedback than we would get in a hypothetical situation.” Among the devices Roud and Janssen are working on is a special copy stand to fit over the armrest of Stinson’s wheelchair. It can help support the weight of a book and hold it open in just the right position so Stinson can read the text clearly and turn the pages much
more easily. Another device provides support for Stinson’s right forearm to help steady his hand for writing with a pen. “With the system they’ve developed, I can write more easily,” says Stinson. “I can sit here and read a book pretty naturally, so I’ll be able to finish all the books I’ve started but couldn’t read to the end.” “It’s an iterative process,” says Roud. “There are some stability issues in some of the devices at the moment, but the next steps are to look at the designs, take them apart, and improve each piece until we get the best results we can for Jim.” For Roud and Janssen, the first steps on the road to this project came as part of Davies’ MECH 393 Biomedical Product Design course. That course is part of an interdisciplinary initiative called Building Better Together created by Davies, PhD student Elizabeth Delarosa (Mechanical and Materials Engineering), Professor Catherine Donnelly (Rehab’95, PhD’13) (Rehabilitation Therapy), and Professor Susanne Murphy (Rehab’95) (Rehabilitation Therapy). In it, Biomechanical Engineering students collaborate with Occupational Therapy students to make custom assistive devices for real-world end users. “Four teams work with each end user in the course,” says Davies. “Then the end users decide which devices to move forward with. I’ve engaged a couple of students from the class in each of the past two summers to move those projects forward. We iterate on the designs until they meet the end user’s needs before we give the devices to the end user. We re-interview the end user after one week using quality assessment tools that enable us to evaluate how well the devices perform. We do that again after four weeks and again after six months. That’s how we ensure the needs of that end user are met throughout the year and the devices continue to be beneficial into the future.” For Stinson, the preferred outcome is quite simple: more independence in his daily life. “The philosophy I use in my life is that if you have a problem, you learn how to work around it,” he says. “We’ve worked around some things that were difficult for me, and the devices they’ve developed are very good solutions for people who have difficulty reading or writing. I have nothing but great things to say about the engineers and occupational therapists who work at Queen’s.” To see a video about this exciting project, scan this QR code, or visit the News and Events section of our website, engineering.queensu.ca.
STEADYING HAND: Another device in development is a 3D-printed support for Stinson’s right forearm that will help him better write with a pen.
TO THE LAST PAGE: Janssen and Roud are prototyping a copy stand that can make holding a book and turning its pages easy enough for Stinson to read comfortably all day long.
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Aboriginal Access to Engineering:
Instilling an appreciation B
efore European settlers began arriving in Southern Ontario in the early 1600s, the area that is now Kingston was home to communities of Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. These communities interacted with one another and with other First Nations across what is now Ontario and Quebec. The contemporary Kingston Indigenous community continues to be comprised of members of those First Nations; there is also a significant Métis community, and there are people from other Nations across Turtle Island (aka North America) who live in Kingston today. Our society was formed in part through, and bears qualities of, the interaction and integration of Indigenous with settler cultures over the past four centuries. This is why so many official events at Queen’s begin with an acknowledgement that Queen’s University is situated on traditional Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory. It’s also why the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS) at Queen’s supports Aboriginal Access to Engineering (AAE). AAE offers a suite of initiatives to provide support and community for Aboriginal engineering students, ongoing partnerships with Indigenous communities across Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, and the promotion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to Indigenous youth. It is one of only three similar units at engineering faculties across Canada. Involvement with AAE can begin before Indigenous engineering students even arrive for orientation, as AAE Director Melanie Howard (Artsci’95, Artsci/Ed’98) reaches out to them soon after offers for admission arrive. Firstyear students have a welcome day one day ahead of general move-in that affords them and their families the chance to meet fellow Indigenous engineering students and AAE staff before orientation week begins. Throughout their studies at Queen’s, AAE students have access to their own student group room in the Integrated Learning Centre, academic support, help with scholarship and employment applications, and a bi-weekly social
