# Engineering Student Stories Environment & Infrastructure Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMNxSJdYETo Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/bMNxSJdYETo Generated: 2025-12-01T22:04:01.72+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Four University of Waterloo engineering students—Rodaina (Architectural), Lakmi (Civil), Raella (Geological), and Cody (Environmental)—shared detailed experiences regarding their specialized programs, emphasizing the focus areas, co-op opportunities, field work, and common misconceptions associated with engineering disciplines centered around environment and infrastructure. **Key Points:** - Architectural Engineering is described as a focus on buildings, combining aspects of architecture and civil engineering, with specializations available in building systems or building structures, requiring a studio course every semester. - Civil Engineering is broad, covering public infrastructure from skyscrapers to sewers, allowing specialization in structural, transit, geotechnical, water, or construction management, with Lakmi pursuing a diploma in sustainability alongside. - Geological Engineering blends civil engineering and earth sciences, featuring heavy lab-based courses like mineralogy and structural geology, and boasts frequent field trips, including an overnight trip to Bancroft and a future field course in Vietnam. - Environmental Engineering focuses on large-scale applications combining math, chemistry, physics, and biology, with Cody highlighting courses on water, air quality, and contaminant transport, noting that the program now leans more towards energy and sustainable cities. - A common misconception is that Architectural Engineering students must be good drawers; Rodaina clarified that while creativity is high, drawing skill is not a prerequisite, and no portfolio is needed for that specific engineering program. - All students stressed the value of co-op experiences, with Raella highlighting a memorable fly-in/fly-out field technician job at a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories that allowed two weeks off for every two weeks worked. - Cody advised prospective students to look at upper-year courses to gauge interest, noting that fundamental high school math, like y=mx+b, forms the core of complex modeling in Environmental Engineering. **Context:** The video features an undergraduate recruitment webinar hosted by Abby, the Undergraduate Recruitment Specialist for the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo, which opened with a territorial acknowledgement. The primary focus was on sharing stories from four current engineering students—Rodaina (Architectural), Lakmi (Civil), Raella (Geological), and Cody (Environmental)—to inform prospective students about engineering programs centered around environment and infrastructure topics, covering coursework, experiences, and career paths. ## Detailed Analysis The webinar provided in-depth looks at four distinct engineering programs. Rodaina explained that Architectural Engineering is highly building-focused, covering structural systems (bones), building systems (organs), and building science (skin), noting her exchange in Denmark and her co-op experiences, including one focused on embodied carbon, leading her to specialize in structural systems. Lakmi detailed Civil Engineering's breadth across infrastructure, mentioning enjoyable courses like CIVE 230 (sustainability) and diverse co-ops ranging from QEW highway construction coordination to structural calculations for Toronto high-rises, advising prospective students to research upper-year courses. Raella described Geological Engineering as a mix of civil engineering and earth sciences, emphasizing its field-oriented nature, field courses, and career opportunities in mining, geothermal energy, and consulting, while noting the program involves rigorous math like Calculus 3. Cody discussed Environmental Engineering, which combines all sciences with math to address daily needs like clean water and air quality, noting his capstone project involves using algae for carbon capture and highlighting his work on dam breach analysis and flood mapping research, while emphasizing that the program often applies core math concepts in applied modeling scenarios. ### Program Focus - Architectural Engineering focuses strictly on buildings and requires studio courses every semester - Civil Engineering is broad, covering all public infrastructure including transit and water systems - Geological Engineering mixes civil engineering with earth sciences, heavily featuring field work and earth science courses - Environmental Engineering applies math, chemistry, physics, and biology to water, air quality, and modeling. ### Student Experiences & Highlights - Rodaina backpacked Europe on exchange and was named a Canadian Arab 30 under 30 - Lakmi pursued a sustainability diploma alongside civil engineering due to interest sparked in a course - Raella enjoyed a remote field technician co-op at a diamond mine with a two-weeks-on/two-weeks-off schedule - Cody has been involved in dam breach analysis projects and flood mapping research for NRCan. ### Coursework and Skills - Architectural Engineering covers Finite Element Analysis and Building Energy Analysis, utilizing software like Revit and Rhino - Civil Engineering utilizes AutoCAD and Civil 3D heavily, with mandatory fundamentals courses like CIVE 100 - Geological Engineering requires AutoCAD and specialized software like Deswik and Vulcan, focusing on structural geology and mineralogy - Environmental Engineering involves significant modeling using coding and hands-on lab work like red dye tracking in rivers for pollution studies. ### Misconceptions Addressed - Architectural Engineering does not require strong drawing skills, despite the name - Civil Engineering is not solely about buildings but encompasses all infrastructure - Geological Engineering is not easy and involves hard math courses like Calculus 3 - Environmental Engineering does not primarily focus on engineering plants; it centers more on water, energy, and air quality. ### Advice for Applicants - Rodaina recommends taking as many 'side quests' as possible and going on exchange - Lakmi suggests reaching out to upper-year students for in-depth program information - Raella advises looking for co-ops outside the school job board due to high competition - Cody recommends checking upper-year courses to see if future coursework excites prospective students.