Welcome to Indigenous Futures in Engineering, Queen's University
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Lydia Brant
Nation:
Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte
School attending:
Program of study:
Mechanical
Graduation:
2017
When I first heard about engineering:
I first heard about engineering in high school because I had shown interest to my teachers about wanting to use my knowledge to build physical products. I had a great passion to want to develop models that I could move and use, and my teachers told me that in engineering I would be able to apply my science and math skills to create these models.
Why I chose my school and program:
I chose to attend Queen's University for a huge number of reasons! The Queen's community has a spirit unlike any other university and I absolutely loved that everyone was so passionate about the school. There's a community feel on campus, and specifically within engineering, where students help each other and I wanted to be a part of this collaborative community. Lastly, the Indigenous support system is incredible and I have always felt at home at Queen's and at the Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre.
I chose to study mechanical engineering because it is an extremely broad program with paths into almost every industry in the world. In mechanical engineering, I can also apply my skills directly into products and devices, for example, we use 3D printers in many classes to build models which help us learn how to design.
What I like most about engineering:
My favourite part about engineering is the collaborative mindset. Within school, students work on many group projects with other engineering students and sometimes with students outside of engineering. On these group projects, you learn that being an engineer includes working well with teams and groups of people. Even outside of school, in industry, many engineers work on projects with multi-disciplinary teams ranging hugely in size and engineers need to be effective team workers and managers.
Where you will find me outside of classes:
Outside of class you could find me spending time with my friends playing trivia, or you could often find me at the athletics and recreation centre (ARC). Being involved in recreational classes or athletic intramurals was a great way for me to de-stress during midterms and finals.
My inspiration:
My biggest inspiration has always been my parents. They have continuously encouraged me to pursue my passions and to not be afraid to try something new. My parents are role models to me and their hard work and dedicated has inspired me to work as hard as I can in school so that I can be successful and help people around the world.
2019 Update
Lydia graduated from Queen's in 2017, and currently works as an Engineer-in-Training at Shell Calgary, Alberta.