AAE Director Melanie Howard (second from left) and the AAE team earned the Actua Experience Award – Indigenous Youth in STEM earlier this year for their outreach work in schools in Indigenous communities. dinner. There are also special events to mark milestones, like graduation, and opportunities to be involved with Indigenous student organizations, such as the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. “A lot of our students were very high-performing in high school,” says Howard. “We look to support them not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. We’re looking at the whole
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I was really nervous about going to university, and I just feel this
environment is so inclusive and
supportive that anyone can find success at Queen’s. —Émélie Gagnon
person in an Indigenous context.” It’s work that earns high praise from the 40 or so Indigenous engineering students enrolled last year. “Melanie does a great job of connecting with the students,” says Anishinaabe student Zackary McDonald (Sc’18). “We all know who she is. She definitely cares about our wellbeing and our success. “I didn’t really know a lot about my Indigenous culture before coming to Queen’s,” says student Émélie Gagnon (Sc’20). “My family didn’t grow up on a reserve, I didn’t grow up on a reserve. Participating in AAE, and with Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre, has really allowed me to
know a bit more about what having that Indigenous history means to me. I was really nervous about going to university, and I just feel this environment is so inclusive and supportive that anyone can find success at Queen’s.” Off campus, AAE partners with primary and secondary schools in Indigenous communities across Eastern Ontario to provide STEM education programs. The aim is to help students see science, technology, engineering, and math as enjoyable subjects. It’s also a way to provide professional development in STEM education to teachers without taking them away from their classes. AAE also works with the Queen’s Summer Engineering Academy and Science Quest programs to bring Aboriginal primaryand secondary-school students to campus during the summer months. Earlier this year, the AAE team earned the Actua Experience Award – Indigenous Youth in STEM. The award is national recognition for their work, especially with Indigenous youth. “Over the past five years, we have engaged more than 20,000 Indigenous young people, and we continue to broaden our outreach to Indigenous communities right across Canada,” says Howard. “Through our unique model, we partner with teachers and schools to deliver tailored content that matches the math and science curriculum, while paying attention to Indigenous contributions and cultural linkages whenever possible.” Learn more about Aboriginal Access to Engineering at aboriginalaccess.ca.
for STEM subjects
GROUP ROOM: AAE students have access to their own group room in the Integrated Learning Centre for study, project work, and social events.
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CLASS ON WHEELS: Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen and local grade-school students try their hand at some engineering design and robotics experiments in the Queen’s Tech ‘n’ Tinker trailer, a mobile classroom operated by the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. (University Communications)
Queen’s Engineering Outreach team teaches digital skills The program has received new CanCode funding to support visits to local schools and First Nations communities
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ocal youth and schools will continue to benefit from digital literacy and computational thinking workshops supported with technology offered through Queen’s, thanks to a recent federal government funding announcement. Actua, a Canadian charity focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education among youth, received the largest amount of funding under CanCode, an initiative of the Canadian Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development. As a member of the Actua network, Queen’s Engineering Outreach will receive $247,000 over 18 months. On hand to celebrate the funding announcement on February 26 were representatives from Actua and Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen.
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“CanCode is our government’s down payment on Canada’s future,” says Mr. Gerretsen. “This program will help ensure more young Canadians of all backgrounds have the right skills for the jobs of the future. Coding and digital literacy will be the bedrock of future jobs and further study in high-demand STEM fields.” The funds will be used to provide free workshops to grade-school students to help them build their digital skills, and expose them to technologies such as coding and robotics. The workshops are offered multiple times per week across the greater Kingston area, and the funding will support programming through to the summer of 2019. “On behalf of Queen’s, we thank Actua and the federal government for this funding, which will benefit thousands of students in our area,” says Scott
Compeau, Outreach Lead with the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. “This funding will allow us to continue to partner not only with local schools but also with First Nations communities to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math-related learning activities,”adds Melanie Howard, Director of Queen’s Aboriginal Access to Engineering program. For more information about Queen’s Engineering Outreach, visit queensconnections.ca.
