On November 24, nearly 200 students attended the 6th Annual Research & Entrepreneurship Fair which occurred virtually on Hopin.
The two-hour event, run by McMaster Engineering Coop & Career Services (ECCS) in coordination with McMaster Society for Engineering Research (MacSER), gave students an opportunity to connect with start-ups and learn more about research in various engineering departments.
The fair began with MacSER’s president and vice-president Isabelle Ragany and Yasemin Al-Banna, who provided opening remarks.
“McMaster has a strong research community, and we are grateful to be planning events that help foster conversations about research,” said Ragany. “The annual fair is truly a staple in MacSER’s yearly events and Mac Eng’s research community. This year it was amazing to see all the new connections that were formed during the fair.”
Events like these take time and collaboration to put together, so we would like to thank ECCS for their continued support in assisting us to offer such a large-scale event. We are looking forward to planning many more events that help bring the McMaster Engineering community together!
John Preston, Associate Dean, Research and External Relations at McMaster, delivered a short presentation on exploring research opportunities, networking, and applying for funding.
“McMaster is the most research-intensive university in Canada and our students are a big part of that,” he said. “Our goal is to get students excited about research and provide them with the tools required to succeed in a research environment.”
The rest of the night allowed for attendees to network with four start-ups and 11 research booths through Hopin’s “Segments” feature. Attendees could jump from booth to booth on the virtual platform to explore different areas of research.
Undergraduate student researchers including, Rebecca Sikkema, who attended the event, provided general tips on how to get involved in research.
“Talk to your professors about their research. If you’re taking a really interesting course, talk to the professor to learn about the research that they are doing in their lab. It’s likely a related topic to the course. You can then ask if they have any opportunities for students to work in their lab.”
