The Cannon April 2019

THE CANNON SkuleTM’s Newspaper since 1978

cannon.skule.ca

APRIL 2019, Volume XLI

“Hey Alexa, How Could You?”

Opinion: Privacy and Ethical Concerns of Virtual Assistants NAJAH HASSAN Cannon Editor-in-Chief None of us are strangers to the concept of virtual assistants. These handy little tools use natural language processing methods to quickly understand our words and transform them into actions. Let’s be real for a second: all of us have wished for a personal assistant at some point. Now, with the rise in popularity of virtual assistants like Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa, the dream has slowly become a reality. Or has it become our worst nightmare? As the technology becomes more popular, we need to consider how much control we give these bots and at what cost.

In the last few years, voice detection technology has become more advanced than ever before. The first speech recognition tool was integrated into the IBM Shoebox which was released in 1961. It could recognize 16 words and the digits from 0-9. In 1972, Carnegie Mellon completed Harpy Program which could understand about a thousand words. Fast forward to 2011, when Apple launched Siri, a spin-off from a project originally developed by the Stanford Research Institute International Artificial Intelligence Center. As more research and development

Alexa, you’re under arrest.

Alexa continued on page 12

CREDIT: NADYA ABDULLAH

The Future of First Year and Online Courses

Opinion: Detailing the Shift in First Year Courses ANONYMOUS As many upper years are already aware, the first-year curriculum is an ever-changing beast.

Like most changes, the first-year curriculum also has a share of good and bad. The three major concerns I have for the future are the uniformity of first year courses across all disciplines,

the exploration of new teaching methods and the impact of online courses.

Near the end of the fall semester of last term, I spoke to the Vice Dean of First Year, Professor Micah Stickel, during an APS110 lecture that he happened to sit in on.

We discussed how the first-year curriculum had evolved over the years, and how it is still

Rock and Roll! page 6

changing.

Just five years ago, in the 2013-2014 academic year, my courses as a first year ECE would’ve looked a lot different.

Back then, APS105 and ECE101 were taken in the Fall semester. There was a different introductory engineering course, APS150. ECE also had its own separate Calculus courses, MAT196 and

MAT197, as well as a material science course, APS104 that was taken in the Winter, as opposed to the Fall. 2013 is also the year when Professor Stickel became Vice Dean of First Year, and things immediately began to change. In the 2014-2015 year MAT196/7 were eliminated. In 2015-2016, ECE101 was moved to the Winter, and APS100

F!rosh Reflections and Goals page 8

replaced APS150. In 2016-2017, APS105 was moved to the Winter as well, while APS110 replaced APS104 in the Fall.

All of this was done to make the first-year curriculum more uniform among the disciplines, as Stickel told me. In fact, he told me that in the Courses continued on page 3

Religous Accomodation page 14

2 • THE CANNON

APRIL 2019

THE CANNON Masthead EXECUTIVE TEAM EDITOR IN CHIEF

Najah Hassan

LAYOUT EDITOR

Rick Liu

ONLINE DIRECTOR

Diana Li

GRAPHICS EDITOR

Nadya Abdullah

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Fletcher Mason Clugston

WEBMASTER

Alex Bogdan

SENIOR EDITORS Zaeem Amjad Prerna Anand Dale Gottlieb Harry Khachatrian Samuel Penner Ruknoon Shadid Dinder Marguerite Tuer-Sipos Linda Yu

Letter from the Editor Taking on this directorship was one of the most terrifying things I have ever done. I questioned myself every step of the way and ran around panicking before every issue. But, I had an amazing team supporting me. Every single person, from our general contributors to our regular contributors and the amazing executive team, has helped make The Cannon what it is today. We’ve raised the bar on quality and I am so proud of everything we were able to accomplish.

This issue of The Cannon takes a look into the future of things at SkuleTM and the world around us. But, wherever we go in the future, we are still in some way shaped by lessons we learn in our past, which is why you will also find a fair share of reflections, from Frosh and from upper years.

A huge thank you to the above mentioned super amazing Cannon team. I’m going to miss our content review meetings that would usually end with us discussing some controversy. I would also like to thank the EngSoc Officers, specifically VP Communications for putting up with my overambitious deadlines. Also, a big shout out to Rhonda, the Engineering Society Business Manager, for all her help with everything Cannon related. This 16 page issue may not seem like much when you hold it, but there are so many people that help make it happen and none of this would be possible without them. So, whether you’ve been following along with us all year, or whether this is your very first issue, I hope you enjoy it.

To the class of 1T8+PEY and 1T9, congratulations! We wish you nothing but the best with your future endeavours and we hope the memories you made at SkuleTM will stay with you forever. And to everyone else, have an amazing summer and remember to make the days count!

Writefully, for one final time, Najah Hassan

About CONTRIBUTORS

STATEMENT

WRITERS Alyson Allen Andrew Zhao Gaurav Ranganath Kobi Nauenberg Kujtim Dokaj

The Cannon is the official (serious) newspaper of the University of Toronto Engineering Society. Established in 1978, it serves the undergraduate students of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. Submissions are welcome by email. Advertising and subscription information is available at the same email or from the Engineering Society at 416-978-2917.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Dina Castelletto

DISCLAIMER

LAYOUT CONTRIBUTOR

Nadiha Khan

The views expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Engineering Society unless so indicated. The editors reserve the right to modify submissions to comply with the newspaper’s and the Engineering Society’s policies.

SPECIAL THANKS Anonymous Contributors Hasma Habibiy Alex Ramos Yong Da Li Celine Moussa Rebekah Parkes Dawit Yoseph Venkat Vivekanandan Christopher Rotella Ahnaf Ferdous

CONTACT The Cannon 10 King’s College Road Sandford Fleming Building Room B740 Toronto, ON M5S 3G4 cannon.skule.ca cannon@skule.ca facebook.com/cannon.news

cannon.skule.ca

APRIL 2019 Courses continued from page 1 near future, he hopes to eliminate MSE101, make everyone take APS110 instead, and move CHE112 to the Winter. This would make everyone in Core Eight take the exact same courses during their first Fall semester.

Whether this is for the better or worse, I cannot really say personally.

Many topics in courses like APS110, MIE100 and CIV100 feel inessential for someone in ECE like myself. Perhaps for students unsure about their choice of discipline they could offer a taste of what the others have to offer, but as someone who already loves coding and electronics, I already know what I want to do.

Conversely, I’m sure students in other disciplines feel similarly about the first-year electronics and coding courses that I as an ECE enjoy. Additionally, at an ECE department meeting, some of the professors that attended complained that the overall firstyear curriculum does not sufficiently prepare students for second year ECE courses.

Furthermore, at this meeting, I personally spoke to two professors who told me that, if they were given the option, they would opt out of teaching in Myhal 150 again next year, as they found the lecture hall inappropriate for their teaching styles. Myhal and its “active learning” premise was dubbed as the future of university learning when it was first unveiled, but it has earned infamy among the first years that utilize it most.

While I personally enjoy the courses I had in the space, many of my friends very much dislike them, mostly for the active learning style that they feel is worse for learning

content compared to traditional lectures.

APS111, also known as ESP, for many is a unique course, where much of the focus is on the tutorials and group projects rather than the lectures themselves. I personally found the ESP lectures last semester extremely helpful in improving my project and doing well in the course in general, while many of my friends only came to lectures for the ALEX quizzes, and ended up sitting in the back just playing games on their laptops.

This year, MAT187 is another course experimenting with the Myhal space, incorporating a “reverselearning” approach. The way the course works is professors assign

told me they would stop attending the lectures.

I suppose the First Year Office was experimenting with the course this year, but hopefully this is not how MAT187 will be run in the future, and it will go back to the traditional lectures that most students seem to prefer.

On a slightly more positive note, what very much might be the future of learning in university are online courses, and as someone who has taken every single one that the First Year Office offered, I feel like I am qualified to comment on them. For those who are unfamiliar this includes APS160 – which is an online version of CIV100, APS162 – online MAT186, APS163 – online MAT187, and APS164 – online

is less time wasted for the professor to set/clean up, answer pace-breaking questions from students, and the daily small talk, making lecture videos much more time-efficient than in-person lectures.

