HOW IT BEGAN
The Guelph Engineering Leadership program was launched in 2020, with the motivation to educate and empower students in leadership and to provide leadership opportunities to all interested students. Catherine Dang, a 4th year engineering student at the time, was extensively involved in student leadership and the Engineering Society throughout her undergraduate education. Catherine said she “felt very lucky to have so many opportunities and believed that engineering could only be at its best and most impactful with good, foundational leadership.”
Based on her experience, Catherine did not like the narrow definition of leadership that seemed to be prevalent, observing that “if you weren’t extroverted and loved speaking in front of crowds, people would question your leadership capabilities.” This view highlighted only one type of leader and that leadership opportunities were not always accessible, inclusive, or even attractive to all types of students. Catherine’s main goal at the end of the day was to paint a more inclusive image of leadership. Instead of being exclusive to charismatic presenters with impressive titles, leadership is about having a good set of core values and knowing how to effectively mobilize them.
At the same time, Professor John Donald had established a graduate level course in Engineering Leadership and was looking for opportunities to provide broadly accessible leadership learning experiences to undergraduate students. The idea that emerged was to create a co-curricular engineering leadership program in the School of Engineering. Working with interested students and with the support of the School, Catherine and Professor Donald were able to launch the Guelph Engineering Leadership (GEL) program in September 2020.
CORE PRINCIPLES
1. Broadly Accessible
- The GEL Program is available to every student at any level of student leadership.
2. Student Driven
- Our work values and facilitates peer-to-peer connections with emphasis on student-led initiatives.
3. Growth Mindset
- Our work inspires and develops the mindset to value personal and professional growth equally.
4. Promote Non-Technical Skills
- Our work promotes the graduate attributes of Communication Skills, Professionalism, Ethics and Equity, Individual and Teamwork, and Impact of Engineering on Society and the Environment.
5. Fostering Leadership
- Our work promotes engagement in leadership opportunities outside of the GEL community. Establish the mindset that Engineering is a leadership profession.
6. Interdisciplinary Collaboration
- Develop partnerships external to GEL that align with the program values and mission by offering students the opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
The engineering leadership workshops are designed, developed, delivered, and facilitated by Guelph Engineering students. GEL offers 6 co-curricular workshops over the fall and winter semesters, and successful completion of the program leads to a certificate of participation from the School of Engineering (SOE). The program has a unique structure that highly engages students as both leaders and participants at three levels. First in coordinating and delivering the program, second in participation as facilitators of the workshop, and third, as participants in the workshops themselves. The intent is for engineering students to begin to identify engineering as leadership profession. The leadership topics are contextualized to engineering and span the leadership domains of self, team, organization, and society.
y to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration. These partnerships were well-received as students enjoyed the opportunity to network outside of the School of Engineering. In addition to that, the GEL team also connected, in the form of interviews, with Guelph engineering alumni that were currently working in STEM related professions and at various stages of their career to gain valuable insights on leadership.
The 2021-2022 program was highly successful, with approximately 200 students from across all years and engineering programs participating in at least one workshop, and over 100 students completing the program and receiving certificates.
2022-2023 GEL YEAR 3
In 2022-2023, the GEL program continued with the development and delivery of 6 new workshops. New collaborations extended beyond the School of Engineering to include students from the University of Waterloo and the University of Manitoba.
The workshops that were delivered in the 2022-23 offering of GEL are as follows:
1. Exploring Personal Goals and Values
2. Technological Stewardship
3. Giving and Receiving Feedback
4. Social Justice and EDI
5. Followership
6. Leadathon 2023: Weaving Indigenous Ways of Knowing into the Canadian Engineering Grand Challenges
- In collaboration with the University of Manitoba and the University of Waterloo.
7. GEL Closing Workshop 2022-23
YEAR 2 TESTIMONIALS
“It’s really important to sit back and listen to those around you. What you may think is the truth may not be someone else’s truth since they were taught a different way. By decentering yourself and listening to others and their views/opinions/knowledge of things you can broaden your view and grow as a person.”
5th Year Mechanical Engineering Student
“I learned that everyone has skills to share, and it is important to be able to clearly and confidently market yourself. There are strategies you can take (such as using the STAR method) to help you achieve these goals. I will apply this in my life by taking steps to recognize the value of my contributions and thinking about them using the STAR approach to explain this value to others.”
4th Year Environmental Engineering Student
ADDITIONAL EVENTS
LEADATHON 2023:
On March 25th, 2023, the University of Guelph, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Manitoba hosted an engineering Leadathon. The purpose of the Leadathon was to:
1. Learn about Indigenous Ways of Knowing in the field of Engineering.
2. Build awareness around Canadian Engineering Grand Challenges (CEGCs).
3. Utilize the new perspectives learned to reframe issues surrounding the CEGCs.
The student teams participating in the Leadathon were tasked with applying their newfound knowledge on the topics of “Relationship with the Land”, “Relationship with the Community”, and “Creation” via the Canadian Engineering Grand Challenges. Teams had an hour and a half to create, finalize and submit a slide containing a case study, analysed with the intent of mixing both Western and Indigenous knowledge. They focused on creating relevant, creative, and realistic solutions and goals to address a selected CEGC while keeping design and communication in mind for their submission. All teams prepared engaging presentations with well structured goals and solutions, impressing the judges with their creativity and innovation.
CONTACT US
Website: www.gel.uoguelph.ca
Instagram: @gel.uog
LinkedIn: Guelph Engineering Leadership Program
Email: gelinfo@uoguelph.ca