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Innovation and Wellness Centre:
Cutting-edge teaching and research spaces bring Queen’s engineers together Progress continues on the new Innovation and Wellness Centre (IWC), scheduled to open in September. The IWC will be home to expanded engineering facilities, collaboration and experiential learning spaces, and stateof-the-art interdisciplinary research laboratories. It will also be the location for student health and wellness on campus, and the hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. The creation of the IWC was made possible through over $60 million in philanthropic support, with approximately 95 per cent donated by Queen’s Engineering alumni, parents, and friends. In addition, the federal and Ontario governments contributed a combined total of nearly $22 million to this facility. The engineering facilities will be located on the second and third floors of the IWC. The second floor will feature
an interdisciplinary mechatronics laboratory where mechanical and electrical engineers will be able to work together, an undergraduate common room, a rapid
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This leading-edge facility will uniquely bring together innovative undergraduate teaching facilities, worldleading research facilities, and innovation programming in one space, connecting professors, undergraduate, and graduate students in a way that builds community and fosters new ideas.
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—Kevin Deluzio (Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98) Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
prototyping lab, and three reconfigurable teaching studios. On the third floor, you will find the IWC’s research labs. The Beaty Water Research Centre will include four wet labs, bringing together water researchers from across the university. There will also be a multidisciplinary research initiative focused on the design and use of intelligent systems and machines to enhance human productivity, creativity, safety, and quality of life. Spanning a continuum of expertise from artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cyber-human systems, to robot control, smart sensors, and mechatronic devices, this research group will facilitate the inherently complex interactions between humans, engineered machines and infrastructure, and their natural environments. Recruitment of new academics in these areas will align with the Principal’s faculty renewal plans.
Everyone is invited to visit the new facility after it opens in the fall. In the meantime, learn more about the Innovation and Wellness Centre at:
en gin eer in g. queen s u. c a/ IWC December 2016
September 2017
May 2018
Correcting an imbalance Student outreach initiatives WiSE and Robogals draw young women to STEM
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SOCIAL ACTIVITY: Robogals Operations Manager Heather Litwiller (Sc’18) works with outreach program participants on programming EV3 robots. (Robogals)
Q
ueen’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS) dedicates significant resources to initiatives that are designed to meet and engage community, industry, and alumni partners. The advantages of cultivating those relationships are huge and key to its work. But not every community outreach initiative from Queen’s Engineering is Faculty-born. Many initiatives under the umbrella of the Engineering Society of Queen’s University (EngSoc) have deep community, industry, and alumni connections. These are projects conceived, planned, and executed almost entirely by volunteer students. There are simply far too many charitable events, design team-led community initiatives, partnerships, conferences, and outreach activities led by Queen’s Engineering students to describe here in detail. But one good example is the efforts Engineering students are putting into correcting the
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I love Robogals because it’s social. We give groups of girls robots and laptops and they’re chatting, laughing, working together. —Heather Litwiller
demographic gender imbalance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, particularly in engineering. There are more female students and faculty in Queen’s Engineering than ever before, and more are coming every year. Still, only a little more than 30 per cent of our first-year students are women, and women account for only about 13 per cent of licensed engineers in Canada. It’s
a complicated issue, but getting girls and young women interested in STEM fields early is one of the keys to moving those numbers closer to parity. Queen’s Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) is a student club that, among other things, runs youth outreach programs on campus and in primary and secondary schools around Kingston. The club’s activities are specifically designed to get girls interested in STEM before they start making decisions about what to do after high school. It’s all about helping people see women as role models not only for girls, but for boys, teachers, faculty, and for one another. “We received an email from a parent whose child attended one of our school outreach programs,” says Queen’s WiSE President Beatrice Kaiser (Sc’18). “Her daughter decided after our program that she wants to become a scientist. That’s impactful on me. It’s just so exciting when you hear kids say, ‘I want to be an engineer. I want to be a scientist.’”