I was especially pleased binging the videos again to study for exams.

Another especially useful commonality between them was Professors and TAs using Piazza to answer student questions soon after they posted them, as opposed to waiting to talk after lecture or during office hours at very limited time periods a week.

The online tutorials were a real highlight as well, as something about reviewing lectures and doing practice problems in my pyjamas was

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The online tutorials were a real highlight as well, as something about reviewing lectures and doing practice problems in my pyjamas was extremely satisfying, and I felt much more engaged in the content than the inperson tutorials...

Professor Cohen’s APS163 lecture videos for students to watch as homework, while the professors give example problems to work on and submit via TopHat in-lecture, essentially the inverse of a traditional math course.

The average for the first midterm was a 55, and the course coordinator ended up sending an email stating that students can choose to opt out of the in-lecture TopHat quizzes and reallocate the marks elsewhere. Sure enough, many I talked to opted out almost immediately and

APS110/MSE101. If you are wondering what happened to APS161, I am as well. Apparently it was supposed to be online MIE100 but there’s nearly no trace of it anywhere online, besides a description on the academic calendar.

What I really value about these online courses is the flexibility. I didn’t realize how lucky I was to not have to attend lectures in-person until winter semester, during which I now have 10am lectures every day of the week. Additionally, there

extremely satisfying, and I felt much more engaged in the content than the in-person tutorials where I would just fool around with my friends, if attend at all. It seems to me that tutorial attendance for many courses second semester is very low, and I feel like potentially offering online tutorials for regular courses might entice more students to attend. Online quizzes also seemed easier than in-person ones, as you have full access to your notes and the internet when attempting them.

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And these benefits come with little drawbacks, as you get the same exact assignments and exams, and there is nothing preventing you from simply attending the inperson courses as well for a different perspective.

APS162 and APS163 felt distinct from their MAT186 and MAT187 counterparts due to having a course coordinator different from Professor Cohen. For example, both courses had research papers on a topic that required Calculus, and I quite enjoyed writing about the math of the Thanos Snap in APS163.

The weekly assignments, while quite difficult and lengthy, really did help me solidify my knowledge in the course, and I felt I learned a lot from them compared to the optional textbook problems of MAT186.

The finals for both courses were hilariously difficult yet oozing with personality, and the grade adjustments for both felt appropriate and satisfying.

So overall, although I may not particularly agree with the standardizing of first year courses, I do feel like it is somewhat appropriate for those unsure about their discipline and I appreciate the breadth they provide.

Active learning courses work best for more abstract courses like ESP, and not for more fact-based courses like Calculus. The real future of first year courses, I feel, lies with the online courses, as I enjoyed all the ones I took greatly, and especially for tutorials which many students dislike to attend in person. I hope that the First Year Office would encourage Professors in the other first year courses to record lecture videos and run their courses online as well.

4 • THE CANNON

APRIL 2019

A GUIDE TO PEY

ESP In the Real World ANONYMOUS Cannon Contributor At some point of your Frosh life when you are doing ESP/Praxis, this thought may have crossed your mind: what is the point of writing design documents and coming up with a product prototype that may be totally unrelated to my future career path?

What does designing a container to keep food fresh have to do with writing mobile apps? What does building a robot that follows a pattern have to do with traffic control? From a technical perspective, you are right, those topics are totally unrelated. However, the design ideologies and procedures – setting milestones, identifying stakeholders, comparing pros and cons, clarifying design requirements – have been a crucial part of my day-to-day operations as a PEY student. Yes, that means your ESP and Praxis

skills may be more useful than you think.

When I joined my company, my team was in the process of rebuilding a system from scratch. It took us a long time to build the first part of the system half a year to be exact - only to find out that we needed to complete the remaining five milestones in the next six months. Well, that is rough, but deadlines have to be respected. After being warned that we would be hosting a demonstration for our design by the end of year, instead of rushing back to our desks and coding frantically, we spent the next two days brainstorming.

Sixteen working hours of pure meetings would result in a tremendous waste of time and leave us with less time to prepare for the presentation, or at least that’s what you might think.

On the contrary, those meetings were needed to cut down our work in the long

run! We really hammered the question: what does that system need to do? What is it required to do? Not only did we have several internal group discussions, but we also invited the Director of Engineering, who represents all our internal stakeholders, to come and present his opinion on the problem we were trying to solve. After being clear on the design requirements, we were able to cut down a great percentage of tasks that were nice to have and/or unrelated to the fundamental stakeholder requirements. With the project manager’s help in reforming our milestones, we were able to meet the project deadline - the system is now up and running! It is not perfect, but we can reiterate and add improvements to it in the future.

Had I not taken ESP, I would have thought that our situation was hopeless.

I would have found the

numerous meetings with stakeholders wasteful, and the two sessions to cut down tasks unnecessary.

When I mentioned this to one of my friends, he told me about how he had personally learned this lesson himself when he took ESP. The task for every team that year was to design a food container that would best retain the food’s original texture. My friend’s team researched lots of different criteria such as which material would absorb excess amount of moisture and what improvements could be made to the shape of those containers. Just like all of us, they read through proof of design documents and double checked presentation slides. Yet, what they failed to notice was the fundamental flaw in their idea. During their final presentation, it was pointed out that their design was in fact impossible because the material they were

using was toxic for human consumption.

Although the story is funny in retrospect, it shows us the importance of questioning and defining the baseline of design requirements in advance and thoroughly doing your research as opposed to rapidly coming up with a solution based on assumptions. It can really spare you the headache.

Being able to draw the lines across ESP and work makes me feel a lot more comfortable when handling complex problems with hard deadlines by just thinking of it as another design project that the team will break down and conquer one task at a time. For those of you on PEY, now that your term is approaching its end, I am sure that it has been an eye-opening experience working in a company and seeing how what we learn in class goes above and beyond the buildings of this campus.

Don’t Get Fooled By “Compostable” Coffee Cups anyway, making them a contaminant in the recycling system which I care for the produces even more waste. environment, a lot. And In fact, according to CBC, I also care about my cup around 25% of Toronto’s of coffee in the morning, recycling does not get which I usually make right before I leave in a rush to catch the train. My thermos has quite literally become my caffeine saviour, especially for me to avoid spending money and using disposable coffee cups.

Typically, disposable sorted out correctly. Even coffee cups are paper- if the disposable cups do based and lined with end up in their correct polyethylene to make location, the garbage, they them waterproof, and do not biodegrade at all in thus unrecyclable. Some landfills. people try to recycle them With the state of the ALYSON ALLEN Cannon Contributor

environment being so dire, we need to take action in as many ways as we can.

However, it should not be up to the consumers to do everything; companies and corporations are

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of waste that are being produced from these cups.

Most of the time I try to use my thermos to reduce waste, however I sometimes forget to make my precious cup of coffee

found out their cups are compostable. Suddenly, I stopped feeling so terrible about my forgetfulness that morning. Of course, carbon dioxide was emitted to create that cup, but at least this cup has a minimal after-life impact.

At least, that was what I believed.

The University of Toronto does not have many green bin locations on campus, so I took this empty cup all the way before heading to campus. back home and happily One day, while on a coffee sorted it out correctly. But adventure, I decided to something still felt wrong. try coffee from VEDA, Could this bioplastic located in the Sandford really compost with all Fleming basement. To Coffee Cups continued my absolute surprise, I on page 5

I felt astounded and almost betrayed... ...I was fooled by the corporate agenda. responsible for protecting the environment as well.

Take-out coffee chains can easily make the switch to a better, more recyclable or compostable material to eliminate the loads

cannon.skule.ca

APRIL 2019 Coffee Cups continued from page 4 my vegetable leftovers? Is there something here that I did not know?

Not too surprisingly, these compostable cups come with a catch, and a bad one too.

