2025

Featured Student: Anita So

Anita returned from her 10-month internship at Magna, to complete her final year of Integrated Engineering studies in 2024-25. She chose Integrated Engineering 4491B as one of her technical electives, to conduct a research with Professor Joshua Pearce:

"This undergraduate course has been an amazing opportunity to transform an idea to reality while gaining research and hands-on experience to share with others. My favourite part of research is seeing everything come together in the end and being proud of all the hard work and dedication poured into the project throughout the semester. This project resonates with me personally as my co-op experience involved using hard hats firsthand. Being an active user has fueled my passion for reimagining their design. There are also collaborative aspects where you get to work with professors and graduate students to tackle engineering challenges together. I recommend the research course if students seek to develop their practical engineering and gain experience in the full design process from concept to completion."

  • Project Goal: The continuously growing construction industry increases the demand for construction safety helmets. However, the existing designs have seen little improvements over the last decades in terms of personalization for comfort and remain difficult to recycle due to mixed material compositions.
  • Project Scope: My undergraduate research project focuses on tackling these challenges using 3D printing that allows users to customize the shape of the helmet to fit individual needs while allowing the opportunity to explore different designs and test varying helmet materials to optimize performance at a lower fabrication cost. 
  • Anticipated Outcome: Following the ANSI American National Standards for Industrial Head Protection, impact tests will be conducted on test samples to assess mechanical and structural integrity under extreme forces. Next steps will be to integrate and evaluate recycled 3D-printed materials to promote a more sustainable and circular product lifecycle.

 

Anita had completed summer research projects with the Thompson Centre faculty prior to her internship. Her work on open-source assistive device design was featured on Western news in 2023:

 

Anita is also a Student Ambassador with Western Engineering. Her answers to common questions for high school students are found here: https://www.eng.uwo.ca/future-students/your-eng-experience/student-ambassadors/2024-25/Anita-So.html

 

Featured Student: Maya Archer

We had done a mini-feature of Maya in 2023, but her leadership work has grown so much that we had to share her story! 

"I am a fourth-year Integrated Engineering student currently completing a CO-OP at a spice manufacturing company in London. There, I work on projects aimed at creating a safer environment and increasing plant production. My responsibilities include communicating with vendors, editing electrical drawings, designing parts, and collaborating with other engineers to complete these projects. In this role, I apply my integrated knowledge of systems and processes, as well as the technical skills I gained from my mechatronics and chemical engineering courses.

Outside of my internship, I stay involved in clubs and teams at Western. I am currently the VP of Finance for the Integrated Engineering Club, where I manage the club’s finances and organize funding. Recently, we took a trip to tour the Toyota manufacturing plant in Cambridge, which was an incredibly informative experience.

I am also the director of the Western Engineering Musical, which is debuting on March 15th. In this role, I work with the cast and band, ensuring they are organized and ready for the show. I make the schedule for the year, run rehearsals, book rooms, rent equipment and care for everyone’s needs.

Additionally, this year, I worked with a group of six other students to establish the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE) club at Western. This organization is particularly meaningful to me, as it focuses on providing opportunities and support for Black engineers. The club was never officially ratified by UES until this year when we took on this project. We are now working on creating a Canada chapter and preparing to host events starting next school year.

In all of the clubs I’ve joined, my primary goal has been to foster community and create a welcoming environment. The opportunity to work on teams to solve large-scale problems is what I enjoy most about engineering. I originally chose engineering because I enjoyed math and physics. However, once I came to Western, I realized that engineering offers so much more, especially the chance to serve the community and improve the lives of others. This realization confirmed that engineering is the field I want to pursue. I have particularly enjoyed my integrated engineering courses that focus on process improvement and innovation. I hope to apply what I have learned to work in my local city and address its needs."

 

Maya, along with Makena Murungi, volunteered to offer a resume workshop for first- and second-year students planning to pursue Engineering Co-op. Thank you, Maya!

March 12 event poster