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From left: Kasra Modares (CivE 1T6), Nusrat Nowrin (ChemE 1T5), Yee Wei Foong (MSE 1T5), Michael Suppa (MEng 1T4), Pawel Chomicki (EngSci 1T4), Lamya Ezzeldin (ChemE 1T5), Scott Whitty (EngSci 1T3), Jacquelyn MacCoon (MEng 1T4), Emanuel Diomis (MEng 1T4), Jaquelyn Rodriguez (IndE 1T5), Albert Huynh (MASc 1T5), Lobna El Gammal (ChemE 1T4), Ryan Mintz (ECE 1T4).

It was a unique collaboration between prominent business leaders and U of T Engineering students, who gathered to discuss a burning question: What do engineering students think about leadership in their field?

This month, U of T’s Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering (ILead) brought together 20 senior leaders from engineering-focused companies to engage for the first time with 18 graduate and undergraduate students on their future as engineers.

The conversation between industry leaders like Colin Anderson, CEO of Ontario Power Authority, and Elaine Campbell, President of AstraZeneca Canada, and students focused on mentorship and the demand for engineers to lead multidisciplinary teams.

The message from all involved was loud and clear: leadership development cultivates better students today and better engineers in the workforce tomorrow.

“The CEOs were totally engaged and nodding their heads when students spoke; it was clear that our experiences as students mattered to them,” said Lobna El Gammal (ChemE 1T4), whose fourth-year thesis focuses on leadership and the PEY experience. “I was given a platform to say how important leadership education is to me and to learn from these accomplished business people.”

ILead Director, Professor Doug Reeve (ChemE), who hosted the event, believes that U of T Engineering’s leadership programs help to distinguish it as a centre of excellence.

“We have a bold vision for the 21st century engineer,” said Professor Reeve. “By giving students opportunities to grow in areas critical to their success, such as authentic self-leadership, team skills and organizational savvy, U of T Engineering is preparing a generation of engineers to tackle the world’s greatest challenges.”

ILead is a unique hub for leadership learning that offers academic courses, certificates and department-based programs to all U of T Engineering students.

The Institute will find its new home in the Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CEIE), a dynamic new environment that will foster creativity and inspire 21st-century learning and innovation. The CEIE is set to break ground later this year.

To view student reactions to the event, please visit the ILead YouTube channel.

Media Contact

Fahad Pinto
Communications & Media Relations Strategist
416.978.4498