Students tour the D.W. Harvey Shops at the TTC Works yard as part of ILead’s ChemE Summer Program
This past Friday, about 25 students in ILead’s ChemE Summer Program toured the TTC Works yard, located at Bathurst and Dupont Streets, to learn how leadership is put into practice at a huge operation like the Toronto Transit Commission.
Students visited the Transit Control Centre, which monitors transit service, coordinates maintenance crews and routes emergency response requests. They then toured the D.W. Harvey Shops, TTC’s bus and streetcar maintenance facility. The TTC even treated everyone to a hands-on experience of the soon-to-be-launched streetcars.
Leadership learning opportunities like these are held every Friday afternoon as part of the ChemE Summer Program, which gives students the chance to get to know themselves and one another in a fun, close-knit environment.
Organizational leadership and team skills were definitely at play at the TTC, and it didn’t go unnoticed with the students:
“It was great to see that it takes a real collaborative effort between so many different departments and people from different educational backgrounds to keep the TTC running,” Emily Wu (ChemE 1T6) stated after touring the facilities. “This is the centre of transportation in Toronto, and it was neat to see all the pieces that come together to make the whole system run. It takes a lot of teamwork and effective communication.”
The ILead ChemE Summer Program was created to provide Chemical Engineering students with the opportunity to enrich their leadership experience throughout the summer. The program broadens their skill set and knowledge of the human process necessary for engineering work, as well as their own personal development. To date they have discovered what their core strengths are and how to develop them further, and participated in a career and life clarification activity.
Reflecting on her experience, Brazilian exchange student Helena R. Forneck said: “So far the Summer Program has taught me to come out of my shell. I am a very shy person, and I think the program has helped me be more open and willing to share. It’s a very safe and positive environment that is created so I feel I can express myself and am less shy about speaking my piece. Everyone who is here wants to be here and develop themselves and that’s really awesome.”
In the coming weeks, students will be further developing their understanding of leadership through an improv workshop with the Bad Dog Theatre Company, a diversity and inclusion workshop, and a seminar on how to navigate people, process and change. Hats off to these students for keeping their leadership development and learning going over the warm months. It’s going to be an unforgettable summer!