Each year, EngSci’s innovative Praxis design course challenges first-year students to do one thing: improve daily life in Toronto’s diverse neighbourhoods and communities.
Students fan out across the city to identify problems and work closely with stakeholders to design engineering-based solutions to challenges as varied as growing hops for microbreweries on urban rooftops or making classrooms more accessible for students with disabilities.
Dinosaur Races: To help active kids at the ROM’s dinosaur gallery burn off steam, students designed “Dino Dash”. Children “race” different types of dinosaurs on footpads equipped with sensors to find out what kind of dinosaurs run at the speed they do. Photo by Roberta Baker – Engineering Strategic Communications
“The Praxis courses challenges our students to take what they learn in class and apply it to the real — and always much more complex — world of everyday life,” says course co-instructor Professor Jason Foster (EngSci). “For many of our students, working on high-impact projects like these helps them understand the role and responsibilities of being an engineer.”
Student teams revealed their innovative designs at the annual Praxis Showcase on April 8.