USask Engineering Spring 2024 Convocation Award Winners

Hometown: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

What amazed you when you first arrived on the USask campus?
The beautiful 100-year-old architecture of some of the Tyndall stone buildings blew me away. Having attended summer camps on campus as a kid, I was somewhat familiar with the architecture. However, to see it every day was a real treat. I was also amazed by how friendly everyone was. USask Engineering really seems to draw people that are easy to get along with. 

What would you consider your favourite or greatest achievement during your degree?
My favourite achievement was being selected by the American Concrete Institute to interview for an ACI Fellowship in New Orleans. Getting to meet like-minded students and professionals while experiencing a completely unique culture was an amazing experience. Ultimately being selected as a winner of an ACI Fellowship was a dream come true. 

What's your dream engineering job and why?
My dream engineering job is actually to work as a professor of structural engineering. I would love to conduct more of my own research in areas I find interesting, particularly in the field of concrete masonry. Teaching has also been an interest of mine for a long time. It would be very rewarding to be able to give back and teach young engineers about the wonderful world of structural engineering.

What famous engineer - living or dead - would you most like to meet and why?
I think it would be fascinating to meet Leonhard Euler. Everyone in any discipline of engineering or mathematics will recognize his name, as he developed an unbelievable amount of equations and theories in every field imaginable. In my field he is best known for the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory or the Euler buckling load.

Hometown: Turtle Lake, Saskatchewan

What amazed you when you first arrived on the USask campus?
You can't beat the Geology Building with all of the plants and animals. It was my favourite place to go in between classes for a refreshing break, a quick coffee from Tim's, and watching the fish. It was also fun trying to find fossils within the greystone that the main buildings around the Bowl are constructed from. 

What would you consider your favourite or greatest achievement during your degree?
I was very fortunate to end my academic career with an amazing capstone team and project. Our group, KIBA, designed a permeable reactive barrier system for an acid mine drainage impacted site in northern Saskatchewan and won the Most Environmental Impact award and Best Industry Design at the SES Design Showcase this year. Our goal for the year was to have a great design and show the cool things ENVE students get to do in engineering, as many people forget about our small discipline. I think we did just that by showing the impact that environmental engineering has on the world and the combination of sciences that can be done.  

What's your dream engineering job and why?
Ultimately, I want to be in a position that allows me to use my skills and knowledge to make an impact on the environment and people. I would love to get into remediation and work to incorporate communities and the environment at the forefront of the design. I am lucky to have recently started at a great company, Okane, which fits perfectly into my dream and values as they are forging a path in the mining industry toward sustainable mining and creating a plan for future land use early in the mining process.

What famous engineer - living or dead - would you most like to meet and why?
I would love to sit down and have a coffee with Mary Walton. In the 19th century, she invented multiple devices to reduce pollution during the Industrial Revolution from the large amount of emissions and noise being generated. Not only was she pursuing a career in a very male-dominated field back in the late 1800s, but she also chose to create solutions to help the environment and the people around her, which I find extremely important. Not much is known about her as she did not receive the credit she deserved due to her being overlooked. A fun fact that I saw was that she decided to pursue her elevated railway system as a way to reduce noise all because Thomas Edison tried and failed. 

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Hometown: Prince George, British Columbia

What amazed you when you first arrived on the USask campus?
What amazed me most about the USask campus was just how big it is, and how nice it gets in the summer/fall when all the leaves begin to change colours on the trees that arch over the walkways.

What would you consider your favourite or greatest achievement during your degree?
My favourite achievement would be completing a co-op position with Nutrien that allowed me to gain some great experience, meet and learn from a lot of knowledgeable people, and reassured me on my decision to transfer in to engineering.

What's your dream engineering job and why?
I do not currently have a dream engineering job but one of my career goals is to gain experience in a variety of industries. I currently have experience in potash and in pulp and paper, so I would like to learn more about the petroleum industry, different types of mineral processing, and hopefully nuclear energy production.   

What famous engineer - living or dead - would you most like to meet and why?
A famous engineer that I would most like to meet would be Trevor Kletz for his contributions to process safety and loss prevention. I would also like to meet John H. Perry as he edited the first few editions of one of the most important chemical engineering books.

Hometown: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

What amazed you when you first arrived on the USask campus?
Because I grew up in Saskatoon, my first time on the Usask campus happened when I was seven years old. My class was visiting the museum in the Geology Building as part of a field trip. Like most seven-year-olds, I was awestruck by the T-Rex. These days, I actually prefer the stegosaurus.

What would you consider your favourite or greatest achievement during your degree?
My favourite achievement and my greatest achievement are entirely different. I’d say my greatest achievement in my degree is having four published papers with my name on them. I was fortunate to work in an awesome applied math lab for a few years during my degree that provided me with great research opportunities and the ability to publish my work.

However, my favourite achievement during my degree is getting 100% in every physics and engineering physics class I’ve taken. I still don’t know how I pulled that off, but it makes for a hilariously specific fact to break out whenever someone asks the dreaded interview question: “tell me something about yourself.”

What's your dream engineering job and why?
My dream engineering job is conducting research in basically any computational area that involves applied math, such as simulations, modelling, or quantum computing. While working in the applied math lab during my degree, I had a chance to work in some of these areas and found I loved it. There’s nothing more satisfying than when the mathematical theory aligns with your implementation.  