The most important part of these cups is that they need to be thrown in the correct bin. If thrown in the garbage, they can not decompose due to the lack of exposure to moisture, oxygen, and bacteria in a landfill. If recycled, they become a contaminate. If

composted, well, they can only decompose if they can be sent to a facility where processing of this bioplastic is possible. Not to mention that those cups look like any normal coffee cup and people do not know what to do with normal coffee cups anyways.

Let us be optimistic and assume the cup is thrown to compost, where it belongs. City of Toronto and Durham Region no doubt have bioplastic processing ability, right?

I mean they take care of millions of people’s

compost. However, with a quick search through each regions’ lists for acceptable green bin items, I learned that compostable cups, or any bioplastic, are not processed at our facilities.

This means what I believed was a wonderful, environmentally sustainable material is in fact far worse than normal coffee cups. I felt astounded and almost betrayed; just like many consumers out there trying to do their best in a very fast paced life, I got caught up with “environmentalism words” like “compostable” that

are used in advertising or to make companies look better. I was fooled by the corporate agenda.

I am definitely not the only one who gets mistaken by situations like this; efforts being made end up doing more negative impact than not trying at all. There is a lack of information available to tell us what is right or wrong, so we have to guess our way to a more sustainable future. In fact, in 2017, The Cannon published an article regarding how Styrofoam cups are in fact better than

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plastic-lined paper cups.

This goes to show that what we thought was good and bad, is in fact flipped around in reality.

Thankfully, the University of Toronto actually has the ability to recycle traditional disposable coffee cups, so we can ease our worry on campus. This small cup also taught me a profound lesson about engineering product design: sometimes a seemingly perfect product can end up being the worst solution because it does not fit its service environment.

How the Universe Can Be a Simulation KUJTIM DOKAJ Cannon Contributor In 2003, philosopher Nick Bostrom published a paper in Philosophical Quarterly postulating three futuristic propositions of which, he argued, at least one is true.

1. Homo sapiens’ extinction as a species will occur before they can achieve the technological ability to run complex computer simulations of themselves.

2. While human civilization will advance such that running simulations is possible, future humans will elect not to run simulations.

3. We are living in a simulation (this is known as the simulation hypothesis).

Let’s consider Bostrom’s first proposition. Since early humans evolved on this planet, we have constantly been struggling against our own extinction by banal natural and man-made means. We find ourselves inhabiting

a planet that is, for the most part, uninhabitable.

A planet on which 99.9% of known species are now extinct. The number of our own species was, due to climatic events in the African desert, once in the mere thousands. A look to the future will not yield a brighter outcome.

The Andromeda galaxy is headed directly in a collision course with our own Milky Way galaxy.

In five billion years, the collision will have occurred, unless our sun manages to grow into a red giant and engulf us in its crucible before then.

My brief summary of the persistent existence of humanity somewhat echoes the anthropic principle, which is perhaps not so special.

After all, the survival of our species and continued progress of civilization and technology depends on the settlement of humans on another planet. The simulation hypothesis is equally dependable on our exile.

It is important to note here that the two subsequent propositions are made with the assumption that there is no ceiling to

humanity’s technological development.

This assumption means that we will one day be able to run simulations of human history so complex that the people in them will experience consciousness in the same way we do. These simulations are called ancestor simulations.

Bostrom argues that in the future we will be able to simulate all the complexities, neurons and synapses of the brain with enough fidelity such that the simulated brain will believe it’s a real person.

The technology required for such complicated computations is beyond our current capabilities.

According to Bostrom’s calculations, a computer would be required to compute approximately 10 36 binary operations to simulate all of human history. To put this into perspective, it is estimated that a computer the size of a large planet (so called “Jupiter Brains”) would be able to compute 10 42 binary operations per second. This realization should not, however, assuage the prospects of our one day being able to run these simulations.

Technology continues to advance daily. In just the 21st century the creation of quantum computers has become a feasible idea. Therefore, one can reasonably foresee a future in which Jupiter Brains too are feasible.

Having now made the assumption that future humans will have the power to run ancestor simulations, we may proceed to Bostrom’s second proposition.

Future humans may choose to not run ancestor simulations for moral and ethical reasons. Keeping in mind that the simulations are very real for the brains experiencing them, we have to ask ourselves: is it ethical to run a simulation of human history knowing the pain and suffering that would be inflicted on billions of people?

It seems not. For this reason, we might choose to not run simulations.

If future humans choose to run ancestor simulations, then we must consider Bostrom’s third proposition: that we are actually an ancestor simulation.

This is known as the simulation hypothesis.

The logic behind this

final proposition is as follows: a Jupiter Brain would be able to simulate all of human history a million times over every second.

Additionally, some of the simulations would run simulations of their own, which would run simulations of their own… ad infinitum.

In this situation there could be infinitely many simulated universes.

Therefore it is most likely that we are living in one of the simulations.

Bostrom thinks there is only a 20% chance that we are living in a simulation. Elon Musk believes there is only a small chance Bostrom’s first two propositions are true, and that if we can run simulations we almost definitely are in one ourselves. Musk’s point, though, is a non sequitur with an underlying false dichotomy. It is certain, however, that the hypothesis can only be argued philosophically. It is impossible to prove or disprove the proposition through the scientific method. For this reason, we must continue to make the assumption that the world around us is real.

6 • THE CANNON

APRIL 2019

It’s Only Rock and Roll (But You’ll Like It) plethora of electrifying Mountain of the Sun, acts are. Here’s a rundown Safari Song, Age of Man of some of the best rock With another semester’s stars and artists coming The Who (The Who: coda on the horizon, some to a venue near you, this Moving On! Tour) (June 1) of you are looking forward summer. to graduation; some of you What’s there to say look forward to starting Greta Van Fleet about one of the greatest your PEY internships; (May 28, 29) rock bands in the history and some of you are of music that has not yet probably looking forward The new kids on the been said? In a nearly to the blissful, stress-free block. Driven by the unprecedented run from frolicking in the summer, inhuman vocal range of “The Who Sell Out” in before the next semester lead singer Josh Kiszka; 1967, to the rock opera, of Engineering comes the amplified, overdriven, “Tommy” (1969), followed around. But whatever bluesy riffs of Jake Kiszka; by one of the greatest awaits you in the coming the buttery smooth bass live albums in history: fall, we all have one lines of bassist Sam “Live at Leeds” (1970), seminal question in Kiszka, and head-banging the greatest compilation common: what to do in drums of Danny Wagner, album of the 70’s: “Meaty, the coming summer?

Greta is one of the few Beaty, Big and Bouncy” Drawing from the new bands that offers (1971), to finally releasing infinite well of wisdom listeners the very same, “Quadrophenia” in 1973, that is 1993’s Dazed and true-to-form rock and The Who influenced Confused: “You know roll music that scored the and shaped a whole host what, coach. I gotta get soundtrack of the 1970s. of genres of music that going. Me and my ‘loser’ Eschewing superfluous followed. friends, you know, we special effects, and overSongs to start: Won’t gotta get Aerosmith production, Greta’s music Get Fooled Again, tickets. Top priority of is as simple as it gets: Substitute, Baba O’Riley the summer.” And while vocals, a guitar, bass, Steven Tyler isn’t making and drums. Oh, and they Ozzy Osbourne (No More any stops in or around sound like Led Zeppelin.

Tours Tour) (June 8) Toronto this season, a Songs to start: When HARRY KHACHATRIAN Cannon Senior Editor

Starting off as the lead vocalist in Black Sabbath, Ozzy later left the band in 1978, embarking on a solo career. Staying at the forefront of heavy metal, Ozzy’s two major album releases: “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman” made him a household name and a nightmare to moms around the globe.

Songs to start: No Bone Movies, Bark at the Moon, Let me Hear You Scream.

[Note: Crazy Train was omitted because everyone already knows this song.]

belongs in a museum. Not only have they survived more narcotics than can be found at your local pharmacy, but they’ve also survived each other. Aside from founding guitarist Brian Jones’s tragic passing and his replacement, Mick Taylor, quitting in 1974, the Rolling Stones have remained largely unchanged since their debut in 1962. A feat no other ensemble in music history can claim to. The Stones’ career isn’t just long, it’s fruitful.

