EngSoc: VPs External

Hey there 2019s and welcome to Waterloo Engineering! We hope Orientation Week gets you excited for the next few years here at the University of Waterloo. We are your Vice-Presidents External, Heather Smith and Sarah-Rose. You’ll see Heather in the Fall and coming Spring term, and Sarah-Rose in the Winter 2015 term if you’re in 8-stream. Our main roles and responsibilities include charities and community outreach initiatives, the Waterloo Engineering Competition, and representing the Engineering undergraduate population on provincial and national levels. You can learn about all of these through attending EngSoc meetings, keeping an eye out for our emails, or coming to the EngSoc office in Carl Pollock Hall (CPH) to ask questions. But for now, here is an introduction to external matters of your engineering society!
Each term, EngSoc runs various events to raise funds going to a charity of EngSoc’s choice. Charities that EngSoc has supported in the past include Free the Children, Canadian Cancer Society, and National Service Dogs. Curious about what these events are? Let’s say you’re hastily making your way through the hallway, stomach grumbling as you forgot to eat breakfast. You round the corner and are pleasantly surprised by the sight of friendly students selling warm fluffy delicious pancakes. Just as you start to think that it doesn’t get much better than this, you realize that funds raised through pancakes sales goes to charity! Forgot to pack a lunch? Have no fear! Delicious, warm, melt-in-your-mouth grilled cheese for charity is also a thing! Who knew donations could taste so good?!
Find the change between your couch cushions, under your bed, in your sock, or wherever; save it up and bring it to Change for Change week, where each graduating year competes as teams to collect the most money! And the final charities event: Festive pictures with Santa and the Tool! Take a break from studying for finals and come out to this event, and get a picture with your friends!
Perhaps you are looking to get more involved in the community! Waterloo EngSoc plays an active role in plenty of outreach events and volunteer opportunities in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. These initiatives include Education Outreach, Engineering a Difference, and Environmental events. Education Outreach is an event that is run once or twice each term, where Waterloo EngSoc volunteers go to THEMUSEUM in Kitchener to perform science experiments with kids to get them excited about science and engineering at a young age! Engineering a Difference is an initiative to find volunteer opportunities around Kitchener-Waterloo and to keep students informed with and involved in these various volunteer opportunities throughout the term. Environmental events in the past have involved cleaning up Waterloo Park and having a guest speaker talk to engineers about various environmental issues.
You can also march with EngSoc in the annual Santa Claus Parade in the Fall term, pull a bus from campus to downtown Kitchener while collecting donations in the Winter, and head to Toronto with EngSoc to march in the Pride Parade in the Spring! All of these outreach events are tons of fun and you’ll meet awesome people along the way!
The Waterloo Engineering Competition (WEC) is an excellent event for students to showcase their enginuity and innovation while competing to attend the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC), then possibly the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC). Held on November 7 and 8, WEC is separated into Consulting, Programming, Junior Design (first and second year students), and Senior Design (third and fourth year students). For more information, check out wec.uwaterloo.ca and keep your eyes peeled for details about signing up or volunteering in October!
Our final responsibility as VP External is EngSoc representation. We attend Engineering Student Societies’ Council of Ontario (ESSCO) and Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES) conferences and represent Waterloo EngSoc’s opinion on matters relevant to engineering students across the province and across the country. ESSCO conferences for the upcoming 2014-2015 year are the ESSCO Presidents’ Meeting, Annual General Meeting, and First Year Integration Conference. You’re all ecouraged to apply for the First Year Integration Conference, which takes place in the Winter term and is open to both 4-stream and 8-stream students. CFES conferences are the CFES Presidents’ Meeting, the National Conference on Women in Engineering, and CFES Congress. Applications for most of these conferences are open to all undergraduate engineering students!
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask us! We cannot wait to meet you! See you at the awesome events that your Engineering Society has to offer!