Engineering students showcase projects
Engineering tech program provides hands-on learning for in-demand field
Students from the engineering technologies program at John Abbott College in Ste-Anne-deBellevue recently showed off their work projects, and their creativity. The showcase had the feel of a science fair, with students proudly displaying subject material near and dear to them in the atrium of the Anne-Marie Edward Science Building Iaonnis Bakopanos and François Vachon, two 19-year-old students from Pointe-Claire, built an eye-catching soccer goal-scoring machine made from a system of levers and pulleys that delivered a perfectly struck marble into a miniature soccer goal. “It’s original but useless,” Bakopanos said with a laugh. “We were given the task to make a machine using three simple machines. Everybody was rolling a marble down the hill and we just started drawing at random, upwards and sideways. We came up with this. “We were told to do something, but nobody ever mentioned fun. We’re just taking everyday simple machines and integrating the fun aspect to it.” Bakopanos said the creative process is an important part of the engineering technologies career program at JAC. “Our program is the fun part of school. Our program is more hands-on than others. So everything we learn, we’re going to apply it eventually, which is really cool.” Students are also graded on their projects and must present them in class. “When we showed it to our teacher, she usually takes things seriously,” Bakopanos said. “But when we shot the soccer ball, we both screamed, ‘Goal!’ and she almost cried of laughter.” Vachon said the three-year engineering technologies program at Abbott is “like engineering but it’s a lot of hands-on.” “You can have a job on the market as a technician or you can go on to university after,” he added. Science technology teacher Hana Chammas said the annual science showcase is a popular part of the course for third-year students. “The students enjoy this class the most. First, they get to apply everything they learned throughout the three years and also they do a project that is personal to them. One student did a DJ console. That’s his passion: music.” She said the engineering technology program adequately prepares students for employment after CEGEP. “It’s a career program so they have the diploma to work right away. Most of them do,” she said. “What’s nice about these students is when they go into the field or on to university, they’ve built some practical experience,” Chammas said. “They’ve applied all of their knowledge. When they transfer to university or to the work field, they’ve seen all the troubles an engineer has to go through, design-wise, building-wise, conception-wise, cost, the importance of doing research for a project and so forth.” Chammas enjoys seeing students take pride in their work. “They’ve built this with their sweat and tears. It gives them confidence to be able to pursue a career in engineering as a technician. So it’s more valuable than just doing an exam,” she said. “It’s fun, creative and also innovative.” Chammas said many students will continue their studies at university. “Most of them end up going into mechanical engineering or electrical engineering.” Peggy Leech, a former dean of technologies at JAC, said students have options after completing the career program. “Some go on to university while they are working,” Leech said. “It gives them options, more options than just a two-year DEC (college diploma) would because they don’t just learn about things, they learn to apply it and do it as well.” Leech, who retired last year as dean of technologies after 34 years, including 25 as a teacher, said the science technology program at JAC gets students out of their seats. “Some students have a really hard time, especially when they get to a certain age, of sitting still. They’re smart kids but it doesn’t work that way. They have to be able to do things. So a program like this gives them a chance to do it, to learn and to make mistakes and to learn from them. “These courses not only give them the technical things they’re doing, but the planning, the timelines, and the project management experience,” she said. Leech was there when the program started at Abbott in 1986. “It was called energy technology then. There still is an energy component, but it’s broader. So it’s engineering technologies.” Employment opportunities are excellent, Leech added. “There are usually more jobs than there are students.” Asked what she missed most about JAC, Leech said: “I miss being with the students and the contact with the students.”