McMaster Engineering DIY tour

On the first floor, you will find The Drain. This student volunteer-run hub acts as a student store and help desk. Students can buy engineering swag, social events and networking event tickets from the Drain. You can also access the Hatch Buildspace & Garage from the main floor. 

The second floor is home to The Junction, an open concept space for studying and socializing, but often used for various events such as co-op-focused industry nights, video game tournaments, or even academic help sessions

On the third floor of this building, we have some of our student service offices, Academic Advising and the Centre for Career Growth and Experience (the Centre). The office is broken down into two sections. On the left, you have access to engineering co-op resources, and on the right is the Academic Advising office.

1. The Centre for Career Growth and Experience (the Centre):

Co-op is available to all of our four programs – optional for CompSci, Eng & iBioMed, and mandatory for BTech students. If you were interested in co-op and wanted to obtain your co-op designation, you would need to complete a minimum of 12 months of relevant work experience prior to graduating. Our co-op program is considered flexible in terms of when and for how long you take your co-op positions – you can take 4,8-,12- or 16-month long co-op positions for when it makes sense for you. 

The Centre is readily available to provide support and guidance for every step in the job application process. During your first year you’ll complete an “Intro to Co-op” course which teaches you all about how to boost and manage your resume, how to write a cover letter, what employers are looking for in interviews, what industries are available for our students and how they can tailor their background towards that future. Similarly, the office also offers resume & cover letter critiques, mock interviews, and career-building workshops and manage a job board only accessible to our students. The Centre also hosts over 100 events annually on-campus and virtually giving you the opportunity to engage, network and find your potential future employer.

2. Academic Advising office:

Academic Advising is like high school guidance counsellors. They can help you with course enrolment and the selection of any academic-based goal like a minor or certain specialization in your upper years. If you ever require tutoring or extra help with anything, they have those kinds of resources available as well. We highly recommend you to connect with our academic advisors throughout your time in school – the better they know you, the better advice they can provide – and not just go there in moments of panic or crisis.

This is a graduate-level lab run by the electrical and computer engineering department. A recent project from this space was called the “Octo-Drone” – this project works to make the drone autonomously aware of its location and any of its surroundings with the help of the red sensors placed in the ceilings. Another project (the more cubic-shaped drone) is meant to be multi-directional in flight. Most drones only fly up and down and ‘wobble’ to go in any given direction. This drone has 8 propellers oriented in different directions; this allows it to fly in very precise movements without losing propulsion. 

A collaborative lab used by psychology and software engineering/computer science. Our students program the simulator to recreate the experience of driving, flying, falling (etc.) and the psychology students equip participants with EEG readers to measure their brain activity and how they’re responding to the simulation. 

Equipped with oscilloscopes, various components for breadboards, and computers with design software loaded, this lab allows students to learn all about how electrical components work in circuitry and larger industrial systems.

The Bachelor of Technology students are the only undergraduates on campus who complete training for the biohazard level 2 labs. This lab highlights the type of work and experiments done by upper-year Biotechnology students.

This space has been made with industry standards in mind. It is meant to function as a full assembly line so that graduating students can complete their cumulative projects all in one space. Equipped with robots to manufacture certain items, conveyor lines to simulate the movement of these parts, a sorting robot at the end of the line, and quality assurance tools to inspect the products after completion this space encapsulates all aspects of modern-day technology-driven product assembly.

While some students in the first year will use it for typical physics labs with a pendulum swinging or basic reactions, upper-year students utilize the tables spread out around the room to act as moveable enclosures for automation systems.

One of only four elliptical labs in North America. The elliptical design encourages greater engagement between teachers and students. The lab (Room 118/B104) will be used for teaching engineering design and graphics, and engineering computation. 

This room is elliptically shaped, which allows sound to travel at the same volume no matter where you are in the room – great for being able to hear the instructor. Each student also has two monitors; one for their work and one which is a projection of the professor’s/TA’s computer as they teach the lesson so students can follow along.