The Queen’s chapter of Robogals is another growing student outreach program. It’s one of more than 30 Robogals chapters around the world that aims to inspire young women to enter STEM fields by exposing them to robotics. At Queen’s, Robogals hosts a series of fun workshops in which local kids learn robotics basics with Lego EV3 robots just as first-year Queen’s Engineering students do. Some of the workshops are all-girl, but many are coeducational. “I was lucky that my parents encouraged me to pursue STEM early on,” says Queen’s Robogals Operations Manager Heather Litwiller (Sc’18). “But when I was in high school, one of the reasons girls chose not to go into computing or physics was because they’re kind of isolating, solitary pursuits. You have to work on them by sitting at a desk by yourself. I love Robogals because it’s social. We give groups of girls robots and laptops and they’re chatting, laughing, working together. STEM becomes a way for them to make friends while at the same time seeing future career options.” Both WiSE and Robogals team members liaise regularly with STEM education professionals in FEAS’ full-time youth outreach operation, Connections: Queen’s Engineering Experience Program. “There’s a lot of new collaboration with Queen’s Engineering Outreach Lead Scott Compeau,” says Kaiser. “We share school contacts, support, equipment, and information, and we work together to ensure our programs don’t overlap to the point of redundancy.” In the end, WiSE and Robogals students are working to tear down barriers to entry in STEM fields, not to create new ones or to foment division. Perhaps the best outcome will be that gender becomes irrelevant to academic or aspirational potential in STEM. “Our main mission is to get more women involved in STEM,” says Queen’s Robogals President Madeline MacLean (Sc’18). “We don’t exclude boys. We have guys on our executive every year, and it’s important for guys to be welcome here. It’s almost a solidarity thing. These are male feminists who are joining us.” Learn more at robogalsqueens.org and queenswise.ca.
PAYING IT FORWARD: Queen’s Robogals President Madeline MacLean (Sc’18), Operations Manager Heather Litwiller (Sc’18), and First-year Representative Laure Halabi (Sc’21) are just a few of the Queen’s Robogals volunteers.
ROLE MODELS: Queen’s WiSE Coordinator Kenzie Spence (Sc’20) and Queen’s WiSE President Beatrice Kaiser (Sc’18) are just two of the more than 100 Queen’s WiSE volunteers.
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ALUMN I NE WS
Alumni engagement Dean’s Engineering Reception: Vancouver, November 6, 2017
Dean Kevin Deluzio hosted an alumni reception at the Terminal City Club to connect with alumni and share his plans and priorities.
Anthony Wachmann Sc’75, Arthur Brueton Sc’62, Dean Kevin Deluzio Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98
Vijay Bhargava Sc’70 MSc’72 PhD’74, Dean Kevin Deluzio Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98, Yolande Henri-Bhargava
Elicia Maine Sc’92 Artsci’93, Richard de Lhorbe Sc’76
Anastasia Antonova, Ian Lipchak Sc’03, Shahram Amiri PhD’08
Dean’s Engineering Breakfast: Calgary, November 8, 2017 Dean Kevin Deluzio connected with alumni over breakfast at The Ranchmen’s Club.
Evan Hazell Sc’81, Robert Pritchard Sc’80, Cecilia Low Sc’83, Andrew Williamson Sc’85, Idi Cheung Sc’06, Richard Wyman Sc’78
Jan Wentzel Sc’12, William Runciman Sc’13
Heather Kennedy, Kim Sturgess Sc’77 DSc’16
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Dean Kevin Deluzio Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98, Ralph Lundberg Sc’59
Johnson Award Celebration: Calgary, November 9, 2017
Evan Hazell Sc’81, 2017 Johnson Award Recipient.
