Nothing quite gets an engineer going like a thorough quantitative analysis of an insight-filled dataset. This was the opportunity I had in capturing the experience of my graduating class — the Systems Design Engineering (SYDE) Class of 2018.
Way back in 2013, we arrived fresh-faced at the University of Waterloo not really knowing what SYDE is, and left its campus as mature men and women five years later still somewhat unsure. All we can say for sure is that the time in between was a truly life-altering experience.
Following the lead of Atef Chaudhury and Joey Loi’s excellent SYDE 2017 Class Profile (PDF), I conducted a survey of my graduating class with 3 specific goals in mind:
- Capture some of the dominant stories of our lives over the past 5 years
- Create a memento document
- Showcase our experiences to prospective students and the world
Luckily for me, 78 of 91 students (86%) responded to my call. This piece features some of the highlights, but I highly recommend scrolling through the full document.