By Rosie Hales, Communications Officer

Students in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science have brought Queen’s engineering to life online through an ever-growing series of videos on Vimeo and Youtube. The Faculty’s student media squad worked full time during the summer to develop promotional videos and help with the Faculty’s social media efforts.

Videos addressing topics such as women in engineering and the Queen’s Summer Innovation Initiative, as well as providing an inside glimpse into the facilities available to students, aim to show prospective students what Queen’s engineering is all about.

The media squad, which hires students for a work-study opportunity, was the brainchild of Adam Walker, Marketing and Communications Director for the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.

“[The videos] help with the recruitment aspect of the program as they help connect current students with prospective students,” says Mr. Walker. “The quality of the students we have is a key part of the engineering program.”

These videos hit a milestone when the Faculty’s “First Year Blogger,” Joey, graduated this summer, complete with an iron ring and a job waiting for him in computer engineering. Computer engineering student Meghan Brunner (Sc’14), the current Media Squad lead, watched Joey’s video blogs when she was coming into her first year. Since 2011 she’s worked part-time during the school year and full-time during the summers for the Media Squad.

Ms. Brunner’s favourite part of the job is meeting the people whose stories she gets to tell and experiencing the engineering facilities she might not necessarily see otherwise. She ended up filming and making the final blog for all three of the first year bloggers who graduated this year. “That was pretty surreal,” she says.

While the media squad students receive some training, they’re also able to share their knowledge with each other to develop successful, collaborative projects. The “Made by Engineers” stamp that each video shows at the end also provides alumni with the knowledge that students of this program are getting involved with their Faculty and are becoming more well-rounded as a result.

Mr. Walker says that the experiences that members of the media squad have mean they will leave Queen’s with a diverse set of skills to complement their degree, while helping to raise the profile of the Faculty. “We want to get better at telling our own story to our Faculty, the Queen’s community, and the world outside,” he says.

For more information and the complete collection of videos, take a look at the Faculty’s Vimeo and Youtube pages.