What famous engineer - living or dead - would you most like to meet and why?
I would have loved a chance to have a conversation with Mary Jackson – the first female engineer at NASA and the first person of colour to be able to attend the necessary engineering courses. Aerospace engineering is a field I find fascinating, and it would have been amazing to talk to an engineer who was central to NASA’s team during the space race. Mary Jackson was also a huge advocate for women in STEM – something I am constantly striving to be. 

Hometown: Regina, Saskatchewan

What amazed you when you first arrived on the USask campus?
When I first moved to Saskatoon, I was amazed by how large the USask campus was. Instead of being just some buildings where people take classes, it really felt like its own neighbourhood. I was happily surprised with how many trees and green areas there were, and it really made me excited to spend time on campus. 

What would you consider your favourite or greatest achievement during your degree?
I think if I had to highlight one subject from my degree, it would be math. I remember telling my parents in early high school that "I don't think I have a math brain." I tried to stay away from pure math in grades 9 and 10, but was thankfully encouraged by my teachers to go a bit further. Now, engineering math courses make up most of my best grades from my degree! 

What's your dream engineering job and why?
I've always been interested by light (I think my parents would tell you that 'light' was my first word), and my program helped me become closely acquainted with it. I also have a love for space and the large-scale of our planet and the universe, so my goal is to work on the design of a space-based instrument that uses light to help us learn more about our planet, and maybe our universe as well. 

What famous engineer - living or dead - would you most like to meet? 
I think meeting an engineer who participated in building something like an aqueduct in ancient Rome would be pretty cool. I'd love to know how they went about the design and construction process without all of the fancy tools that we have in modern times. I might sneak them a laptop with some CAD tools on it as well to see what they could come up with.

Hometown: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

What amazed you when you first arrived on the USask campus?
I would have to say, the sheer number of like-minded students I saw during my first days on campus. Additionally, all the amazing professors (special shout out to Rory Gowen and Sherif Faried).

What would you consider your favourite or greatest achievement during your degree?
My favourite achievement was receiving the Indigenous Achievement Award for academics. My second choice would be scoring a goal in men’s league hockey.

What's your dream engineering job and why?
My dream as an engineer is to work in the renewable sector, helping to create a more sustainable future.

What famous engineer - living or dead - would you most like to meet? 
I would love to meet Nikola Tesla. He had such an impact on my field of study and was such a prolific inventor.

Hometown: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

What amazed you when you first arrived on the USask campus?
Arriving at the University of Saskatchewan, I was amazed by the stunning campus scenery, diverse programs, a strong sense of community, comprehensive support services, and the vibrant array of student clubs and activities.

What would you consider your favourite or greatest achievement during your degree?
One of my greatest achievements during my degree was being selected to participate in the Canadian Nuclear Association 2024 conference in Ottawa. I was thrilled about this event, given my interest in cutting-edge technologies in the nuclear field and the future of net zero. I engaged in discussions with industry leaders regarding nuclear innovation and the implementation of technologies such as SMRs (small modular reactors), microreactors, and enhancements in existing nuclear plants. Additionally, I gained invaluable insights into Canada's ambitious path toward net zero and its projected trajectory.

What's your dream engineering job and why?
A dream job, which is unrealistic, but would be incredibly cool is being an engineer in the field of asteroid mining. With concerns about resource depletion growing on Earth, the prospect of extracting valuable resources from asteroids millions of miles away becomes increasingly appealing. It's a dream job that combines my curiosity for space exploration with my current role in the mining industry. This dream job would also offer the opportunity to push the boundaries of what's possible while addressing the pressing need for sustainable resource utilization. I can already picture myself floating in zero gravity with my miniature robotic mining drones!

What famous engineer - living or dead - would you most like to meet? 
I would like to meet Edith Clarke. As an electrical engineer, she has been a profound source of inspiration for me. Her ground-breaking work, especially with the Clarke calculator and her impact on electrical power transmission revolutionized the industry. I would love to hear her stories about overcoming the challenges she faced as a woman in engineering during her time. Her resilience, innovation, and dedication to her field are qualities I deeply admire and strive to emulate. Her commitment to education and mentorship, particularly her efforts to encourage more women to pursue engineering, resonates with me.

Hometown: I was born and raised in Saskatoon, and I discovered the College of Engineering early in life, attending SCI FI and Girls Exploring Science programs throughout elementary school.

What amazed you when you first arrived on the USask campus?
During my first year on campus, I was amazed how busy the Engineering Library always was! The tables were always filled with students socializing and tackling homework together. Throughout my degree I realized how valuable time in the library can be and how much engineering encourages students to create their own community. 

What would you consider your favourite or greatest achievement during your degree?
My favourite achievement during my degree was the first time I presented my research at an international conference. Completing the research, writing the conference abstract, and preparing for the presentation was a lot of work and I'm proud of how well it went.

What's your dream engineering job and why?
I would love to have a career in which I apply engineering and physics principles to technological developments within the field of medicine. This appeals to me in particular because it offers the opportunity for direct clinical applications.

What famous engineer - living or dead - would you most like to meet? 
Although not an engineer, the first person this question made me think of was Lise Meitner, an Austrian physicist. She was involved in the discovery of nuclear fission and the element protactinium. She continued her science throughout many significant challenges, and I think she would be an incredibly interesting person to meet.