About Us
The Engineering Student Outreach Office (ESOO), created in Fall 2009, manages and administers the core outreach programs offered by the Faculty. We act as the central unit for outreach activities promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education to a wide audience. We design and deliver programs centrally, and coordinate the activities by other entities including student organizations, Faculty members, and Departments. The vast majority of outreach activities supported by ESOO are pre-university programming.
What is Pre-University Outreach?
Pre-University Outreach is a set of programs sponsored or supported by the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering that connects our current students and faculty with members of the community. In doing so, these programs aim to:
- Educate and inspire pre-university students to pursue careers in science and engineering
- Foster education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)
- Develop positive relationships between the University and the community
- Enhance the student experience for our current undergraduate and graduate students
- Recruit undergraduate students by giving them first-hand experiences of engineering education
Educating Future Engineers
The Engineering Student Outreach Office is dedicated to contributing to the development and education of both the participants in our pre-university programs and the undergraduate and graduate students whom provide instruction and support to them. ESOO wants to ensure that the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto prepares both high school students and undergraduate and graduate students to be engaged global citizens who see the impact of their action and just as importantly; inaction.
We participate in the education of future engineers in the following ways:
- We provide comprehensive training to university students that not only focuses on skill development but the need for self-development. The training offered acknowledges the importance of culture and language and those skills required to be successful in a global context.
- We offer a diverse range of pre-university programming, specifically through the da Vinci Engineering Enrichment Program (DEEP) that acknowledges the importance of cross-disciplinary work. We provide DEEP courses that demonstrate the various ways that engineering intersects with business, medicine, policy development and the environment.
Serving our Current Students
We operate on the belief that engineering students who are engaged and participate in outreach to the community are more likely to value their education and to become active, engaged engineers. We promote excellence outside of the classroom in the following ways:
- Provide students with the resources to achieve their personal outreach goals, as a team, student group or individually
- Model best practices in outreach education and aid in the understanding of what it means to connect with youth, the community and outside agencies in a professional, meaningful, intentional and thoughtful manner
Furthermore, outreach programs benefit undergraduate and graduate students involved, by strengthening their leadership, team, and communication skills as well as improving their understanding of basic principles underlying engineering. Engineering student involvement of this kind promotes the ability to teach in one’s area of expertise and gives a person the opportunity to share enthusiasm for an area of engineering. This can be an extremely valuable addition to a traditional engineering education and the impact on our students’ experience is significant.