U of T Engineering hosts 2016 Young Women in Engineering Symposium - Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

Attendees of the 2016 Young Women in Engineering Symposium participate in an engineering design workshop led by Professors Chirag Variawa and Jason Foster. (Credit: Alan Yusheng Wu)

October 4, 2016 — More than 50 aspiring female engineers gathered at the University of Toronto for the annualYoung Women in Engineering Symposium (YWIES) on Saturday, October 1.

Now in its third year, the symposium brought together high-achieving high-school students for a day of hands-on workshops, talks and discussion panels designed to inspire young women to choose U of T Engineering.

The day opened with a welcome and presentation by Associate Director of the Engineering Student Recruitment & Retention Office Michelle Beaton. Current U of T Engineering student ambassadors then led YWIES delegates in icebreaker activities, before attendees participated in workshops facilitated by Professor Jason Foster (EngSci) and First-year Office Professor Chirag Variawa (IndE PhD 1T4) in the Faculty’s unique Technology-Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) rooms.

Following lunch, University Professor Molly Shoichet (IBBME, ChemE), a world-renowned researcher and pioneering biomedical engineer, delivered the keynote address. YWIES 2016 concluded with a ‘Mythbusters Panel’ of engineering students. Moderated by Tessa Pietropaolo (Year 4 MIE), symposium attendees heard first-hand about academics, student life and more from Anike Morrison (Year 2 ECE), Xinli Tu (Year 2 CivE), Adriana Karababas(Year 3 ChemE), Julia Filiplic (Year 3 MIE) and Jenn Dixon (Year 3 MSE).

Diversity is a core value of U of T Engineering — for the past three years, more than 30 per cent of incoming first-year students have been women, and this past fall that number reached 39.6 per cent, the highest proportion in the Faculty’s history. U of T Engineering undergraduate students come from 75 countries around the world, enriching the student experience with a wide array of ideas and perspectives.

The YWIES is just one component of the Faculty’s commitment to enhancing diversity, alongside innovative outreach programs such as the Girls Leadership in Engineering Experience (GLEE) and Girls’ Jr. DEEP events.

Learn more about how U of T Engineering is enriching diveristy in engineering

Traditional Land Acknowledgement

We wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.