Mikael Schmidtke & Sasksham Verma

Co-VP External Relations Candidates

Saksham Verma (He/Him)

Saksham's journey within the Engineering Student Society's External Relations portfolio is one of steady progression. Beginning as a Career Fair Coordinator and later assuming the role of Career Fair Director, he pioneered the three-day career fair. Additionally, working as an academic cohort leader for engineering has provided invaluable insight into the diverse needs of the engineering student community.

Driven by a passion for aerospace, Saksham actively engages with various project groups such as UAARG and AlbertaSat. Outside of his academic and professional pursuits, he finds enjoyment in staying active through sports, experimenting with new recipes, and having a good read like Eric Weiner's 'The Geography of Bliss'

Mikael Schmidtke (He/Him/Il)

Mikael has spent the past 3 years serving as an active member of the ESS Office of External Relations, working his way from First Year & Transfer Relations Coordinator, to Director of Institutional Outreach & Director of First Year Relations, to current Co-Vice President of External Relations. 

As part of the ESS and other student groups he has spearheaded various initiatives intended towards underrepresented groups such as transfer students, neurodiverse students, french language students, and more. Driven by the desire to build a unified and accepting engineering community he has been a leading force behind renewed connections amongst discipline clubs, project groups, social mission groups, and engineering schools across Canada.

When not busy with school or extracurriculars, he likes to play guitar, write songs, and vibe with his hairless cat Oz.

Our Values

Accountability & Transparency

  • Commitment to transparent processes and accessible documentation.

  • Open communication with fellow student representatives, groups and stakeholders.

  • Fulfillment of promises while holding ourselves accountable.

  • Honest acknowledgement and disclosure of shortcomings.

Support & Collaboration

  • Fostering a sense of community belongingness.

  • Providing mentorship and support for all groups.

  • Facilitating sharing of knowledge and resources within the engineering community.

  • Strengthening external partnerships .

Student Advocacy

  • Raising awareness of issues and available resources.

  • Empowering students to voice their opinions

  • Advocating for all student bodies, regardless of population size.

  • Engaging in challenging discussions to advocate for our goals, whenever required.

  • Pursuing long-term solutions over short-term fixes.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity, and Decolonization (EDID)

  • Promoting equity and inclusivity.

  • Ensuring equal access to opportunities and resources.

  • Demonstrating empathy and respect for diverse backgrounds.

  • Celebrating the richness of diversity.

  • Accommodating a wide variety of needs at our events.

Student Group Relations

Discipline Clubs

  • Facilitating networking opportunities and collaborations with industry professionals to help build students’ career prospects and professional development.

  • Providing outreach support and resources to assist in increasing student engagement.

  • Empowering discipline clubs to maintain their autonomy by establishing recognizable boundaries with the ESS.

Engineering Student Projects

  • Increasing visibility and recognition of engineering student projects amongst the student body and external stakeholders.

  • Ensuring access to necessary resources and support to enable project teams to thrive and innovate.

  • Advocating for inclusion of project group initiatives into the university curriculum.

  • Fighting for increased project funding and permanent work spaces.

Social Mission Groups

  • Actively engaging in raising awareness of social mission groups and their initiatives within the engineering community through supporting targeted outreach efforts such as information sessions, workshops and more.

  • Pursuing and encouraging representation from individuals of diverse backgrounds.

Professional Groups

  • Fostering an understanding of professional groups among engineering students, highlighting the benefits and opportunities they offer.

  • Promoting greater participation and utilization of professional groups.

Undergraduate Relations

Inter-Faculty Relations

  • Growing connections with student associations like the Business Students Association (BSA) and Interdisciplinary Science Students’ Society (ISSS) to enhance cross-faculty interactions and support student interests.

  • Organizing joint events and initiatives to strengthen these ties and foster student interests

Inter-University Relations

  • Promoting cross-institutional learning would facilitate opportunities for students to learn from peers at other universities, fostering a culture of knowledge exchange and mutual growth.

  • Acting as a catalyst for communication between discipline groups at various schools.

  • Building a larger engineering community beyond the boundaries of our university.

    • Western Schools

    • Ontario Schools

International Student Relations

  • Partnering with international student associations to support their initiatives, promote cultural exchange and help address their challenges.

  • Advocating for the unique needs and concerns of the international student body to the faculty.

Indigenous Student Relations

  • Facilitating partnerships with indigenous student organizations to raise cultural awareness and sensitivity through supporting educational workshops, guest speakers, and more.

  • Promoting outreach efforts to rural communities to promote university education and foster stronger relationships with local Indigenous populations, thereby enhancing inclusivity and diversity on campus.