Brian Amsden Head, Chemical Engineering PhD’96, VP Thomas Harris Sc’75, Evan Hazell Sc’81, James McLellan Sc’81 PhD’91 VP Thomas Harris Sc’75, Evan Hazell Sc’81, Sue Bates Artsci’91, Nicholas Godwin Artsci’11
GTA Alumni Networking Summit: Toronto, January 20, 2018
Queen’s Engineering Society hosted the 2018 GTA Alumni Networking Summit and Gael’s Den. In attendance were current students, GPA Society members, GTA alumni mentors, and Queen’s Young Engineering Alumni (QYEA), who sponsored the Gael’s Den.
Gordon Bogden Sc’81 networks with students. QYEA and student teams
Oil & Gas Speaker Series:
Queen’s University, February 2-3, 2018 Chemical Engineering and Engineering Chemistry hosted their yearly Oil & Gas Speaker Series.
Philip Sager Sc’03 and Richard Hayward Sc’00 speak with members of the Queen’s Biomedical Innovation Team (QBiT). Christopher Slubicki Sc’81, Jared Wynveen Sc’06, Sandy Thompson Artsci’94, Ian Nieboer Sc’06 Artsci’06 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 11
ALUMN I NE WS
Alumni engagement Alumni Reception: San Francisco, March 6, 2018 Dean Kevin Deluzio and Aris Docoslis, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, traveled to California to speak at the Northern California Branch event. Tony Hung Artsci’03 MSc’06, Kartik Sundar Sc’03
Colin Finn Sc’82, Stephanie Finn Artsci’88 ED’89, Michael Woods Sc’82
Aris Docoslis, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, Dean Kevin Deluzio Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98, Christian Baldwin Sc’18, Benjamin Juteau Sc’10 MBA’11
William Yu Sc’84 MBA’87, Dean Kevin Deluzio Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98, Cynthia Thomas Sc’02 MSc’05
Dean’s Engineering Reception: Ottawa, April 19, 2018 Dean Kevin Deluzio hosted an alumni reception at the Brookstreet Hotel. Engineering Department Heads and faculty members were with him to share updates and priorities for the individual departments and the Faculty as a whole.
Andria Caletti Sc’13, Sarah Ghadbane Sc’11, Kenneth Anderson Sc’05 Marc Dignam Head, Engineering Physics, Robert Brett Sc’61, Neil Johnstone Sc’61 Kerry Brine, and Richard Brine Sc’90 12 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER
Alumni Reception: Los Angeles, March 8, 2018 Mary Ann Turcke Sc’88 MBA’97, hosted the Southern California Branch event at NFL Networks. Dean Kevin Deluzio was the guest speaker.
Brian Gaunce Sc’82 Charles Fournier Sc’82 MSc’84
Mary Ann Turcke Sc’88 MBA’97, Dean Kevin Deluzio Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98 Anton Toutov Artsci’11, Christian Baldwin Sc’18, Bryan Cornwall Sc’87 MSc’90 PhD’96 Kevin Doucette Sc’02 Artsci’03 Dean Kevin Deluzio Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98
Dean Kevin Deluzio Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98, Stephen Maine Sc’88 MBA’04, Jennifer Mills Sc’88
Dean Kevin Deluzio Sc’88 MSc’90 PhD’98, Bruce Miller Sc’72
Catherine Ella Sc’83, Roderick Beauprie Sc’83, Teresa McNutt Sc’83
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Engineering the future
Picture yourself here
See yourself getting involved? Contact us: FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE – Development and Alumni Relations Beamish-Munro Hall, Room 200 Queen’s University Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 www.inspiring.engineering.queensu.ca 613-533-6000 Ext. 75248 Email: inspire@queensu.ca
Immersed in Engineering
Free programming for Indigenous kids Aboriginal Access to Engineering (AAE) at Queen’s University is committed to increasing the number of Indigenous engineers in Canada. It is encouraging more youth to become qualified engineers by promoting math and science to elementary- and high-school students, supporting the efforts of their teachers, and enabling access to post-secondary study. AAE offers free outreach programs in schools and day camps in Akwesasne, Kanehsatake, Kahnawake, and Tyendinaga, as well as family workshops with the Durham District School Board, Limestone District School Board, and the Kanhiote Public Library in Tyendinaga. Developing and maintaining these programs takes a dedicated, knowledgeable staff and significant financial resources. Support from alumni is augmented through the generous support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) PromoScience Program and the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach charity Actua. AAE staff make regular school visits. The focus of the schools program last year was integrating engineering design processes into science classes. “At first I think students thought the design challenges were a little bit difficult,” says Jamie McCourt, a grade seven and eight teacher at Quinte Mohawk School in Tyendinaga. “As they actually explored and went a little deeper, they were really able to respond to what the challenges were, and I was really excited and surprised
