What started as hundreds of responses completing the phrase “My role as an engineer
is to…” has now been transformed into a 10' by 10' banner in the Engineering
Technology Building.

Dozens of engineering students, members of Engineers Without Borders, faculty
and staff gathered in the main hallway of ETB Friday to unveil the banner. The event
marked the culmination of a project started last September as part of the “Root Causes
of Poverty” workshop given by Engineers Without Borders members as part of the first-
year Introduction to Professional Engineering course.

During the workshop, students were asked to write about what they thought their
role as engineer was. Their responses were entered into an online word-cloud program
and dozens of common words were neatly summarized in the shape of the Faculty's
fireball logo.

“I believe engineering students at all levels as well as professional engineers can
connect with and relate to this image. It is a visual representation of what the next
generation of engineers' role in society can be,” said Erica Barnes, past president of
Engineers Without Borders at McMaster. “This is an excellent example of what can be
achieved when the Faculty of Engineering and Engineers Without Borders collaborate to
achieve a common vision.”

Material presented in the Engineers Without Borders workshop encourages
students to think about engineering from a big-picture perspective and to consider
how their decisions affect people and their communities, whether in a developing
country or in Canada.

It is one of several innovative initiatives developed by McMaster's chapter of the
organization which led to it recently being named Chapter of the Year.