The Rolling Stones (No Filter Tour) (June 29)

In a four-year span from 68’ to 72’, the Stones released: “Beggars Banquet”, “Let it Bleed”, “Sticky Fingers”, and “Exile on Main Street”, four of the greatest albums ever recorded. Even in their nadir, in the mid’80s, when they released “Dirty Work”, they had great music. Just put on

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts.

What else needs to be said?

The world’s greatest rock and roll band, with a career spanning six (SIX!) decades, and songs in at least as many different genres, the Rolling Stones have done it all. A band that truly

Rock continued on page 7

CREDIT: THE ROLLING STONES

cannon.skule.ca

APRIL 2019 Rock continued from page 6 “One Hit (To the Body)”, or “Harlem Shuffle”, and see if you can stop yourself from gleefully dancing along to the signature blend of jazz, blues, and hard rock fueled against the backdrop of Mick Jaggers’ fiery vocals.

The Rolling Stones make one stop in Canada on their latest tour; there’s no better way to spend the long weekend than dancing along to “Jumpin‘ Jack Flash”.

Songs to start: 19th Nervous Breakdown, Moonlight Mile, Gimme Shelter, Beast of Burden (yes, I added an extra one, because this is the Rolling Stones.)

John Mayer (July 30, 31)

Songs to start: Neon, With Madness Asking “Who is the Slow Dancing in a Burning greatest guitarist of the Room, Waiting on the KISS (End of the Road modern era?” yields a host World to Change – all Tour) (August 23) of different answers, but from the Where the Light amongst them, a strong Is live album The American glam, contender is Connecticutand hair-metal rock born, blues guitarist John Iron Maiden (Legacy of band formed in 1973 Mayer. To truly appreciate the Beast Tour) (August 9) by Paul Stanley, Gene Mayer’s innate gift as a Simmons, Peter Criss, and guitarist – on par with Up the irons! The Ace Frehley has finally Eric Clapton, or Stevie British heavy metal decided to retire and Ray Vaughan – you have to legends hailing from move to Florida. Luckily see him live. “Continuum” east-London in 1975 for you, their farewell tour may be his finest work to are Toronto-bound this treks through Toronto at date, but his mastery of summer. Maiden’s career the end of this summer. the 6-string guitar shines took off in 1982 with “The If you haven’t had the on “Where the Light Number of the Beast”, opportunity to experience Is”, his 2008 live album. which included arguably the loud, gaudy and Mayer’s songwriting style the best heavy metal song unadulterated rock show blends the more popular ever written: “Hallowed that is a KISS concert, this pop music of today, with be Thy Name”. If head- is your last chance! the gritty blues of the last banging is your thing, this Songs to start: Detroit century. No matter your is the show for you.

Rock City, Beth, Strutter taste, Mayer’s discography Songs to start: Hallowed ought to have something be Thy Name, 2 Minutes Nothing brings people for you. to Midnight, Can I Play together like music.

Whether through deep, emotional lyrics, a rocking, rhythm, or simply an electrifying guitar riff, something materializes from the ensemble of notes that transcends people’s differences and acts as a unifying cultural glue. One of the great advantages of being in a city like Toronto is being visited by no shortage of tours from great musical acts.

So, don’t let your summer go by without experiencing the fiery excitement of a live concert. Take advantage of living in, or near a major city, and take your friends, family members, and loved ones, to enjoy the thrills derived from live music. It’s only rock and roll, but you’ll like it.

Bear-er of Bad News By Nadya Abdullah Are you serious?!

WHAT?!

Wait - what?

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NOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOO!!

It’s tough being the bear of bad news...

8 • THE CANNON

APRIL 2019 All Photos Are Credited to the Author Unless Otherwise Specified

F!rosh Reflections and Goals

Back in September, The Cannon interviewed SkuleTM Alumni to ask them about their advice for F!rosh. This time, we interviewed current F!rosh on why they chose engineering, their reflections on their first year and their goals for next year.

HASMA HABIBIY INDY 2T2 I’m from Scarborough but my background is Afghan.

I don’t see many engineers of my ethnicity so the representation is very important to me. My first year story was about finding myself.

Before joining engineering I did not realise how broad it was. Not being able to decide ALEX RAMOS MECH 2T2 I chose engineering because I am super interested in cars. I want to get into motorsports and the automotive business.

Coming from a small town, life feels a lot faster YONG DA LI ENGSCI 2T2 I’m a first year EngSci. I’ve lived in Toronto for 13 years. I’m from a family of engineers so I always knew I would end up following in my family’s footsteps. But at the end of Grade 12, I chose to come to UofT while most of my friends chose Waterloo for the lucrative career opportunities it provides. However, I feel there is more to university than just prepping for a job.

CELINE MOUSSA CHEM 2T2 I’m a Palestinian Egyptian who grew up in Dubai. I wanted to work in labs and get into biomedical engineering.

Chem just seemed like the right choice for that. My first semester started off fun and I met a lot of new people but

which direction to go in, I chose EngSci. But I switched out to Indy just before coming here and now I feel like it is the right place for me. I have noticed that engineers are traditionally not skilled at communication despite it being a key component of their jobs and I want to change that.

Indy’s business background can help me take engineering communication to the next

step. As professor McCann says, Engineers need to work together and express themselves.

I was also a First Year Representative on the EngSoc Board of Directors which gave me a sense of responsibility and a chance to practice my leadership skills. It also felt good to be voted in because that way I knew people trusted me. I learned that you can’t

be the best at everything and you can’t have it all. You have to make concessions. You have got to make your own priorities.

My least favourite course is CIV100 and favourite being ESP because it is eyeopening and changed my life.

My immediate goal is to get on Dean’s list, and become a lawyer in the future for human rights and activism.

in big cities but it’s also much easier here. The one thing that is lacking is the qualitative experience you get when you live in a town: knowing people and having that sense of collectivism.

But, I managed to find that same spirit in the engineering community which is nice. I

did a few auto sports teams this year, like Formula SAE, and finding your niche of people really takes the stress off.

The classes are hard but I liked Dynamics. I do want more hands on stuff and so I am waiting for the machine shop courses we get next year.

My plan for next year is to get my academics sorted and network more. I would advise others to be ready for whatever comes your way. Don’t get caught up in partying. But do come to Isengard. It’s the best event ever.

Community has always been a big deal to me and no other university has a community as close as UofT. My first year has been quite the rollercoaster. I think I’m not the only one who has had this experience, but I slacked off a lot at the beginning of the semester only to scramble to get things done in the end. But, it is an important learning curve for everyone, especially those who had an easy time in highschool. We never really learned how to manage time

because everything was super easy for us and we could get it done quickly.

I’ve had a lot of fun with the design teams. I worked in projects at UTAT. It’s great to work independently there because you are given the space to develop your own ideas without an adult pouring over you, watching your every move. As you can probably tell by now, my favourite courses were Physics and Calculus I. However, Calculus II was my least favourite, maybe

because of the way it was taught.

My goal is a little different but I want to find cooler places to study on campus and explore the entire university if possible. I had a lot of fun exploring things in engineering during the Mystery Uhvent of Godiva Week and that kind of gave me this idea. I believe we should keep trying new things because that is the best way to get the most out of your university experience.

soon the workload got overwhelming, something I did not anticipate.

Learning from that, I was better prepared to handle work this semester, and I finally got my sleep schedule on track, which definitely helps. MSE101 was my favourite course.

I hated MAT188 (Linear Algebra) and I don’t think there is one Chem who

will disagree with me.

My favourite memory is of the time our Calc grades came out and it seemed like everyone in my class failed. For some reason, it was super funny and we had a good laugh out of that. That is what’s so great about engineering.

We all hit low points but that does not mean we have to beat ourselves up

over it. However, I am a bit envious of the T1s I know.

They all seem so smart. I just wish I could be like them and ace my exams.