to see the things they were creating and building, and the solutions and conclusions they were coming up with.” “Elementary schools typically designate 90 to 100 minutes per week to science. It’s not much time, and we don’t intend to take over teaching duties,” says Melanie Howard, Director of Aboriginal Access to Engineering. “Rather, we work to help teachers incorporate engineering design into their own lessons. This year, based on feedback from teachers, the focus is on using robotics in math classes to problem-solve, and we’re using some lovely new technology geared especially to elementary-school students. “ Elementary math and robotics has become an area of expertise of this year’s Aboriginal Community Engagement Coordinator, Michelle Kennedy. She works on exciting lessons, marrying robotics with the math curriculum in the context of Mohawk culture. “For me, the whole intent behind these programs is to normalize engineering in the lives of students,” says Howard. “There are so few Indigenous engineers that kids in Indigenous communities are unlikely to grow up knowing anyone who is a professional engineer. For kids to now recognize our staff and the logo on our shirts, to know that we’re there to teach engineering — how STEM subjects can empower them to design and build things to solve real problems — that’s success to me.”
EARLY EXPOSURE: Students at Quinte Mohawk School in Tyendinaga get their first taste of robotics with Aboriginal Access to Engineering thanks to funding from the Codemakers initiative by STEM outreach charity Actua. Pictured at left is Ben Green, a high-school volunteer with the QMS Codemakers Club who was recently admitted to the Queen’s Engineering class of 2022.
Queen’s Summer Engineering Academy gives grade-school students an introduction to the Queen’s Engineering experience The Queen’s Summer Engineering Academy (QSEA) is an engineeringfocused educational summer program specially designed for young people entering grades six to twelve. It’s a great way to gain early exposure to engineering design, campus life, and many of the engineering disciplines available to undergraduate students of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. QSEA is different from many summer engineering or science youth programs, like the venerated and long-running Science Quest hosted by the Engineering Society of Queen’s University. Unlike those programs, QSEA students follow a program developed collaboratively by a team of engineering educators, qualified teachers, engineering students, and Queen’s faculty and staff. The courses within the program are developed with research-based knowledge, and they are designed to provide experiential learning opportunities for students interested in exploring the engineering profession. It’s a precise and deliberate way to help equip young people with the tools they need to make serious decisions about their future academic and career paths. And for those interested in pursuing engineering studies at Queen’s, it’s a smart way to prepare for the university admissions process and transition to university life. “I wish I had access to a program like this when I was in high school,” says QSEA instructor Tianna Lombardo (Sc’18). “I think some people get discouraged for pursuing engineering because of a single course or subject. You don’t necessarily have to do years of physics and want to build buildings to find the perfect engineering career for you. QSEA helps young people to navigate that.” QSEA runs up to seven different week-long programs concurrently in July and August, each with a different engineering-based focus. Some students come for a single week and their favourite discipline, others sample a variety of programs throughout the summer. QSEA is for students entering grades ten to twelve, while QSEA Jr. is for those entering grades eight or nine. Both present students with a broad overview of engineering using lab facilities and thoughtprovoking projects to inform and engage without the stresses of academic pressure. Team-based design projects involve collaboration, leadership, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. These are based on the same concepts and methodologies ingrained in Queen’s
undergraduate engineering programs. New this year is the QSEA in the Community option for students entering grades six or seven. With this option, QSEA instructors travel with the new Tech ‘n’ Tinker mobile classroom to off-campus locales around the Kingston community and deliver engineering design and makerspace programming.