  • Advocating for dedicated spaces on campus where Indigenous students can gather, connect, and engage in cultural activities, ceremonies, and discussions.

Partnerships

Professional Relations - APEGA

Navigating the path to becoming a certified engineer can be daunting. Our focus is on maximizing professional development opportunities for our students, whether they're aiming to become EITs or seeking employment. 

By strengthening our ties and promoting the resources offered by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), we aim to provide students with a head start in acquiring the necessary skills to thrive as professional engineers.

Alumni Relations - ENGGYAC

As current engineering students, we will all become alumni someday. Building strong connections with those who have already completed their engineering degrees is invaluable for networking and personal growth.

We are committed to furthering our collaboration with the Engineering Young Alumni Council (ENGGYAC), leveraging their expertise to benefit current students and showcasing the possibilities that lie ahead for our peers.

Western Relations - WESST

While our priority is always the welfare of UAlberta engineering students, we acknowledge the benefits of fostering connections beyond our campus borders.

Strengthening our affiliation with the Western Engineering Students’ Society Team (WESST) not only facilitates networking opportunities for our students with their counterparts at other universities but also positions us as leaders within the Western Canadian engineering community.

National Relations - CFES

Our commitment to maintaining ties with the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES) ensures that our students have the opportunity to connect with peers nationwide. 

Through our membership, we pledge to amplify the voices of our students and advocate vigorously for their interests and needs. This includes using the collective voice of CFES to push for policy changes at the national level that prioritize the well-being of engineering students. However, should the CFES diverge from our students' best interests, we are prepared to act decisively.

Conferences

Conference Promotion Revamp

  • Establishing a dedicated Conferences page on the ESS website to raise awareness of available opportunities.

  • Collaborating with the Communications portfolio to create a social media platform highlighting attendees' experiences and generating interest within the engineering community.

  • Exploring new advertising methodologies to allow for a wider reach of student engagement and interest.

Advertise Third-Party Engineering Conferences

  • Communicating with discipline clubs and project groups to identify and share information about relevant third-party conferences. 

  • Promote these conferences to provide students with exposure and enhance the recognition of our engineering community at the national and international levels.

  • Facilitate access to resources and funding opportunities to support students' participation in these conferences.

Conference Procedural Reevaluation

  • Implementing a structured and detailed delegate selection procedure, built upon the current delegate selection committee, to improve fairness and streamline efficiency.

  • Replacing the current conference reporting system and exploring alternate delegate feedback processes.

  • Collaborating with  the Office of Finance to optimize conference payment & reimbursement procedures.

  • Increase delegation sizes to accommodate a broader representation of students, allowing a larger number of individuals to benefit from participation in conferences.

Career Fair

Collaborative Career Building Features

  • Utilizing Engineering Career Connections & the Career Centre more effectively to provide students with a wide range of career resources.

  • Providing dedicated interview rooms and professional headshot spaces to facilitate networking and job-seeking activities.

  • Offering on-site resume reviews and career fair workshops to help students refine their job application materials and career readiness skills.

Industry Mixer Expansion

  • Expanding industry mixers throughout the year, covering various sectors to provide students with exposure to diverse career opportunities.

  • Collaborating with other student groups to organize joint mixers, fostering interdisciplinary networking and collaboration among students interested in a variety of industries.

Diverse Representation of Engineering Fields & Disciplines

  • Promoting diversity in career options for students by increasing the presence of companies offering opportunities in underrepresented disciplines.

  • Support student groups in developing industry-specific career fairs tailored to the needs and interests of their students.

Career Fair Logistical Stability

  • Solidifying the structure of our three-day career fair to enhance the student experience and streamline the planning process.

  • Improving logistical stability, to provide students and employers with a smoother, more efficient career fair experience, ultimately increasing the value and impact of the event for all participants.

Competitions

University of Alberta Engineering Competition (UAEC) Revisions

  • Making UAEC a more inclusive event for engineering students by incorporating accessibility measures such as large text options, as part of the competition planning process.

  • Implementing revisions of rules and competition guidelines based on insights from previous competitors' experiences to enhance overall participant experience.

  • Ensuring a diverse representation in the judging roster to improve the fairness and equitable nature of the competition.

  • Streamlining the competition procedures to allow smooth replication of annual competitions.

UAEC Marketing & Public Image

  • Establishing UAEC as a staple ESS event within our engineering community by growing its brand image and public recognition.

  • Clearly articulating the connection between UAEC and prominent engineering competitions like WEC and CEC to competitors, emphasizing the event's significance and relevance.