I plan on getting more involved with school events, meeting more engineers and finding something I’m passionate about to minor in. Till then, Chem Eng Best Eng!

cannon.skule.ca

APRIL 2019

CREDIT: PHOTOS.SKULE.CA

REBEKAH PARKES T1 2T2 My name’s Rebekah Parkes!

I’m a T1 2T2, from Ottawa. I love all things outdoors, along with getting active, classical music, cooking, and more. I chose Engineering because it’s a profession that is very much “for the people.” If I wasn’t going to pursue music full-time, I wanted to do something that would help better the world. I attended GLEE (Girls’ Leadership in Engineering Experience) the

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May prior to the school year, and something in the keynote speech really struck a chord in me. The speaker, a prominent Chemical Engineer, spoke of how her mentor, Professor Levente Diosady, had designed a method to produce iron mixed with iodized salt And, she repeated a quote of his, which was something along the lines of (paraphrase) “It is astounding to me that as an Engineer, I will help more sick children [with anemia] than any doctor.” The idea that the breadth of work in engineering was scalable at such massive degrees hadn’t really clicked until then, and so that quote basically solidified my decision.

My first year was a rollercoaster! Transitioning to living on my own wasn’t as big as I’d anticipated, but balancing that with my school obligations

was a bit of a challenge. I also did my best to get involved with extracurriculars, and made it a point to continue to pursue some of my other passions, but this program is indeed a significant time commitment.

Fortunately, I think I’ve got a bit of a better handle on things this semester. I got to better explore Toronto! Man, there are some incredible places to eat around here. Always looking for suggestions, by the way.

Staying late to help with the Remembrance Day build was a blast. Kudos to Seif Sarofim for leading/being the visionary behind that whole project.

Everyone was freezing their toes off on Front Campus at 2 am, and having an incredible time of it. Honestly, being a student pre/post Ultimate F!rosh isn’t much different. I’d say it’s been a good time, since

I’ve gotten to meet some really incredible Skuligans through it. I’ve never seen myself as the kind of person who’d actively seek out more showy roles (even SkuleTM Nite was a bit of a weird change for me), but the whole Godiva Week event was advertised as an epic battle royale - which was something I couldn’t resist taking part in.

I don’t think anyone’s treated me particularly different, but the topic has initiated some pleasant interactions with strangers that wouldn’t have otherwise occurred (“Hey ... are you Ultimate Frosh?” “Oh! Well, jump up and down!”), which again, I’m always happy to take part in. Favourite course ... Linear Algebra? Honestly, I like a lot of them. Civ was fun.

Coding is fun. I cannot decide.

Least favourite- I don’t think there’s anyone I particularly dislike. As for the discipline

question- I have absolutely no idea. There are things I like in every discipline and I’ve been trying to weigh the pros and cons of each. I’d like to finish my first year memorably, and be able to choose a discipline with confidence, I suppose.

More long term, I’d like to feel at rest with whatever I choose to pursue, and do so with passion. I want to tell the first years, great work so far! You guys can do it! Remember, there’s a great support team here at SkuleTM, specifically to ease your First Year Experience, so don’t have any qualms about reaching out for help, should you need any.

Also, talk to upper years if you have questions! Everyone I’ve asked has been so supportive and happy to help- remember, they’ve done the whole first year thing too, and know what it can be like!

DAWIT YOSEPH CIV 2T2

choice. But I was impressed

by Min at PreF!rosh and decided to switch into it. I have no complaints about that decision. Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming; it has been really fun. People here understand the struggle of being an engineer and we help each other out. I loved

the CME 185 (Earth Systems) course most because it was very specific to my discipline instead of being a general course. My least favorite was Calc I. Meeting Prof John Harrison was my favourite memory. His British accent is the best thing I have ever heard.

Finding myself and becoming an independent person was a big accomplishment for me this year. I learned how to take care of myself and live alone. My goals for next year would be to get more involved; ultimately work on improving myself.

almost everything else so here I am. Academically, first year wasn’t the best for me. I had I’m originally from Ethiopia to struggle for a good result but I live in downtown Toronto. and it was hard to get into My most noticeable feature? the rhythm that really suited I’m 6’3 which I guess is pretty my style of studying. But the noticeable. In highschool, I community is a lot better here. was good at math, physics I really love how I never had to and chemistry and hated force friendships here. I really

love the CIV100 (Mechanics) course. But Calculus II and PhysChem were my least favourite..

My fondest memory is of the time we put together the SkuleTM volleyball team and made it to regionals.

The dinner after winning the volleyball tournament and

going out with my team was an amazing experience.

Next year, I plan on committing more to extracurriculars, joining more clubs and sticking to them, and trying new things. Here is a shout out to the Civs, you guys are the best!

friends, relaxing between classes. I took part in a case competition (weekend accelerator) as part of the UofT Hatchery and did really well. It was a turning point for me and a great memory.

MAT194 (Calc I) was one of my worst courses but I loved it. I did not have a great TA but Professor Stangeby was really nice and a lot of help. I found CIV102 to be a difficult course.

I have always wanted to be an author, writing for me has always been something personal to reflect on myself

and my life. I feel it is an intrinsic skill which not many possess and I want to see where I can go with that.

I’m really happy doing what I do right now and I’m waiting to see what the coming year brings me. I want to focus on what makes me happy. I would also like to thank my friends for being with me and motivating me. Even though I am not in EngSci anymore, some of them are still my best friends. I wouldn’t be here without their support.

I’m one of the 30 in Min Eng and it’s pretty cool to be part of an exclusive club. When applying, I did not have a good idea about Engineering; an older cousin directed me to Civ, Min being my second VENKAT VIVEKANANDAN MIN 2T2

I thought it might be a good idea given how indecisive I was. But, it turned out to be very abstract which was not my cup of tea so I’m looking to move into a different program. Engineering for me is following in the footsteps of people I admire. I feel it is GAURAV RANGANATH the only program which lets T1 2T2 me make a visible impact on I was born in India, moved the world with my actions to Canada and have been very early on.

I think I would describe living in Brampton ever since.

Applying to university, I was first year as all work and swaying between different no time for myself. Since things. EngSci was the most I’ve left EngSci, however, I interdisciplinary program so have had a lot more time

to figure things out for myself. I did not have much direction in highschool but all the organisations I’ve been part a part of (Aerospace, Entrepreneurship, Emotional Intelligence and others) are giving me a purpose.

I’m still indecisive but after leading many teams, operations research seems to be something I love doing.

There’s always something new to learn working with a different team. But the most memorable parts of my first year were all the small things: hanging out with

10 • THE CANNON

APRIL 2019

Upper Year Reflections and Goals

All Photos Are Credited to the Author

What is your favourite memory of the year?

FLETCHER CLUGSTON Going to NYC was like Cannon Photography Editor reliving that same shock all over again. It was one With some of my newfound of my favourite trips I have income from PEY I decided to experienced. Each day was take a trip to New York City packed full of different things this past year. I grew up in a from touristy sightseeing rural area and moving to a big activities to taking a tap city like toronto was a shock to dancing class on Broadway me. before going to the theatre just

a little way down the street.

The food in New York was one of the best parts of the trip and alone is enough reason to go back. Two of my favourite places were Samurai Papa, in Brooklyn, and a café called Recolte that sold cinnamon buns that I would fight for.

and chilly that day. We arrived at the Pier an hour earlier to beat the rush so I was shivering My favourite memory of throughout my wait and the year was traveling with my regretting not having stayed boyfriend to San Francisco at home. Then suddenly, and watching the new year there was a boom and the fireworks near the waterfront. music was on. Everyone The weather was very windy started cheering! The show

was fantastic and the firework patterns were perfectly in sync with the music. To me, it was a celebration of the past and a fresh start to a new year, and it made me realize that sometimes a little effort is worth it to create beautiful memories.

amazing community filled with wonderful people.

