MacChangers – Faculty of Engineering

MacChangers

What is MacChangers?

MacChangers is a year-long, co-curricular program where interdisciplinary teams of McMaster students research innovative solutions to community-identified challenges in Hamilton.

Students are placed in teams and assigned a challenge question. Throughout the year, they participate in workshops and collaborate with mentors and community partners to research, develop, and refine their ideas. Final proposals are presented at the MacChangers Project Showcase in April.

MacChangers offers hands-on, experiential learning that empowers students to tackle complex local and global issues—aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Our Future Hamilton vision.

This year's projects

The MacChangers 2024-25 program featured twenty-four teams tackling twelve challenges across four challenge areas.

Empowering Menstrual Equity with a QR-Code Operated Dispenser & Smart-App
Fei Huai Liu, Jeslyn Chow, Le Minh An Nguyen, Malak Al Musawi, Xuong Minh Thi

Mitigating Stormwater Runoff in Hamilton
Arvan Kayal, Kajanan Dayaparan, Muhammad Shuaib, Subhan Razzaq

Improving Novice Cyclist’s Safety and Comfort During Winter Months to Sustain Year-Round Bike Ridership
Pooja Murali, Kobe Li, Saqib Nadeem, Yvonne-Marie Mako

Permeable Concrete in Small-Scale Parking Lots
Ubaida Kamran, Maggie Zhou, Zoha Ali

Climate Resilient Solutions for Hamilton Bicycle Infrastructure
Kourosh Mamouri

Floating Treatment Wetlands: Plant Powered Phosphorous Reduction
Savitoj Sandhu, Charlyne Taabazuing, Marlena Ciemiega, Deea Saha

SmartCatch: A Modular Filtration System for Hamilton Harbour
Maarij Shahzad, Trisha Raj

Making Sustainability Convenient: Customized Food Ordering to Incentivize Food Waste Reduction at Bistro
Anthony Carlucci, Paul Stoica, Piranavaan Vijayalingam

Fridgie: Reducing Waste at McMaster University
Alexandra Chow, Christine Namuddu, Liliana Patru

CleanPath: Enhancing Waste Management in the Parks of Hamilton
Sebastian Rivera Alfonso, Sophia Ello, Brian Dang, Vanessa Mbakwa

Finding Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the Social Sciences
Akshita Kumar, Laiba Imtiaz, Sanusi Akintunde

Helping Hamilton’s Youth: Empowering Young Entrepreneurs Through Digital Marketing
Zanobiah Malik, Hifza Siddiqui, Nibra Yasin

Reviving Fashion: Bridging Art & Vintage
Ashnavi Assokan, Mariama Jallow, Zain Khalbous

MacMentors: Briding the Gap between Secondary and Post-Secondary Students
Vidhi Patel, Tasin Karim, Haniya Rahman, Aymann Patel

Roots in Hamilton: Proposing a Student-Led Initiative for Newcomers
Areeba Hasan, Ayesha Akhtar, Sejude Alama, Tanisha Ahamed, Wazba Faiaz, Yasmin Ahmed

Upright
Nithika Karunamoorthy, Olivia Redford, Zuhair Qureshi

PhonePals to Address Social Isolation Among Older Adults
Fatima Hameed, Bob-Shen Yan, Riyad Asgarali

Personalized Bingo Kits and Collaborative Game Nights
Christina Fodtchouk, Diane Coatrieux, Talean Ghanayem

Enhancing Resource Accessibility for Domestic Violence Survivors in Hamilton
Ayushma Neku, Fion Lee, Vidhi Patel

A Home Upgrade Catalogue for Older Adults to Age in Place
Gabriel Smith, Joseph Newman, Navneet Singh, Shekyra Hebert, Tania Kan

Breaking Barriers: Empowering Domestic Violence Survivors to Access Aid and Achieve Financial Stability
Tridib Banik

Student-Run Delivery Volunteer Program for the Aging Population
Adrian Yu, Aidan Khan, Konstantin Blinkov, Shirley Zhu, Syed Usman, Zijian Chu

LegacyLinks: Connecting Retirees with Purpose
Dania Hilfi, Yaseen Al-Saleem

Challenge Areas: 2024-2025

The MacChangers Challenge Areas are aligned with the Our Future Hamilton – Community Vision – the City of Hamlton’s 25-year community vision that helps us to envision how our city will move forward over the next 25 years. It is a result of the culmination of a community visioning process that engaged nearly 55,000 Hamilton residents.

This year we will focus on the following four challenge areas:

Statistics

  • Develop skills desired by employers

    Improve your communication, teamwork,  project management, entrepreneurship, leadership and problem-solving skills in an experiential learning environment.

  • Build connections

    Work closely with experts in the McMaster and Hamilton communities as you build your professional network.

  • Make a difference

    Propose innovative solutions to community stakeholders that could result in positive change in our community.

Our Staff

  • Jacob Krone

    Program Lead, MacChangers
    Location

    JHE 216

    Email

    kronej@mcmaster.ca

Frequently Asked Questions

MacChangers is an official McMaster program open to all students.

Students enrolled in MacChangers are eligible for a complimentary elective credit by enrolling in ENGINEER 3CX3. More information can be found on the experiential learning page.

Students are expected to attend in-person sessions on Wednesday evenings from 18:30-19:30. It is expected that students commit an average of 3 hours each week to the program from October to March.

Yes! Please ensure that you and your friend(s) each fill out an application form. Indicate the first and last names of those you wish to work with on the application form.

Attend an information session:

Wednesday, September 11th: 10:00-11:00am @ MUSC 302

Friday, September 13th: 10:00-11:00am @ MUSC 303

Monday, September 16th: 10:00-11:00am @ MUSC 302


Feel free to reach out to changers@mcmaster.ca if you have any questions.

Applications for the 2024-2025 year close on September 17th.