Orientation Week is an endless stream of information, and as you can probably tell already this issue of The Iron Warrior is no exception. The University of Waterloo Engineering society exists to serve you as an undergraduate engineer, providing opportunities in the school, the community and the rest of Canada. The VP External tries to assist with the final two items on that list by providing outreach opportunities in the community as well as representing Waterloo to various organizations both provincially and nationally.
For the next 4-16 months, the people tasked with this position are Erin Merkley (Mechanical ’15), representing B-Soc which is all of the 8-stream classes in the winter, and Lisa Belbeck (Nanotechnology ’14) and Michael Seliske (Computer ’13), representing A-Soc this fall. A new VP External will be elected to represent all 4-stream A-Soc members in the summer.
So what will the three of us being doing for you? Beyond helping the rest of the executive team run the Society, the VP External is hard at work, helping directors organize outreach events which allow Engineering students the opportunity give back to the community. We also have a representation section to our portfolio which has us traveling to various conferences around the country sharing ideas with other societies, while voicing the Waterloo perspective on national and provincial issues pertaining to Engineering.
The VPs External are not the only people who attend these conferences, some of the larger ones have room for additional students to attend in order to develop their leadership skills and share ideas with other schools. This means that you have the opportunity to attend an awesome engineering conference, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for various conference opportunities over the course of your undergraduate career at Waterloo. Pay close attention to your inboxes in January when we will be opening applications for the First Year Integration Conference (FYIC) being held in February at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. This conference is specifically for first years and is meant to give you an introduction to the world of external organizations including the provincial (ESSCO) and national (CFES) level student run organizations as well as the professional organizations you will need to interact with such as Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) and the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE). There is also a conference, which will be held in November at Concordia University, Quebec where will be looking for excited first year students interested in Women in Engineering, this conference is called NCWIE (National Conference of Women in Engineering). We would encourage you to visit our website if you are curious about these organizations or read about ESSCO and CFES on page 5.
The VPs External are also in charge of assisting their commissioner with the Waterloo Engineering Competition (WEC). WEC is a design/consulting engineering competition that serves as the school level qualifiers for the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC). There is a junior design category for first and second year students so keep an eye out for registration in October, as the Compeition will be held on November 2-3. For more information about WEC, check out wec.uwaterloo.ca.
The VPs External and the rest of the executive would always like to hear your feedback, thoughts, questions or even a joke you think is funny. Please email us at vpexternal.a@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca (Lisa and Mike, A-Soc VPs External) or vpexternal.b@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca (Erin, B-Soc VP External). Be ready for a fun and exciting term!
Leave a Reply