Celebrating our Inclusive Community
Engineering is a human discipline. Diversity deepens the engineering process: more voices around the table enable better solutions that work for everyone. We are committed to enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion across our faculty and within our profession, so that we can fully reflect the societies that we serve.
We also work to broaden the experience of our students by ensuring that they can explore their interests and pursue their passions in tandem with their engineering studies.
Taking action on violence against women
On December 6, a memorial ceremony featured an interactive sculpture designed and built by U of T Engineering students to honour the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
“We can’t change the events of what happened at École Polytechnique, but we can change how we act and move forward,” says Isobel Arseneau (Year 3 EngSci).
In addition to the sculpture and associated ceremony held at U of T Engineering, the day was also marked by students, faculty, staff, librarians and alumni from across U of T’s three campuses with an event held at Hart House.
Powering positive change
U of T Engineering is committed to supporting students with the resources they need to thrive. Help students build resilience through mental wellness with a gift that increases access to counselling, recreation and financial support.
Inspiring more Indigenous students to choose engineering
When it came time for Mitchell Souliere-Lamb (MechE 2T4 + PEY) to apply to university, he thought of his mother and grandmother.
“That side of my family is Ojibwe, from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory,” he says. “My grandmother was the first in her family to go to university, and she studied at U of T, as did my mother after her. They made sure I understood how important higher education is.”
Souliere-Lamb went on to join the U of T chapter of Engineers Without Borders as the Indigenous Reconciliation co-lead and created U of T’s first local chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.
“There are a lot of cultural clubs within Engineering, but [until this year] there weren’t any Indigenous ones, because there are so few of us,” he says.
“I realized if it was something I wanted to see happen, I would have to get involved myself.”
“It’s easy to get lost during final exam season, and also, as a woman, to feel othered in this program. I felt like that in my first year, in part because I didn’t have a community like this: a group of people, mostly women, who are coming together to bring about change. I think that’s what drew me to it.”
– Isobel Arseneau (Year 3 EngSci)
EDI in action at CSChE 2024
Last fall, U of T hosted the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) 2024 conference. The conference included a unique session titled: Celebrating Minorities and Women Leaders in Science and Engineering: In Memoriam of Jane Phillips.
“Having [identity] be front and centre is a big change from how these types of sessions normally run,” says Marisa Sterling, P.Eng., Assistant Dean & Director, Diversity, Inclusion and Professionalism at U of T Engineering.
“I hope it can be an example that other departments or technical societies can look to in terms of how to evolve their own activities.”
Fostering diversity in graduate studies
The Indigenous and Black Engineering and Technology (IBET) Momentum Fellowship program provides mentorship, training and networking opportunities to promising graduate students.
Two students were awarded 2024 IBET Momentum Fellowships:
- Kejah Bascon (MIE PhD student) aims to apply human factors and mechanical engineering principles to enhance robotic surgical tools.
- Olanrewaju Adetunji (ChemE PhD student) will focus on optimizing upstream bioprocessing and metabolic engineering of microorganisms to produce value-added products.
QueerSphere Grad: Supporting LGBTQ+ students
Over the past few years, U of T Engineering graduate students including Jay Gordon (CivMin PhD student) have created and grown a new on-campus group: QueerSphere Grad.
It builds on the success of QueerSphere, a club started by undergraduate students over a decade ago. Both groups aim to get people in STEM disciplines involved in and aware of the LGBTQ+ community, and to make engineering at U of T a more welcoming and inclusive place for all.
Advancing inclusivity, mental health and professional growth
On March 13, U of T Engineering students were celebrated for their leadership and service to the university
The University of Toronto Student Leadership Awards (UTSLA) recognized their contributions to student clubs and design teams — in particular, fostering inclusivity through outreach activities and events and advocating for students by strengthening support systems for academic success, mental health and sexual violence prevention.
Awards & Honours
In 2024, U of T Engineering professors represented 5.7% of all Canadian engineering professors, but earned 11.7% of the national and international awards for which these faculty members are eligible.
Milica Radisic (BME, ChemE) —
John C. Polanyi Award and Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Javad Mostaghimi (MIE) —
Fellow, National Academy of Inventors
Alison McGuigan (ChemE, BME) —
Arthur B. MacDonald Fellowship
Jonathan Rose (ECE) —
Order of Canada
Paul Young (CivMin) —
King Charles III Coronation Medal and Fellow, American Rock Mechanics Association