Not only was I exciting to show incoming students our wonderful community, but I was also really looking forward to taking pictures. I have always enjoyed photography as a pastime, but this would be the first time that many

people would be depending on my photos to remind them of some great memories. Being able to deliver those photos showed me that I was capable of pursuing my passion as more than just a hobby, and that is a feeling I will never forget.

LINDA YU Cannon Senior Editor

DINA CASTELLO Cannon Photographer Like most, if not all of engineering, one of my favourite memories is F!rosh week. I could not wait to be able to contribute to events that would show our future students that we have an

What was something you learned this past year?

NAJAH HASSAN Cannon Editor-in-Chief This last year has felt like the longest of my life. I don’t mean that in a bad way. I’ve had my share of ups and downs. But one of the most important things I’ve learned is to appreciate the people around me – from my friends to my family to the amazing Cannon CHRISTOPHER ROTELLA CIV 1T9 + PEY Trust and believe - I don’t consider myself a very religious person beyond the occasional church visit and joke I make about being a “good catholic boi” to cover up some sins, but this year has taught me a lot about faith. I faced struggles

team and everyone else in between. They’ve been there to comfort me when things got too hard and celebrated the little things with me when everything was going great. I have learned to take out time for the people in my life and to cherish every moment I get to spend with them and be thankful for the time they take out for me. After all, when

you have got the right circle of people, who accept you for who you are, the burdens seem lighter and the little wins are much more special.

in finding jobs and housing, dealing with health issues I thought too young to have, and completing tasks I believed too hard to do. I learned to believe in my abilities to breakdown complex problems into manageable pieces. I learned to trust in others to help me where I lack experience. I learned to have faith in the fact

that the world has some great comedic timing in giving us what we need and laughing at what we want.

cannon.skule.ca

APRIL 2019 RUKNOON DINDER Cannon Senior Editor I think my past year was very significant to me in terms of viewing the world around me and understanding how important the people in your life are. 2017 was my last year of highschool and first semester in college.

With all the successes I had in highschool, I never had a lack of friends, or people who wanted me around. Fast forward to 2018, my second semester, and I was failing

every other course, suffering from extreme anxiety, and was stuck in a program I saw no future in. It really did not help that someone very close to me passed away around that time.

And I realised I had no one to talk to. The friends I had were all just together because they were all seemingly perfect people. You fall off the wagon and no one wants you around anymore. I had to make a lot of changes. And almost exactly one year later, I don’t think I can be any happier with the decisions I’ve made. The

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toxicity has been replaced with people who care for me and never fail to cheer me up. I love the program I’m in, my job and I’m starting to play music again, something I haven’t done in years. The work’s gotten harder but I enjoy every second of it now as well.

I guess I feel in control again.

Anyway, I don’t know where I am going with this but if you feel the same way, know that things will get better. Here’s to an amazing 2019.

What is your goal for the coming year?

AHNAF FERDOUS CIV 1T9 + PEY After reaching the halfway point of my PEY, I have gained a small taste of how the professional work life after university feels like. It is almost

like a free trial of adulthood with fewer responsibilities.

My goal for 2019 is to try and expand my streams of income to extend past my regular job.

Keeping different streams of income open, through things such as stock investing, can

really help with covering my expenses now and in the future. By starting to explore different options for sources of income now, it can help build my assets in the long-run, rather than “keeping all my eggs in one basket.”

unpredictable, and the process of trying to solve the enigma of life only makes it more problematic.

So, the usual thing is to say forget the past, do not be afraid of the future, and just live in the present. However, I prefer to cherish the past, look forward to the future and appreciate the gift of God in the present.

The world to each one of us is a mystery where none of us know what will come next.

We all just need to remind ourselves of what we are capable of and think of it as a question that only justifies a dream, not a reality.

A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

What Comes Next?

Personal Views on the Future left behind? Will failure bring success or break us down? Will our faith and hope be enough It is a question we often ask to overcome the difficulties of ourselves. We find ourselves life? wondering what our life Life is difficult and living will bring. Is this chapter of each day, being afraid of life over or is there more to the future, living with the happen? After failures, would memories of past and letting opportunities knock at our the present slip out of our door, or will we just lose all hands is even more painful. hope and see ourselves being Problems in one’s life do not PRERNA ANAND Cannon Senior Editor

always push them down to failure, but make them stronger to live life and achieve what they possibly did not expect. Everyday people waste most of their time worrying about the future and the problems that are yet to come, but never realise that when they do come, they usually find ways to accept them and face them gracefully. Life is

CREDIT: NADYA ABDULLAH

12 • THE CANNON Alexa continued from page 1 was invested in this technology by a number of different companies, virtual assistants found their ways into our homes through smart speakers.

Not going to lie, smart speakers and their capabilities are definitely cool. They have made our lives so convenient. From turning on the lights, to playing your favorite song, to purchasing things online, we have been given the capability to do so much without even lifting a finger.

As people become more aware of this technology and discover more ways to integrate it into other smart devices, the innovations never stop. You can check your commute time while running around your house trying to find a pair of matching socks. You can buy things on the spot through online services.

You can settle arguments with people right then and there by searching up facts.

Using smart speakers in our houses gives us the ability to multitask, get things done quickly and, as a result, get more done in our day.

There’s a reason some people have a smart speaker set up in almost every room of their home, including their bathrooms.

Despite the popularity of smart speakers, some people still have concerns about how much of their data is actually being stored by these companies that own the speakers. You may argue that most people have nothing to hide and the speaker only stores data about the transactions you make. What if I were to tell you that your speaker is listening to everything you say? And I mean everything!

Before I continue, here’s a quick overview of how smart speaker devices work. Yes, they are always listening to you. However, they only get activated when they hear their specific keyword like ‘Alexa’ or ‘OK Google’. Anything you say

APRIL 2019 after that is recorded, sent to the company’s servers to be processed and stored there.

For example, if you use Google’s virtual assistant, you can simply search through your activity and find your own voice recordings in your transaction history.

In fact, there was an incident in Germany last year, that raised a serious privacy concern among some Amazon customers. A man asked Alexa for a copy of all the archived voice recordings that Amazon had linked to his account. This person later got an email containing his own archive but also 1700 recordings from another Alexa user.

The recordings of the other person included private conversations between him and his companion. Amazon did apologize and worked to ensure that the issue did not happen again. In another incident, a family in Portland discovered that their Echo device had recorded their private conversation and accidentally sent it to a random person on their contact list. Just like how people make mistakes, your robotic assistant may not be so perfect either.

In July 2017, Eduaro Banos was arrested in New Mexico because of an emergency call made through Alexa. Banos was arrested after an incident of domestic abuse against his girlfriend. The local county Sheriff initially thought the call had been made when the victim said something along the lines of ‘Alexa call 911’. Other accounts report that it was Banos himself who posed the question ‘Did you call 911?’ that may have triggered the device.

However, Amazon stated that it was not possible for Alexa to make 911 calls, based on the principle that the device runs on Wi-Fi and not cellular connection like other phones. The call must have been made by someone or something else.

However, this raises another question. How

ethical is it for your virtual assistant to jump in and make decisions when it thinks you may be in danger?

If these smart speakers are always listening, could they potentially be taught to recognize sounds linked to domestic violence? And if yes, is it right for your bot to alert someone to send for help? This may be a scary way to think about it, but if you had a human as your assistant and your assistant knew about a domestic violence incident in your home, obviously a loyal assistant would interfere.

They would notify someone and do anything they could to make sure you were safe.

So, if these virtual assistants are meant to facilitate and improve our lives, should they not be doing the same thing?

At the end of the day, these decisions lie in the hands

of the company and their developers. A developer’s own values and morals are demonstrated through their AI technologies.

Unfortunately, there still are not enough regulations in place to control what these technologies are and are not allowed to do. Everybody’s looking for ways to facilitate our lives and make them easier, without really considering what we are giving up. Yes, it’s nice that you can turn off the lights in your bedroom without even getting up from your bed.

But is that worth having your conversations overheard, recorded and stored in a computer warehouse far far away?

