Wednesday, December 7
Mary Wells
Dean
Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo
Mary Wells is Dean of Engineering at the University of Waterloo (July 1, 2020 - ), the ninth dean since the Faculty was founded in 1957. From 2017-2020, she was Dean of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Guelph. Prior to her time in Guelph, Wells was a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo for 10 years.
Elder William Woodsworth
Elder in Residence
School of Architecture, University of Waterloo
Elder William Woodworth, PhD, is serving as the Elder in Residence for the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo’s main campus, as well as the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture in Cambridge, Ontario. In addition to providing faculty, staff, and students with culturally sensitive advising and counselling grounded in Haudenosaunee teachings, Elder Bill lectures Architecture courses.
Thursday, December 8
David Fortin
Professor
School of Architecture, University of Waterloo
Dr. David Fortin is a registered architect in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. He is also a professor at the the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. He was previously the Director of the McEwen School of Architecture and the inaugural Associate Director of the Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute at Laurentian University. He has taught architectural history, theory, and design in the UK, US, and Canada and has published on topics related to Indigenous design, Métis architecture, and speculative architectural thinking, including the relationship between science-fiction and design. He is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario and in 2018 became the first Indigenous person to direct a school of architecture in Canada.
Abstract: This talk will present some of the challenges and opportunities of Indigenous design currently facing architectural education and practice. Better understanding the infrastructural confines of our inherited colonial systems can offer transformational shifts in how we approach the design and making of the built environment. The Design Lodge is offered as an alternative pedagogical space for developing place-based design practice.
Friday, December 9
Chris McMahon
Senior Associate Teacher, Senior Research Fellow
School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol
Chris McMahon is a recently retired Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Bristol in the UK, where he still has part-time
teaching and research roles. His research interests are in engineering design, especially concerning the application of computers to the management of information and uncertainty in design, design automation, product life cycle management, design education, and design for sustainability. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK), Hon. Fellow of the Institution of Engineering Designers and a founder member of the Design Society, for which he was President from 2010 to 2013. He has published widely on design topics, and remains an active member of the scientific committees of a number of international design journals and conferences.
Abstract: The technological changes of the past 50 years have led to an explosion in humanity’s use of materials, from the traditional metals such as aluminium and steel through precious metals and rare earths to cement and sand in concrete. The transition to renewable energy and the upsurge in digital applications will make further enormous demands on material resources for electrical and computing equipment, batteries and smart devices. Our current technologies often use materials in a highly dispersive way, with very low rates of recycling. This presentation will advocate a more discerning use of technology, designing for simplicity and longevity, for reuse and recycling, exploiting standardization and modularity but also challenging the needs and seeking sobriety.