Mechanical Engineering Student Achieves Indigenous Success in STEM

The event featured a panel presentation and discussion on achieving Indigenous success in STEM fields. The panel included Arts & Science students Victory Harper, Nancy Whitecalf and Jacqueline Nokusis, and fourth-year mechanical engineering student Evan Corrigal.

Each of the panelists offered their perspectives on the benefits and challenges of being a STEM university student and their path to becoming a scientist or engineer. Corrigal was kind enough to dive a little deeper into his perspectives.

Why did you choose to attend the U of S and enroll in mechanical engineering?
I had a physics and math teacher who discussed engineering with me and got me interested in the career. I liked math and science classes in high school, so I decided to research engineering to see what they do, as well as programs that were offered.

I found the engineering program at the U of S and, since I didn't want to move far from home (Ile-a-la Crosse), I decided to attend the U of S. I was accepted directly into the College of Engineering. Before attending classes I was interested in computer engineering, but when I went through my first year of general engineering classes I decided that I was more interested in mechanics. So I changed my first choice of major to mechanical engineering.

How was your transition from Ile-a-la Crosse to Saskatoon and the U of S?
My transition to Saskatoon and U of S was difficult when I initially moved to the city, but I was part of a transition program that allowed me to take an English course throughout the summer after high school. During the summer course, I was able to tour the campus and become familiar with finding my way around Saskatoon.

Is there anything else the university could do to help students with the transition?
I would like them to offer more transition programs. It was a really great experience for me to attend the transition program because there were less students on campus throughout the summer and it is not as crowded as the beginning of the school year. I would like to see a variety of summer classes available in the transition programs if it possible. The English class that I took was interesting, but others might want to take other courses.

What have been your challenges as a student?
One challenge was adjusting to having a large number of students in my classes. My high school graduation class was only 14 people, so it was a huge shock adjusting from a small class size to the large university class sizes. In addition to adjusting to class size, it was also a challenge to adjust to the large course load. It was a huge eye-opener to see the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to be a university student versus a high school student.

Another challenge has been financial difficulties. As a Métis student, Gabriel Dumont Institute will only fund one year of post-secondary education at a university (the last year). As my wife was a student at university at the same time, we had to come up with tuition money for both of us, books, rent and so much more on our own. However, with the help of our parents, scholarships and working part-time jobs, we were able to succeed.

What summer jobs have you had?
After my first year of university, I had a radiation tech summer student job with Cameco at McArthur River. The following two summers I worked as a mill engineering summer student with AREVA at McClean Lake, and returned for a 16-month internship in May 2015 – August 2016.

Why do you think it is important for students to consider the STEM path?
I think it is important for students to consider the STEM path because it gives them more opportunities. Especially growing up in a small town, I was only exposed to a limited amount of career opportunities.

What strategies do you have to encourage people to go into STEM programs?
I think a lot of high school students like to learn and follow by example, especially if they are listening to someone they know or trust. I also think that by having students or experts in such programs from specific communities attend career fairs in their home community and share information about that program, it will encourage more students to pursue that program. For example, I would like to attend career fairs in Northern Saskatchewan to encourage more students to pursue a career in engineering.

I also believe it would be a great opportunity to bring small groups of students to take part in tours at the university that involve STEM programs in which they could experience hands-on activities. In my first year at university, I attended a fun session and created a battery-operated charger in a tin can, which was very interesting to learn. It created a hands-on experience and was very cheap to do.

What do you think about the college’s efforts to support “indigenization”?
I think they have been doing a good job to support indigenization. The College of Engineering has partnered with PotashCorp and Hatch to introduce the Indigenous Peoples Industry Partnership Program (IPIPP), which allows Indigenous students within the college to gain experience through summer jobs. The college also has an Indigenous Peoples Initiatives Coordinator (Matthew Dunn), who has been doing a great job advertising information sessions for job opportunities with companies that are interested in hiring Indigenous students.

Anything else you want to say about your experience and success in STEM?
As an engineering student, I really recommend the Engineering Professional Internship Program (EPIP). The EPIP program offers internships to students who have completed half of their engineering degree. Students can get jobs for terms of six, 12 or 16 months with any companies that advertise for an opportunity. This program allows students to gain valuable engineering experience as well as an excellent opportunity to network.