Montreal was busy this weekend, November 16th, playing host to the Santa Claus parade and to Canadian engineering students who gathered there for the annual National Conference on Women in Engineering (NCWiE). This year’s conference was themed “Being a Game Changer” and introduced the participants to multiple speakers who discussed how to integrate and strengthen minority groups in engineering.
The conference began on Friday, November 16th as students flew, drove, and took the train into the heart of Montreal. Representatives from engineering schools across the country gathered together to discuss the topic of women in engineering. A total of ten delegates from Waterloo drove into Montreal to attend this conference.
Friday had a large focus on being a female in the workforce as the two opening speakers both talked about their journeys and the hardships they faced. Melissa Dominguez, a Google employee, and Nicole Slade, from Iron Ore Canada, both spoke about work-life balance and how they reached their current positions at their respective companies. Their main point was that women and men face different challenges, one of which is having children. Although both men and women can take time off to raise their young children now, we cannot deny the fact that we feel differently about spending a whole day away from them.
The next day was filled with different seminars. The day started out with different sessions that covered topics including co-op, mentorship, and LGBTQ awareness in EngSocs’. The latter presentation was given by Greg Burns, an engineering student at Conestoga College. The rest of the day followed with an address by Maud Cohen, a Student Panel, and two more speaker sessions. At night we got the chance to sit and talk with the day’s speakers at a semi-formal, followed by a night on the town.
The last day of the conference, Sunday, concluded with round table discussion and our final speaker, Suzelle Barrington from Engineers Canada. This session was a great opportunity to talk to the other students about topics ranging from the involvement of men in Women in Engineering clubs to whether or not the club is still relevant in today’s society. Suzelle Barrington discusses Engineer Canada’s goal of 30 by 2013 which is a goal to have 30% female engineers in the workforce by the year 2013.
NCWiE was not all business though! There were nightly events where the delegates enjoyed each other’s company and learnt more about different programs across the country. It was an excellent opportunity to exchange stories and tactics used at different schools. Saturday was an excellent day to watch the Santa Claus Parade down Rue St. Catherine and at night, there was plenty of life in Montreal. There was also some time to enjoy the bountiful pre-Christmas sales. Most importantly, by talking to other engineering students across the country, the UW delegates gained a perspective of WiE activities on other campuses and the issues they all try to tackle. Look out for new and improved WiE initiatives at UW in the future!
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