New capstone initiative challenges students to reimagine campus accessibility

Waterloo Engineering faculty members partner to launch a new initiative to empower students to reimagine accessibility on campus. The CAPACITY initiative invites interdisciplinary undergraduate student teams to tackle real-world accessibility challenges through their Capstone Design projects.

CAPACITY provides project funding and awards, dedicated faculty supervision and access to campus stakeholders to student capstone teams looking specifically at campus accessibility. These projects seek to address barriers to campus participation for students and employees with lived experience of disability, and may include addressing barriers related to mobility, sensory, communication and/or mental health.

Led by Dr. Michael Fowler from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Dr. James Tung from Systems Design Engineering, the initiative aims to encourage students to use their technical knowledge, creativity and problem-solving skills to make the University’s campus a more inclusive place for all to work and learn. CAPACITY is part of a broader movement align with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the proposed AODA postsecondary education standards.

A Call to Campus Stakeholders
A critical component of CAPACITY is engagement with stakeholders with campus expertise or lived experience. If you have an idea for a CAPACITY project or can provide guidance to student teams on real world connections and barriers, connect with Dr James Tung at james.tung@uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4567 x43445. Stakeholder engagement may include a series of 3-4 meetings throughout the capstone project.

Get Involved
Student teams from all 8-month capstone courses interested in participating in CAPACITY, please email Dr James Tung at james.tung@uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4567 x43445.