Have you ever known a professor cool enough to do a polar bear swim or daring enough to conquer the CN Tower EdgeWalk? Well, those students lucky enough to have Professor Irene Goldthorpe can now answer “yes” to this question! A member of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Professor Goldthorpe came to the University of Waterloo in 2011 after receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in Engineering Science, and completing her Masters and PhD at Stanford University in Materials Science and Engineering.
This issue, The Iron Warrior took some time to get to know this amazing professor a little more personally.
Which courses do you teach?
I teach Electronic Devices to undergraduate Nanos, and an ECE Semiconductor Devices graduate course. I also teach two other Nano graduate courses: Microscopy, and Solid State Physics and Chemistry.
Why did you choose to pursue a career in Engineering?
It was pretty clear that I would do something related to science because I loved science even from a kid. I was totally nerdy and went to the science centre for camps. I was going to go into physics and then someone let me know about what engineering was in my last year of high school—it was the more applications-based of science in engineering that appealed to me.
What was your most memorable experience as an undergraduate student?
I did my undergrad at the University of Toronto in the Engineering Science program with the nano-engineering option. It was such a hard program, but the good thing about that was that you really bond with your classmates when doing something so difficult. So just hanging out with friends during late nights, laughing, and going out—all that bonding time is definitely my favourite memory.
What are your research interests?
I am really a materials engineer, but there’s no materials department. My expertise is in electronics materials, so that’s why I’m in the Electrical Engineering department. I design materials for electronic devices, and there are two of the major themes of my research right now. One is on transparent electrodes, so that’s an electrode that’s both optically transparent and conductive. Normally a material that’s conductive, like a metal, is not transparent. And most materials that are transparent are not conductive. So you have to use nanomaterials to blend those two characteristics together. The other part of my research that I’m really excited about right now is e-textile, and focusing on engineering materials for e-textile devices. Most electronic materials are made on rigid wafers, but textiles have to be flexible, able to be crumpled, bent, and washable. So there’s a lot of challenges in designing materials that can be used for devices and that are compatible with textiles.
What is your favourite part about teaching?
I’ve always loved school and taking classes, which is why I went to grad school after undergrad. Now it’s like I still get to take classes but along with students, because even though I’m only teaching a second year undergrad course, you really get into it and it can get very difficult. So sometimes I feel like I’m taking the class along with the students and I still get to learn new things every year, which is surprising.
What is the most challenging part about teaching?
It’s not as much of a challenge anymore, but professors don’t get any training for teaching. People take one or two years to learn to become a teacher for high school or primary school, whereas I had never given a lecture in my life when I started working here. So there was definitely things to learn when I started.
Can you describe your teaching philosophy?
I would say that I am more of a classic lecturer, so I teach on the board—I don’t use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is really hard to teach on, and I’m not good at it, so I just leave that aside. I mean, writing on the board is not the most exciting way, but when I think back to my undergrad those are the courses that I learned best from. And even though it’s not that exciting, I think there’s a reason as to why that style has continued on through the years.
Do you have any advice for your students?
Try not to stress out too much; your marks probably aren’t that important. It’s important to work hard, but you shouldn’t get too stressed about it because there’s going to be harder things that come in your life afterwards. And make sure to find time for fun.
Do you have any hobbies?
I like the outdoors and being active, so I like hiking, cross country skiing, and downhill skiing. I also love to travel, so over the last several years my husband and I have been to Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Iceland and Chile. People ask me a lot what my favourite place to travel is, but I love them all; I love travelling anywhere even if it’s to some no-name town. I also like trying new and random things. I’ve been dog sledding, jumped into Lake Ontario on January 1 for the polar bear swim, and I did the Edgewalk on the CN tower. There are many other things on my bucket list too, like recently I found a blacksmithing course that I want to do, and a falconry lesson!
Leave a Reply