“I really think schools have a lot of work to do in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] education,” says Michelle Sousa, Vice Principal at La Salle Intermediate and Secondary School in Kingston. “Without the support of Queen’s Connections this year I don’t think we would have been able to do as much to provide the rich learning experiences for kids and training for staff that we have. Having Connections work with us has been absolutely amazing, and I think if we can continue to build that partnership, it’s going to be wonderful for STEM education.” That’s just one recent example of the high praise earned by the Connections team. Funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) PromoScience Program and the Government of Canada-funded STEM outreach charity Actua has made it possible for the team to provide recurring engineering design workshops inside the Tech ‘n’ Tinker trailer this year. It has also facilitated computational thinking, coding, and robotics workshops in classrooms across Eastern Ontario at no cost to schools or families. It’s a strong incentive for teachers and administrators to invite the Connections team in, and it allows Connections to reach many more students and teachers than they otherwise could. More students mean more opportunities to show the advantages of STEM education, what careers in STEM might look like, and hopefully increase the diversity in the professions. And it’s not only school visits. The team also offers free GoEngGirl and GoCodeGirl programs in partnership with the Ontario Network for Women in Engineering (ONWiE) on campus throughout the year. These programs encourage girls in grades seven to eleven to get engaged with STEM subjects, specifically engineering, long before they make their choices about what to do after high school. All
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The world seems to be changing faster than ever before. As it does, the work of the Faculty of Engineering of Applied Science (FEAS) at Queen’s is changing, too. It becomes more obvious with each passing year that the FEAS needs to invest more heavily and actively in its efforts to connect with its neighbouring communities. It’s also clear that it has a growing role to play in the lives of the young people who will become tomorrow’s leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. That’s where Connections: Queen’s Engineering Experience Program comes in. Connections is a basket of educational outreach programs offered by the FEAS. Its mission is fourfold. One, to provide experiential opportunities for pre-university students to learn about engineering with an additional focus on increasing diversity within the profession. Two, to develop and share quality engineering education tasks that align with the Ontario K-12 curriculum. Three, to provide support and professional development opportunities for educators looking to integrate engineering and 21st-century competencies into their practice. And four, to develop positive relationships between the FEAS and the Kingston community. Connections programs are led by Engineering Outreach Lead Scott Compeau (BASc ’08, BEd ’11, MSc Ed ’15, PhD Ed Student). under the guidance of senior faculty administrators. “Instead of one-off STEM engagement workshops geared only to fun, we’re grounded in educational theory and content,” says
Compeau. “Many of our workshops are designed specifically with direct links to teachers’ lesson plans, assessment protocols, and the learning skills students develop as they move through the public education system.” It’s all about making the most meaningful connections possible—based on research-based knowledge—with children long before they make their decisions about what to do after high school. And it’s about equipping teachers with the additional knowledge and capacity to use state-of-the-art tools and techniques for teaching STEM education. The Connections team visits schools across Eastern Ontario with a new mobile makerspace, the Tech ‘n’ Tinker trailer, led by Desurée Vandendam (BEd’12). Once on site, qualified teachers offer students STEM-related programs on topics that include coding, robotics, prototyping, and design. Connections also offers free programs in the Kingston area in partnership with local community organizations like the Boys and Girls Club and the City of Kingston. On campus, GoCodeGirl and GoEngGirl are free experiences designed especially for girls with a stated aim of addressing the demographic gender imbalance in STEM fields. Queen’s Summer Engineering Academy (QSEA) includes various residential and commuter summer programs for students entering grades six to twelve. It’s a great way to inform future engineering students about the various disciplines and give them a taste of campus life.