  • Attracting greater interest and engagement for the UAEC by creating promotional videos to showcase the event in a more interactive format.

  • Boosting overall competition attendance and participation through strategic marketing tactics aimed at expanding outreach.

Supports for Discipline-Specific Engineering Competitions

  • Offering comprehensive support to engineering student bodies by providing mentorship and guidance for the organization and execution of their competitions, including the provision of a detailed competition planning document to ensure a smooth and successful event.

  • Conduct outreach initiatives to enhance student engagement and participation in these competitions, fostering a vibrant and healthy competition culture within the engineering community.

Host Inter-Faculty Case Competition(s)

  • Collaborating with other faculty associations to organize and host inter-faculty case competitions and create an enriching experience during the winter semester.

  • Aiming to facilitate professional development by providing students with exposure to real-world challenges and opportunities to hone their problem-solving and teamwork skills in a diverse setting.

Project Group Services

Project Group Community Building

  • Enhancing promotion and advertising efforts tailored specifically for qualifying and second-year students, ensuring that they are aware of the diverse opportunities available within project groups.

  • Facilitating interactions and socialization among project groups, encouraging collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

  • Providing a platform for project group members to showcase their knowledge and expertise at an industry level, enhancing recognition and engagement within the wider engineering community.

  • Helping foster collaborations between industry partners and project groups.

Project Group Advocacy 

  • Working with the Faculty Experiential Learning Team to ensure project groups receive adequate support and recognition as valuable learning experiences.

  • Highlighting the need of microcredentials obtained through project group experience to the faculty, and showcasing their value in complementing academic learning and enhancing students' skill sets.

  • Advocating for the protection and expansion of project group spaces, as well as increased funding opportunities to support their activities and initiatives.

Project Group Resource Shared Drive 

  • Collaborating with the Faculty Experiential Learning Team to further establish the Project Group Resource Shared Drive as a repository for administrative, financial, and external relations resources.

  • Creating general templates and tutorial videos for core procedural processes (e.g. budgets, transition documents) to support the continuity and efficiency of project group management.

  • Ensuring easy accessibility and regular updates to the shared drive, allowing project groups to leverage a repository of valuable resources for their needs and initiatives.

Project Group Development Workshops (PGDW)

  • Host seasonal workshops focusing on technical skills and recruitment strategies in the fall, providing members with opportunities to enhance their proficiency and attract new talent.

  • Conduct leadership and administrative skills workshops in the winter, empowering members with the tools and insights needed to effectively manage and lead their respective project groups.

Institutional Outreach

STEM Youth Outreach

  • Fostering a STEM outreach community by collaborating and communicating with all engineering student groups that do youth outreach via the new STEM Outreach Unification Project (SOUP)

  • Officially incorporating the Better Outreach & Wholesome Learning (BOWL) equitable guidelines in ESS outreach processes to ensure youth from diverse backgrounds feel encouraged to explore all engineering disciplines. 

  • Strengthening our partnership and collaboration with DiscoverE, FEM+, and other faculty operated STEM outreach organizations.

  • Establishing direct connections to key outreach groups such as TeamUp Science and UA-WiSE to support large scale outreach events.

Transfer Student Relations

  • Pursue ongoing advocacy efforts for the students of the 7 first year engineering transfer schools.

  • Revamping of the Engineering Transfer Discord to foster a more vibrant and inclusive environment, and better connect transfer students to the UAlberta engineering community.

  • Incorporating initiatives aimed at streamlining processes for engineering technologist transfer students, ensuring a smoother transition into the engineering program.

  • Collaborating with the College of Natural & Applied Sciences (CNAS) recruitment office for introductory presentations and initiatives as a means of establishing initial connections with new transfer students..

French First Year Relations

  • Partnering with the Faculté Saint-Jean (FSJ) and l’Association des Universitaires de la Faculté Saint-Jean (AUFSJ) on initiatives tailored to the french engineering first year cohort. 

  • Creating early connections with the french engineering cohort to allow for improved inclusion into north campus student life and engineering events.

  • Developing strategies to incorporate and celebrate French culture within the engineering community, fostering a supportive environment for French-speaking students.

We extend our gratitude to all student body representatives who dedicated their time to engage in consultation meetings with us, and we look forward to continuing interactions with a wide range of representatives to truly understand both the challenges and successes within our community.

We extend our best wishes to all candidates, and we look forward to the growth of the ESS, whether under our leadership as VPs or with others.

To our readers, we express warm regards for reviewing our platform points. We eagerly anticipate the opportunity to meet you at the elections forum and to learn more about how we can best serve as candidates for this position.