Patricia Sheridan (MIE BASc 0T9, MASc 1T1) is mapping uncharted territory for graduate education in the Faculty as ILead’s first PhD student in engineering leadership. Her research examines how engineering students can enhance their effectiveness while working in teams through new feedback systems.
Patricia is a trailblazing young scholar with an ambitious research agenda. During 2012-2013 she led the development of web-based applications to teach team effectiveness in large classrooms. Her quest to improve the way engineers are taught is no surprise when you consider her own leadership story of making the educational experience better for students of all levels.
Among her many contributions to the Faculty, she co-developed and delivered a course titled “Leadership and Management of Innovation in Engineering” at the DEEP Summer Academy organized by the Engineering Student Outreach Office using curriculum from ILead workshops, academic courses, and her own research. Patricia also developed and delivered the team-teaching curriculum in the First Year Engineering Science design courses (ESC101 and ESC102). Over the year she co-developed a new component for those courses on identity formation and values-centred design. A testament to her commitment, Patricia organized the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Student Leadership Seminar in Toronto in March 2013 where she delivered workshops to students from across Ontario and the Northeastern United States.
In March 2014, Patricia presented her research at the COMPLETE Conference at Rice University. The conference intended to explore the current state of engineering leadership and best practices in professional development for engineers. Last week Patricia presented her research at the Canadian Engineering Education Association Annual Conference in Calgary, Alberta.
Amid the flurry of activity demanded of ILead’s inaugural PhD candidate, Patricia finds meaning and significance not in her formidable list of accomplishments, but in the process of self-discovery that comes with those achievements.
“My journey over the past year focuses on authenticity. I have the privilege to work in an environment at ILead where authenticity is welcomed and encouraged. I therefore have been able to inspire others to engage in leadership and engineering education in a way that I could not previously.
“My involvement with ILead has inspired me to encourage all other engineers to become leader-engineers. But, to be able to demonstrate to others that leadership education is necessary, I first need to be a role model for the benefits of incorporating leadership education in engineering.
“It is only through the demonstration of my leadership skills and how they have improved my engineering abilities that I will be able to convince people to pay attention to my arguments for why leadership education is needed. If I cannot act with such integrity, and demonstrate what I advocate, I will never be able to create the world I envision.”