Photo by Alan Wu
Having developed a strong passion in engineering, Katie Gwozdecky (Mech 1T7) is actively looking for ways to promote a promising, sustainable future for humanity. She was part of The Entrepreneurship Hatchery’s 2014 summer cohort where she worked with another fellow student to create a lifestyle brand that produces functional, temperature regulating jackets. Katie took ILead’s Foundations of Engineering Leadership Course (APS343). Here are her thoughts on leadership education.
Why do you want to be an engineer?
Engineering to me seemed to be the branch between my love for science and my love for solving problems with physical solutions. I wanted to be able to learn more about the world around me while constantly searching for ways to better how humans live within it. More specifically, I wanted to study engineering to be able to help develop vehicles and technologies that will help humanity survive on other planets. These points might seem contradictory, but I find you can’t have one without the other. Our discoveries about space have lead us to breakthroughs on the ground that help people live better and vice versa for astronauts.
What have you been involved in during your undergrad experience at U of T so far?
My two biggest projects during my undergrad have been with the Rocketry division for the University of Toronto Aerospace Team (UTAT) in first year, and the Space Systems division for UTAT this year. I’m working with an amazing, intelligent, driven team of undergrads to build a satellite that we hope to launch in a few years. Otherwise, I play intramural hockey on the Skule team and love to help out with leading Frosh groups during Frosh week.
How do you aspire to create positive change?
I aspire to create positive change by embodying the leaderly values that I hope to maintain for the rest of my life. These values are achievement, passion, curiosity and generosity. These come from different parts of my life, but together they create a well-rounded individual.
How did APS343 impact you and your development?
APS343 was a very new experience for me, but I have always thought of myself as a natural leader. What I hoped to get from this course was a greater appreciation for my own skills and to better understand what I can do to be a better leader. I learned all that and much more. One of the greatest things I took away from this course was how critical reflection is in the life of a growing leader because you become more acutely aware of your strengths and areas of weakness. More deeply however, I learned about how my character can often clash with others and because I am often stubborn, this causes upsets. I’ve learned to be more patient and open to communicate with a team to avoid these problems in the future.
Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
This is a difficult question, but my choice at the moment would be current Canadian astronaut, David St. Jacques. He studied engineering, then astronomy and then got his medical degree – truly a broad skillset that I admire greatly.
If you were to describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be?
Passionately, insatiably curious!
-Kevin Saludares