Hi first year students! Congratulations on starting your engineering education at the University of Waterloo – one of the 14 universities across Ontario that are a part of The Engineering Student Societies’ Council of Ontario (also known as ESSCO). My name is Jocelyn Lee, and this year I am Vice President Communications of ESSCO. I am currently in my second year of Civil Engineering and Society at McMaster University and am very excited to be working with ESSCO and all of you!
ESSCO is an association that represents engineering societies from 14 universities across Ontario, and acts as the link between engineering students and professional associations, academia, and government. Since its creation in 1987, ESSCO’s goal has been to promote “unity, continuity, and visibility among Ontario engineering students”.
In addition to representing students on a provincial level, ESSCO also hosts four conferences annually: Presidents Meeting (PM), Professional Engineers Ontario Student Conference (PEO-SC), First Year Integration Conference (FYIC), and Annual General Meeting (AGM). Each conference is an opportunity for students to meet at one ESSCO’s member schools, and allows students to share best practices, discuss strengths and weaknesses of their schools, and implement positive change. Students who attend the conferences (known as delegations) are represented by executive members of their school’s engineering society. One of the conferences, FYIC, is catered especially to first year students, and I would highly recommend applying to attend. This year, FYIC is hosted by the University of Ottawa in the beginning of February.
ESSCO organizes many different events that bring universities across Ontario together. These events include conferences, the Ontario Engineering Competition, National Engineering Month, and Wonderland Math and Physics Day. It is a great way to get involved and represent your university at higher level. As a student that is still fairly new to university, ESSCO has shown me that even though I am not a professional engineer yet, I still have the power to implement change and make a difference when it comes to my engineering experience. There are so many different opportunities that you can take part in, either as a delegate in a conference or a director with ESSCO. If you are looking to find out more about ESSCO and how it can help you, you can email your VP externals, any of the ESSCO executives, visit our website (www.essco.ca) or read our blog for weekly updates (www.essco.ca/news/). Good luck on your first year!
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