Winter 2018 Presidential, Vice Presidential and WEEF Director Candidates

Presidential Candidate

Mariko Shimoda

I am a smol gal with big ideas and I want to be your President! I have previously served as the Vice President of Student Life and the First Year Commissioner, and have experience in many areas of the Waterloo community. As your President, I promise to do my best to make Waterloo Engineering more fun, supportive, inclusive, and something we can all be proud to be a part of. I will look to involve more of the Waterloo community by creating initiatives that are relevant to more people. I will support diversity initiatives to allow minority groups to become more prevalent in the community. I will advocate for students receiving more timely mental health care, and improving the quality of life for engineering students. Vote Mariko for a better time at Waterloo!

VP Finance Candidate

Michelle Teplitski

Hey everybody! I’m Michelle and I’m running to be your next VP Finance!

A bit about me: I was involved in EngSoc last term as class rep, volunteered at EngSoc events, and was a part of the sponsorship committee. Through those experiences, I learned a lot about how budgets are managed, and I would love to have a bigger role in the Engineering Society to help continue its amazing work for Undergraduate students!

The previous VP Finances have done some incredible work in terms of planning for the future, and I plan on helping them implement those ideas. First off, I’d like the transition of Rigidware from CPH to E7 to run as smoothly as possible, so that Rigidware becomes greater than ever! I’d also like to bring more hype towards Novelties, because it’s awesome!! Lastly, I’d like to continue planning for licensed events, because upper years are awesome and deserve appreciation!!

Overall, you (as an engineering undergrad) are incredible and amazing, and I’d love to be a part of making your university experience better as a whole!!

VP Communications Candidate

Andrew Dawson

My name is Andrew Dawson and I am currently enrolled in my 3A term of mechanical engineering here at the University of Waterloo. I am a candidate for the VP Communications role within the Waterloo Engineering Society election.  My goal for becoming VP Comm is to strengthen the culture and community within the engineering student body by means of improved advertising, student outreach initiatives, and increased awareness of organizational information.

Since starting university, I’ve been very passionate about getting involved and learning more about the culture within engineering. By becoming more involved, through conferences and assumed positions, I began learning about myself, and how I can make a difference in our community. I feel that as engineering students, we should all feel inclined to expand our experiences beyond the classroom to build up a sense of pride and community in our profession.

I’ve personally seen and experienced the impact of the engineering community; however, many students don’t often get to have these opportunities due to a lack of information or poor communication. I plan on taking a personal approach to communication by improving awareness for what EngSoc does and what we can do to accurately represent our students.

VP Academic Candidates

Jackson Barr

Hi, my name is Jackson Barr! I am an Electrical Engineering student in 2A running for the position of VP Academic. You should elect me to this position for my strong sense of duty to the engineering students of Waterloo and unwavering commitment to making our time here as positive as possible. I promise to promote the interests of engineering students and petition hard for more robust mental health services! Thank you!

Thomas Dedinsky

I’m Thomas Dedinsky, 2A Computer Engineering, and I am running for VP Academic for the Engineering Society ‘A’. My main goals are to work towards improving WaterlooWorks, Coop, professional development services, student services, and the academic experience as a whole. I also aim to properly represent Engineering students as a whole as well as keeping them informed in relevant matters. In the past I have acted as an Advertising Commissioner, Exam Bank Director, Secretary, and more for EngSoc. I hope you vote for me to represent you come January 27th.

My platform includes:

  • Working towards improving WaterlooWorks based on evaluating the feedback from the WW survey last term and current feedback
  • Keeping Engineering students informed as Co-op 2.0 is fully implemented
  • Pursuing the investigation of whether a strong professor-society relationship with the exam bank would benefit it
  • Representing Engineering students well while sitting on various committees
  • Maintaining and improve the quality/quantity of informative and interactive workshops the society provides
  • Continuing to support the growth and positive effects of Engineering MATES
  • Investigating the satisfaction of the recently implemented orientation week/fall study days split
  • Acting as a liaison between Engineering students and the faculty for relevant academic and co-op matters

VP Student Life Candidates

Emma Swarney

Hello! My name is Emma Swarney, I’m in 2A SYDE and I’m running for VP Student Life.

I have a passion for people and inclusivity and believe that EngSoc events should reflect the interests and needs of our student population as accurately as possible. If I were to be elected VP Student Life, I would like to implement methods to understand who is not currently participating in EngSoc events, and how we could modify existing events (or create entirely new ones) to engage that missing population. Yes, I’m talking about DATA DRIVEN decision making! EngSoc is for everyone, so even if you don’t identify as an “EngSoc person” I promise to work to create events, informed by actual statistics, that will directly benefit you. I’m here to improve the life of all students…it’s in the title!

Additionally, I have a reputation for reliability, approachability and enthusiasm from my current and previous roles within EngSoc. I’m the Outreach Commissioner this term, so I have lots of experience with communicating between the Engineering student population, Directors, EngSoc Executives, faculty members etc.., which I plan to leverage to create change from day one.

William Losin

Q&A
Q: “Who is that good-looking fellow upon this wall?”
A: Firstly, I’m flattered! Secondly, I’m the guy who made the duct tape “Ridgid” Tool, and I am running for VP Student Life.
Q: “Why should I care about VP Student Life?”
A: Are you a Student? Are you alive? THEN LISTEN UP! You know those science students? No? What about the math students? Still no? Why is that? You always see events such as Engplay and Taleng, but inter-faculty events are as rare as someone knowing what Systems Engineering is. If I get elected, I will collaborate with the student societies across campus to organize events that will bring students from every discipline together, creating a stronger bond between Waterloo’s students and their societies.
Q: “*walks past poster without reading it*”
A: *Goes home and cries*
Q: “What about me? I’ve got good ideas for events too!”
A: Perfect! The greatest part about being a part of a student society is it represents the voice of the people. I will be 100% open to new ideas, and I will make a pretty little box for any ideas you have for events that you want to see in the future.

WEEF Director Candidate

Zemann Sheen

Hi, my name is Zemann and I am running to be your WEEF Director! I have a deep interest in hackathons, swimming, tennis, 3D printing, and AI. I have been a part of the WEEF since 1A and currently sit on the WEEF Board of Directors. As a fellow student, I will to do as much as I can with the resources at WEEF to benefit all engineers in Waterloo. I will continue to improve the educational environment for all undergraduate engineering students and maintain our outstanding reputation here at Waterloo. Vote on Jan 27 – Jan 31, to invest in your future! Vote for Zemann for your WEEF Director.