Salma Abdelghaffar is a Level V iBioMed student and participant of the MacChangers program since 2020. In her thank you story, she shares the impact Magna International has made on the MacChangers program and on her student experience.
With Magna’s generous gift, the MacChangers Program has been able to engage even more students with meaningful experiential learning opportunities.
I was a student in the program in 2020 and have been fortunate enough to work as part of the Teaching Team for both the 2021 and 2022 academic years. Magna’s gift has supported the expansion of MacChangers to nearly 300 participants this year and enabled us to grow our team of mentors, ensuring that all participants receive exceptional support.
In this year’s program, there are four themes of challenges that students are working on. One of our themes is Infrastructure and Built Environment, with a goal of accessible, sustainable, and safe transportation within the Hamilton community.
In line with Magna’s goal of innovative mobility solutions, our students engage in experiential learning by tackling authentic challenges alongside members of our community, such as Green Venture and Hamilton BikeShare, culminating in innovative solutions to complex problems. Along the way, students learn to be agile and pivot in the face of challenges that are unlike anything experienced in a classroom.
Our students will also be developing their professional skills over the course of the program, such as active listening, critical thinking, decision-making, and their ability to communicate effectively. The program is structured explicitly to develop these skills and better prepare students for careers in industry, such as those offered by Magna to our graduates.
We work thoughtfully to ensure that graduates of our program hit the ground running as impactful additions to the teams of industry leaders.
Magna International is a global mobility technology company dedicated to delivering innovative mobility solutions and creating a better world of mobility, responsibly.
Magna International’s gift of $100,000 to The Pivot: Preparing Young Engineers for the Future is supporting the redesign of engineering education into a rich experiential learning opportunity that prepares students to be flexible in a rapidly changing world and meet challenges not yet imagined.
Magna International is an employer of choice for Faculty of Engineering students from programs such as Materials Engineering, Automotive & Vehicle Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering, and Mechatronics Engineering. Students find transformative co-op and career opportunities in mobility technology at Magna by developing innovative systems, concepts and technologies that make vehicles safer and cleaner.