I’m not against virtual assistants. I think their applications are endless and what they enable us to do is amazing. Nevertheless, I do think that as consumers, we

need to be more cautious of how much of our privacy we are compromising and at what cost. We need to educate each other and ourselves about the risk this system poses and how we can configure our lives to ensure that at the end of the day we still have control over what we choose to share with other people.

Finally, in addition to being consumers, we get the advantage of being future engineers. Which means that in addition to raising awareness about the privacy concern, we can make a difference. By keeping in mind the tradeoffs of our design decisions and ensuring that our developments are directed to empowering society, we can build smarter, more ethical and loyal virtual assistants with little to no compromise.

cannon.skule.ca

APRIL 2019

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Stress That Comes With Changing Disciplines ALYSON ALLEN Cannon Contributor Deciding your future is tough, especially when life can be unpredictable.

Ideally, we want to pursue a future that makes us happy.

Yet, at our age, it’s a huge challenge to know what exactly makes us feel that way. Every year, we learn more about ourselves and what our passions are, but sometimes that can bring a need for change in what we are currently doing. Making that change is intimidating for sure, especially if you don’t know what the results will be. And one of those changes for me personally, and for many at SkuleTM, was changing disciplines.

When applying for university, we all had to figure out what program we

wanted and where we wanted to go, which was definitely one of the hardest decisions I had to make. Personally, I was torn between materials engineering and chemical engineering, yet I knew at the same time that I did not want to take Track One because I felt that the courses were not as reflective of those two disciplines. Ultimately, I chose Chemical and thought I would not look back. A few months later, I started doubting my choice.

Whether you are in EngSci, Track One, or any of the Core 8, at some point we all think to ourselves “Is this for me?” and “What do I want?”. Engineering is such a vast field that it makes it hard to know what exactly suits us until we test it out. Thankfully, we all end up with the same diploma

despite all the options we may have. However, in order to make the best of our studies and prepare for future specialization, we really need to enjoy what we are learning now. Luckily, the option to switch disciplines provides us with an opportunity to reevaluate our passion.

After reading more into MSE, I fell in love with the course topics and simply filled out the paperwork to make the switch. At first, I thought it was simply a change in course titles.

In the fall, I realized the impact of my choice. One of my greatest sources of stress came back: being in an unfamiliar environment.

Although I was still at the same school, it did not initially feel like that when I walked into my class that September morning. It felt

like first year again. It felt like everyone had already made friends and I was struggling to fit in to a brand new community. Had I known I was about to face the sense of isolation and loneliness all over again, I would have thought more before stepping out of the comfort zone. Fortunately, after the initial panic, I realized that it was still possible to meet up with old friends, and make new friends.

Another daunting aspect of discipline transfer was first year course variations.

It was not a major factor for me since MSE and CHEM curriculums were related, but it can be daunting to many if they have not taken ECE101 or MSE101, for example, but want to transfer to the corresponding disciplines.

Luckily, there is assistance

given through professors to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.

Despite the unfamiliarity with the new environment and the uncertainty of whether I would genuinely like my new courses, I am to this day grateful of my switch. However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with staying in your program either; I could have stayed in chemical engineering knowing that there was a chance I would find more passion elsewhere. The only thing that matters is that you are in power of shaping your own degree and your future. Whether you choose to go to a different program, change disciplines, or choose to stay where you are, as long as you truly enjoy what you are doing, then it is all that matters.

How Does Culture Shape Future Technology?

ANDREW ZHAO Cannon Contributor The 21st century has been rife with technological leaps.

Endowed with rapid growth in artificial intelligence, space exploration, and bevy of other fields, we continue to push the boundaries of engineering, and we are achieving new heights of astounding innovation. Critics lament the notion that these strides in science and engineering have been made at the expense of societal awareness and caring for human culture.

Alternatively, would it be a viable assumption that the fundamental cultural ideologies of today, are shaping the designs of tomorrow?

As engineers, we are immersed in a world of technological growth; as humans, we are bound to the cultural foundations that

make up the basis for societal development. Through this connection, many of the things that we think of as common sense or “normal” are derived from cultural ideas and teachings. For example, the relatively new phenomenon of a “work at home” job-culture has driven the market for online interaction platforms such as Skype. In a similar fashion, gaming culture has promoted the rise of applications such as Discord.

Search engines are another prime example of culture being the impetus for technological creation.

Google, the world’s most-used search engine, is an infamous vacuum cleaner of user information. In many Western cultures, privacy is regarded as an essential human right.

As a result, competitor sites such as DuckDuckGo heavily market platitudes

that extoll privacy, and the protection of data. These newcomers take advantage of cultural insights in order to attract customers. Despite the fact that many users don’t actually understand the low-level technical nuance that sites such as Google or DuckDuckGo use, the appeal to their cultural priorities pushes them to choose one over the other.

Examining another present-day trend, we can see that the rapidly growing cultural movement on environmental stewardship has been a boon for the electric/hybrid vehicle market. Many companies such as BMW have vowed to electrify most of their models in the next decade or so. At the same time, old-fashioned automobile technologies have given way to more environmentally friendly designs; naturally aspirated

engines, once the highlight of the car world, have given way to turbochargers that allow reduced engine size without affecting power while increasing fuel efficiency.

However, we cannot say that technology is exclusively a function of culture.

Sometimes, a technological advancement will cause a cultural change. The art of dating has taken a drastic turn in recent years. With the rise of communication platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, along with datingspecific applications like Tinder, the idea of “courting” someone has become an archaic relic of the past. In a similar fashion, the global job market is undergoing drastic evolution. The rise of artificial intelligence has led to the feared obsoletion of many respected careers such as lawyers and doctors.

Some experts suggest that

in 50 years or less, machines will be able to take over most, if not all, of the functions in these fields. When this happens, the cultural ideas of a “prestigious” job will once again change to match the times.

As engineers, we are part of the wave of change that is currently sweeping the world. As such, it is important for us to understand the implications of every decision we make. As we start to move at a faster and faster pace towards the future, perhaps the important question is not who drives who, but whether we should be welcoming these changes or not. The answer to this question is not binary. It is not black or white (or even gray). It is composed of hues of all colours, each one representing a different cultural school of thought and behaviour.

14 • THE CANNON

APRIL 2019

OPINION

FASE Must Improve Religious Accommodation Classes and Examinations and Other Accommodations for Religious Observations, When a student’s religious “accommodation normally obligations conflict with requires that scheduled tests and midterms, they graded term work or tests are suddenly faced with conflicting with religious difficult academic barriers. requirements be adjusted by Per the Faculty of Applied providing similar evaluation Science and Engineering’s on alternate dates.” The accommodation policy, students are required to submit a petition through the online portal. Response times lag, and this waiting period can be extremely stressful for students who are eager to secure an accommodation.

As many religious students can tell you, the stress has a direct impact on their overall well-being. But, the wait times are just the beginning.

The regulations regarding religious accommodations are extremely ambiguous; University of Toronto’s Multiinstructors have almost Faith Center explicitly states free reign in reconfiguring that “instructors are expected the weight and form of to make every effort to avoid assessments. scheduling tests, examinations Many students can attest or other compulsory activities that the reconfiguration is at these times, or, if that is often unfair and burdensome. not possible, to give students For example, some instructors the opportunity to make up simply opt to transfer work that they miss .” In 2015 the weight of the missed and 2017, Vice Provost Sandy evaluation to the final exam. Walsh published a letter to When all is said and done, a actively remind professors student requiring a religious of their responsibility for fair accommodation may write a accommodation policies to final examination worth 70- religious students, citing the 80 percent of their total grade. University’s policy above.

The pressure is intense as their At the highest level of the final grade is dependent on University’s administration, the relative difficulty of that it is clear that professors final exam. Without other are encouraged to provide assessments, students are religious students with an unable to gauge their progress alternative writing date. throughout the course and it Unfortunately, this becomes difficult to properly standard is not met by determine how they can the Faculty.

Instead, improve their academic students who seek religious performance.