this work is building on an already solid community reputation for Queen’s Engineering. “What we’ve been able to do over the past couple of years is really starting to get recognition through the Kingston community,” says Scott Compeau, Queen’s Engineering Outreach Lead. “We have a standing partnership with the Boys and Girls Club to visit four or five sites on a bi-weekly basis throughout the school year. We also work regularly with Pathways to Education and the City of Kingston to help enhance their events, and we’re getting known as a go-to organization in STEM education.” The support of NSERC and Actua have been essential to the development and launch of these community programs throughout the Kingston area. The next step is creating a sustainable model for the longer term, so Queen’s Engineering can continue to develop and deliver STEM programming to the broadest number of students at no cost to the students or schools. This is the best route to ensuring that every student, regardless of means, gets the best opportunity to learn about the exciting range of education and career opportunities in STEM fields. Your investment in our outreach programs and resources, such as the Tech’n’Tinker mobile makerspace classroom, can help open the door to a universe of possibilities, enabling children to understand the limitless pathways available to them by pursuing STEM subjects. By enabling a sustainable outreach program, no student, educator, or school is left out due to financial or geographical barriers. This is a wonderful way for those who have benefited from an engineering education to pay it forward and to help educate and inspire the next generation of engineers.
THE WAY AHEAD: Queen’s Summer Engineering Academy programs allow students to explore some of the same facilities used by Queen’s Engineering students, like the machine shop in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.
“We’re excited by QSEA in the Community because it continues our partnership with local communities and increases the number of opportunities for the students within them to attend a STEMbased summer program who might not be able to travel to Queen’s University campus,” says Engineering Outreach Lead Scott Compeau (BASc’08, BEd’11, MScEd’15, PhD Ed Student). “It also affords us more opportunities to provide full-time summer employment for undergraduate Queen’s Engineering students and provide them the opportunity to strengthen their skills that are necessary for a career in engineering.”
Learn more about QSEA at queensconnections.ca/qsea 3
Ensuring Connections’ free school programming stays free
Connections outreach program aims to get young people interested in engineering
Learn more about AAE programming at aboriginalaccess.ca/programs CONNECTIONS
Engineering: The next generation
YOU CAN HELP: Connections: Queen’s Engineering Experience Program is off to a great start! We invite you to invest in the future sustainability of the Tech’n’Tinker trailer and associated STEM experiential learning opportunities for youth and educators. Find out how you can be a part of this exciting outreach program by visiting the website below. (l-r): Desuree Vandendam, Engineering Outreach Coordinator; Michelle Kennedy, Aboriginal Community Engagement Coordinator; Dean Kevin Deluzio, Tracy Ross, Director of Network Membership, Actua; Scott Compeau, Engineering Outreach Lead; Melanie Howard, Director, Aboriginal Access
To learn more and see a video of the Tech ‘n’ Tinker trailer in action, scan this QR code or visit the News and Events section of our website, engineering.queensu.ca. CONNECTIONS
For more details on how you can give, visit engineering.queensu.ca/TNT 1
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Embarking on a journey in engineering education! The Tech ‘n’ Tinker trailer is a mobile maker space that brings engaging, educational, AND entertaining STEM activities directly to grade-school students. Here are a few of the trailer’s activities—hopefully they will ignite life-long passion for engineering.
3D design/ printing This introductory-level workshop exposes students to the world of 3D design software. Students have the opportunity to work through a variety of tutorials aimed at beginner designers.
Makey Makey Makey Makeys allow students to use everyday materials in a new way in order to take control of our laptops! Using conductive materials like, play d’ohTM, tin foil, and graphite, students build creative and accessible controllers for their computers.
Laser cutter Working with design software, students learn to make different two-dimensional shapes, which can then be cut from a variety of materials.
LittleBits During our LittleBits workshop, students explore the different parts of a circuit— power source, input and output. When they are familiar with the technology and how it works, students are given an age-appropriate design challenge, such as designing and building a LittleBits flashlight, lighthouse, or rover.
micro:bit A micro:bit is a small programmable computer with many functions! During our micro:bit workshop, students program their micro:bit to carry out a specific function, such as a step counter, compass, or game—and then design and build devices to house them.