Position in Context
Positionality
As a first-year engineering student, I am many things. I am a lecture attender, a peer to classmates, a club member, a student-athlete, and a researcher. Yet, when I strip away the titles associated with these activates that I too often claim as my identity, I find that I am simply a young individual full of potential.
Given this simple positionality, I approach engineering design in a unique way. I see the engineering design process as a tool; a tool that can be leveraged like any other professional skill. The engineering design process is something tangible, that I can study and apply in pursuit of realizing my potential and improving the world around me.
Values
The values I care deeply about as a person, and an engineering designer, are:
- The positive impact I have on others
- Holding myself to high standards of integrity
- A continued effort to keep learning
During my first year in the Engineering Science program @ UofT, it has become apparent that I can adapt and apply the engineering design process in such a way that honours these values. In this design portfolio, I will show you how my personal values have affected my past & future design products.
Biases
Like everyone, my lived experiences have shaped how I perceive the world around me. Fair engineering design requires recognizing one’s biases and making attempts to mitigate possible negative consequences. I have recognized several personal biases that have, and will, affect the way I conduct engineering design.
- Social Bias – I grew up as a boy in the GTA. Although I am not the only one, my social experiences are shared by a sliver of the world population. I have learned that engineering design requires humility and objectivity when considering all perspectives.
- Realist Bias – The way I was raised, and the activities I grew up participating in, taught me to view things through the lens of a realist. When making decisions, I have a tendency to go with what is trusted and familiar.
- Overconfidence Bias – As an eager engineering student, at times I feel as though I know it all. Overconfidence must be managed as it can de-rail impactful engineering design.
Skills & Abilities
I consider myself to be a well-rounded person. I am a strong learner, who is capable of developing a suite of technical skills, as well as a naturally gifted communicator and leader. I have worked on several technology-focused projects that have medaled at national science fairs, but I have also managed teams/clubs and participated in communication-based competitions.
Specific to engineering design, my soft skills have been very useful when working on long term projects like the culminative Praxis I & Praxis II assignments. I have been fortunate to take on leadership roles in both of these projects, applying past experience to support my team members. It has also been helpful that I have a solid understanding of programming, CAD modelling, and prototyping/m.
Strengths & Weaknesses
As previously mentioned, I am a generally well-rounded person. I typically perform well under pressure and am a reliable teammate. That being said, I have several areas of weakness, and have developed strategies to mitigate the consequence of said weaknesses.
- Feedback Acceptance – At times, I find it difficult to accept and apply feedback from others if I have dedicated significant time and energy to a project. A simple strategy I have started using is to implement a buffer time between hearing feedback and applying it. For example, after a conversation about making changes to a prototype I built, I will wait 24 hours before making a decision.
- Biases – As outlined above, I have identified several biases that affect the way I conduct engineering design. To mitigate the consequences of these biases, I utilize a wide variety of engineering design tools, models, and frameworks that base my decisions in objectivity.