Engineering accommodation are often students who have to balance met with condescension, as their religious activities with if the accommodation was a their academics are struggling, favor and not an academic and it’s time for the Faculty right. Granted, the lack of Applied Science and of accommodation is not Engineering to improve their necessarily the product of a accommodation protocol. malicious or lazy professor.

According to UofT’s Large class sizes and Policy on Scheduling of scheduling conflicts often KOBI NAUENBERG Cannon Contributor

limit the accommodations offered by the department.

One student was told that, “given the size of the class – 450 students – we are unable to accommodate a different time for the exam.” However, it is similarly possible that professors are simply unaware of their ability to reschedule

religiousstudentsnevertheless.

Consider Ryerson University’s accommodation policy: “Students are encouraged to work with their instructors to reach an agreement on a reasonable means to address any missed work or exams.”

Ryerson’s policy affords their students a more active role in

“

Unfortunately, [UofT’s Existing Religious Accomodation Policy] is not met by the Faculty. Instead, students who seek religious accommodation are often met with condescension... exams, for in the same email the student was told “this is the only arrangement we can offer” – a direct contradiction to the policy stated above.

Cheating is also cited as a potential obstacle for religious accommodations around midterm season, but a simple non-disclosure form is sufficient during finals. Why can’t the same method be applied?

Despite the bureaucratic difficulties associated with religious accomodations, UofT has a duty to their

the accommodation process, whereas the Faculty’s petition document simply states that “the Course Coordinator/ Instructor will determine the type of accommodation.”

When an unsatisfactory accommodation is offered, contesting it can be extremely difficult. As the official policy found on the undergraduate engineering academic calendar will indicate, a student wishing to appeal the petition can write a formal appeal to the Faculty Academic Appeals

Board via the Registrar’s Office. However, the term work petition information document, as found on the undergraduate engineering website, states that no formal appeal process exists for term work petitions. Aside from the conflicting information, a petition, let alone the appeal process, can easily morph into a bureaucratic headache.

It is time for the University to confront the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering for their refusal to properly accommodate religious students. Despite the clear guidelines indicated by both the Vice-Provost and the Multi-Faith Centre, the situation on the ground is highly problematic.

Engineering professors fail to meet the guidelines as set by the University on religious accommodations, and affected students are often unwilling or unable to stand up for their academic rights. In a high-pressure environment, it can be daunting to demand change. It is incumbent upon the broader school community to hold the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering accountable. Our religious students deserve fair consistent academic policy, and it’s time for the Faculty to properly accommodate its students.

A PRAYER SPACE IN BAHEN CREDIT: MUSLIM STUDENT ASSOCIATION

cannon.skule.ca

APRIL 2019

• 15

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?

GAURAV RANGANATH Cannon Contributor According to Inc. Magazine, a survey conducted by the University of Phoenix showed that 63% of people in their twenties are or want to be their own boss, but how many of them are cut out for it?

When I was six years old, I watched my first episode of “Dragons Den”, a show where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to acquire an investment from one of five business people. The show had me hooked. I would pitch crazy business ideas to my friends and convince them to fork over their allowances, promising to double or triple their investment. Unfortunately for them, all my ventures ended in catastrophe.

If we look at the early lives of legendary entrepreneurs,

we see a common pattern unfold. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, sold garbage bags at age 12. Ikea founder, Ingvar Kamprad, sold matches at age five. Warren Buffet sold packs of gum to his neighbours at age six.

Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, bred and sold parakeets at age 11. Chuck Schwab, billionaire founder of the Charles Schwab Brokerage firm, sold walnuts and live chickens at age 14.

So, what does this mean? Are people born entrepreneurs? Is there hope for people like me who don’t have the natural talent for it? I tried to find out.

On January 19th, I competed at the UofT Hatchery’s Accelerator Weekend. The Hatchery claimed that I would be able to experience the life

of an entrepreneur in 28 hours. I was skeptical but decided to give it a shot. I walked in knowing nothing about business, let alone entrepreneurship. It was a gruelling 28 hours, but I was determined to see if I had what it took to be an entrepreneur. Out of all the teams there my team was chosen as one of six finalists and placed third. I was shocked by our performance.

However, this was not enough to validate my curiosity. The competition may have attempted to simulate the start-up cycle, but I had no way of knowing if it was a realistic indication of what entrepreneurship was really like. So, I decided to ask some real entrepreneurs.

I met Zakir Hemraj at one of the Hatchery’s speaker series events. Together with two of his friends he

co-founded and is now the CEO of Loopio, a company that produces software to respond to requests for proposals (RFPs) with ease.

Loopio was named one of Canada’s Companiesto-Watch in 2018 in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards, received nine million dollars of funding, and has over 100 employees.

I asked him a very openended question, “Do you think entrepreneurship can be taught?”.

“I do. I think there are elements of entrepreneurship that can be taught. Certain skills and frameworks that can be used. But at the end of the day, I think most of entrepreneurship comes from within. So, you can be taught all the frameworks and ideas of how to approach a business, the mechanics of running it, how to work and manage and lead people. But if you don’t have the appetite

to fully buy into it, then I think you can’t do it. So, a lot of people have some of these attributes in an innate way, but some people must learn them. I think it comes down to the desire and will to be successful. I think that’s the first ingredient: how bad do you want it? The grit.”

Through my experience I learnt that there are some things about entrepreneurship you can be taught, and some things you can’t. The frameworks do not seem to be hard to learn. But the key ingredients are desire, will, and grit. Entrepreneurship can be partially taught, but qualities like staying curious, keeping an open mind, and possessing an undying will to win cannot be obtained from a textbook.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

101

REGISTER TODAY! CALL 1-800-LEARN

CREDIT: NADYA ABDULLAH

16 • THE CANNON

APRIL 2019

GEARS ARE NOT GRINDING

Why I Chose An Iron Ring DALE GOTTLIEB Cannon Senior Editor After four years of painstaking study and devotion to the engineering discipline, myself and many other fourth-year students have been granted the privilege of wearing an iron ring. First conceptualized in 1922 by Professor Herbert Haultain, the ring is a constant reminder to your obligation to the engineering profession and to maintain a high standard of professional conduct. Since the first ceremony in 1925, this tradition has spread to various engineering programs across Canada.

However, a key difference remains between The University of Toronto (and the other Camp One schools) and all these other ceremonies – the option to choose between an iron or stainless-steel ring. All the other schools have removed the option for iron since the material corrodes over time, shrinking in size and staining the finger black.

In my anecdotal experience, it’s an even spread between students choosing iron and stainless-steel.

Many choose the stainless ring because it will last a lifetime with no maintenance required, while the iron ring must be removed before

showering or washing your hands. On the contrary, I chose the iron ring because it is difficult to maintain and because it will rust over the years.

As engineers, we must be constantly reminded of the importance of our work and analysing the plans we submit. An iron ring is a perfect representation of our duties as engineers. It must constantly be maintained and thought of and with just one mistake, such as showering with the ring on, the metal will rust, and the ring will be ruined. The material of the ring must also be taken as a reminder both of our engineering design, and of

ourselves. We must not design with the intent of materials staying constant, and we should be mindful that their properties change over time and can degrade, and that we ourselves are not perfect and change as dynamically as the ring.

I also think of the iron ring as a reminiscent of where we come from as engineers.

Having to maintain the ring is a constant reminder that there exists a better design, and to always strive for it. When iron was first made, engineers did not stop there thinking that that was enough, and instead developed stainless steel.

Although we have access to better materials today, we

must always be reminded of where we came from, and the need for constant innovation.

I wear my iron ring proudly, and I look forward to the struggles I will have to face in maintaining it the same as I look forward to the challenges I will have to overcome in my future designs. I understand that the stainless-steel ring is a better option from a functionality point of view, but in my opinion, you lose most of the rings symbolism when it’s made of stainless steel. I am happy with my choice of the iron ring, and I recommend you avoid the easy option and get an iron ring too.

DALE POSING WITH HIS IRON RING ALONGSIDE HIS GRANDFATHER CREDIT: DALE GOTTLIEB