Fiona Sun (Year 3 IndE) caught the travel bug early.

“Even when I was in high school, I knew I wanted to do an exchange,” she says. “In fact, that’s one of the reasons I chose U of T, because I knew they had a lot of great partners all over the world.” 

Over the first few months of 2024, Sun attended Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, taking courses that counted toward the technical electives component of her degree program. 

While it took some juggling to arrange her course load appropriately, Sun says that it was worth the effort. 

“They did a really good job making sure that there were opportunities for exchange students to get to know each other,” she says. 

“I met people from Thailand, Singapore, America, Poland and lots of other European countries. I even travelled with them on the weekends. My favourite trip was to Barcelona, for the architecture, the food and the culture.”

“I also found that the teaching style in the U.K. was different from how we do things at U of T. It’s always good for us as students to try new things, whether it’s new ways of learning, new cultures or new social connections. I would definitely recommend this experience to my classmates.” 

Sun’s exchange was just one example of the many ways that U of T Engineering students gain international experience as part of their degree programs. Current students can learn more at Global Experiences Week, which takes place this year on October 2 from 1 pm to 3 pm in the Bahen Atrium. 

“U of T is a global university, with a large and diverse network of partner institutions located all over the world,” says Jennifer Banh, Experiential Learning Coordinator, Undergraduate Research & Global Opportunities at U of T Engineering. 

“Engineering students have a busy schedule, but we want them to know that there are lots of opportunities to go abroad during their degree programs, whether it’s taking courses, summer research, work placements, or other kinds of programs.” 

Another exhibitor at the Global Education Expo is the Centre for Global Engineering (CGEN). One of CGEN’s many initiatives is to coordinate international capstone design projects in partnership with NGOs or private firms with a mandate for social impact around the world. 

Similar work is done by student design clubs and teams, such Engineers in Action (EIA). Through EIA, students design and build footbridges to provides year-round access to economic opportunities and education in locations such as Bolivia, Guatemala and Eswatini. 

Many students also participate in research exchanges. For Sebastian Pigeon (Year 3 EngSci), a summer research placement in Geneva, Switzerland was a golden opportunity to combine his passions for biomedical engineering and for exploring new locales. 

“I love to travel, and Switzerland is right in the heart of Europe, with great train networks that make it easy to get around,” he says. 

“But it’s also home to some of the world’s top-ranked universities, so you have the chance to work with leading experts in your field. It’s really the best of both.” 

From May to July 2024, Pigeon worked with Professor Alexander Mathis in his Group for Computational Neuroscience & AI at Campus Biotech, a satellite campus of l’École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne located in Geneva.  

Pigeon’s project looked at how artificial intelligence might handle disturbances to the task of proprioception — the neuro-sensory system that enables humans to track the location of their limbs in physical space. 

In the future, such studies could help those with amputations deal with issues related to the phenomenon of phantom limbs, which can cause pain and other symptoms. It could also lead to innovations in virtual reality simulations, for example, by using haptic feedback to give the impression that one’s stationary limbs are in motion. 

“During the week, I got to work in a really supportive environment, with great colleagues who had deep knowledge about computational neuroscience,” says Pigeon. 

“And then on the weekends, I was able to travel to a whole bunch of cities in about a dozen different countries, from Liechtenstein to Italy. I enjoyed them all — it’s really hard for me to pick a favourite!”