For the first time, McMaster’s Department of Mechanical Engineering hosted a full-day graduate student seminar for students to gain valuable experience showcasing their research.
Twenty students focused in various areas of specialization presented their research in a conference-style setting at McMaster Innovation Park on December 5, 2024. Their peers, mentors, alumni, faculty and staff were in the audience for this now mandatory part of the graduate studies curriculum for the department. Members from the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Students’ Society helped run the event.
“The introduction of the conference-style presentations to the curriculum for our graduate students is really taking their education to the next level,” explains Andrew Gadsden, Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies in Mechanical Engineering.
In addition to providing students with hands-on experiences to lead research in state-of-the-art labs, we are shaping their communication skills so they can translate the incredible work they’re doing effectively.
In addition to delivering presentations, the graduate students had to prepare and submit an extended abstract on their research topic prior to presenting their work, mirroring the process of attending a professional conference. All participants prepared two-page extended abstracts to support their talks and were tasked with evaluating two of their peers’ abstracts. The top four abstracts received a cash prize and certificate.
Award recipients were Chi Zhang, Mercy Budu, Sanjeev Ravichandran and Hatem Soliman. The presentations were evaluated by the entire graduate student body. The top presenters also received a cash prize and certificate. The recipients of the best presentation award were Mohanad Ismail, Mercy Budu, Ethan Chariandy and Samuel Hemming.
“This event focuses in on developing critical components of research that may not be top of mind for many graduate students, and that is the ability to communicate,” says Greg Wohl, Chair of Mechanical Engineering. “Being able to write about your work in an abstract or present research findings in a clear and impactful way is a crucial element of success as an engineering. We are creating work force ready engineers who will thrive no matter where their post-graduate studies path takes them.”
Among the audience were distinguished mechanical engineering alumni Ryan Rogers ‘17 ‘19, Vice President of Corporate Development at Hamilton Community Enterprises, and Michael Bardeleben ‘96 ‘00, Director of Advanced Engineering at Dana Corp. Both shared their inspiring journeys from undergraduate to graduate school, highlighting how their academic experiences laid the groundwork for their successful careers. They emphasized how these formative years introduced them to innovative ideas and concepts that became the cornerstone of their professional expertise.
Rogers, former McMaster Engineering Society president and graduate student with Professor Jim Cotton, expressed the importance of this event for students’ learning and development.
“It is incredibly important that students get in the habit of communicating their work and advocating for their research,” Rogers says. “You can’t refine these skills unless you practice, and this event is perfect at giving the students an opportunity to do so. This change in the curriculum gives a much more holistic and experience-based education to the graduate students.”
Bardeleben echoed his support for the event as well, saying, “Engineers have a hard time in my experience trying to keep things simple, trying to speak to their audience. Events like these help the students prepare for the real-world, where they will have to present their work in time sensitive settings and be sure they get their main points across”.
The next mechanical engineering graduate student symposium is scheduled for April 2025.
Learn more about graduate studies in mechanical engineering at McMaster.
