ENGINEER 3CX3 is a great course being offered to provide students with the opportunity to earn course credit for valuable experiential learning which occurs while heavily involved in extracurricular clubs, teams, and groups. For ENG 3CX3, the student’s role and work must be non-technical in nature, as this course is meant to be the complementary elective version of the technical course for experiential credit offered already (Engineer 4EX3).

What is a non-technical role? There are too many to list here, but could be positions with the McMaster Engineering Society (MES), MacChangers, Engineers Without Borders, Women in Engineering, Engineering Musical, Sport Teams, etc. Basically, these are roles that do not involve the technical side of students’ engineering skillset (design, calculations, simulations, programming, etc.), but focus more on complementary skillsets (teamwork, project management, leadership, communications, etc.)

The course is structured to maximize the value of the skills students learn during extracurriculars, to develop additional relevant skills, and to better articulate the skills students possess going forward.  Classroom time will largely be structured in a workshop-style format, relying heavily on peer-to-peer interactions, and will focus on developing skills such as:

• leadership and management,
• Self-directed learning,
• Teamwork and conflict management,
• Communication,
• Budgeting and sponsorship, etc.

Students will choose from different deliverables that align with their goals and their extracurricular duties, allowing students to track progress throughout the year, resulting in a tangible outcome demonstrating the skills that have been developed. This is a graded complementary elective (2 terms, September-April) with 3 credits towards a student’s degree.

To learn more about this course, you can read the course outline below or reach out to the course instructor, Dr. Shelir Ebrahimi.

ENG 3CX3 Course Outline, 2022-2023

3CX3/4Ex3 enrollment form

ENGINEER 4EX3 offers course credit for their substantial technical contributions to engineering technical extracurricular teams.  As a technical elective, ENGINEER 4EX3 requires that the student’s role and work must be technical in nature.

What is a technical role? If your work is part of a design-build-test cycle, it likely qualifies. Students often are responsible for designing and fabricating components, writing and validating code or conducting analysis to support design decisions. Examples of engineering technical extracurricular teams are Mini Baja, Formula Electric, NEUDOSE, EcoCar, Concrete Toboggan, but this is far from an exhaustive list.

The course is structured to maximize the value of the technical skills students learn during extracurricular experiences, and leverage these experiences to support future career success.  Classroom time will largely be structured in a coaching-style format, relying heavily on mentorship interactions with the instructor and teaching assistants.

Students will choose a portfolio format that aligns with their future career goals. In fact, many past students have used their portfolios in co-op interviews even before the course concludes. This is a graded technical elective (2 terms, September-April) with 3 credits towards a student’s degree. The criteria for entry is at least one year of experience with their technical team.

To learn more about this course, you can read the course outline below or reach out to the course instructor, Dr. Elizabeth Hassan.

4EX3 course outline, 2022-2023

3cx3/4ex3 enrollment form