Outreach officer 2009-2010
Working on: Masters, Electrical Engineering
Undergrad: Bachelor of Computer Hardware Engineering (IAU of Qazvin, Iran)
Email: smirbaha AT ieee.org
Website: www.doe.carleton.ca/~smirbaha
About Me
I am a Carleton University Master's student in Electrical Engineering. I started my Master's in September 2007, and the reason I have extended one term is that I was quite new to Canada at the time, and I had to pass some ESL courses that pushed me a little behind. I did my undergraduate back in my country in computer hardware engineering. Changing my field was pretty tough because it needed more effort to build my background but I was interested in electrical engineering and that made me go forward in this field. I was generally a good student specifically in math and physics, and that made my path to engineering.
Why Engineering
I think that choosing to become an engineer depends on one's interest and talents. People entering engineering usually have good math skills and a passion about science. You may be wondering about the difference between engineers and scientists. Perhaps Albert Einstein put it in the best words saying, "Scientists investigate that which already is; engineers create that which has never been."
Engineers may end up in many other fields that require their skills too. So choosing engineering degree does not close other doors to you. For example they may be well valued in investment and banking, because of the nature of engineering and theory.
Engineering is a well paid job in the society. According to CNNmoney, engineering diplomas account for 12 of the 15 the top-paying majors. But yet salaries vary depending on the work experience and engineering field.
Overall, if you have a passion for design and invention, or you are good at math and science, engineering is the right place for go!
Women in Science and Engineering
Why I joined WISE
After attending Carleton, I found that females in engineering are minorities, in contradictory to my country Iran where 60% of the classes were girls. It had happened that I was the only girl in classes of about 10 to 12 people at Carleton. This might be OK, and there is nothing wrong with being the only girl in class, but I think that girls are less encouraged about engineering and if you ask younger age high school girls, they kind of think it is a male type of job. This made me feel that I could at least play a role in encouraging young girls about engineering and explain how engineering life would be.
After attending WISE I found a lot of fun friend girls which I would never meet if I had not attended. Learning from other girls about university's events, opportunities, and getting an advice from everyone to survive as a minority, was part of the benefits of attending WISE.
Other Interests
I am a flutist and I have been learning to play the flute from grade 9. I was in a group of 5 musicians back in my country during my undergrad and we would voluntarily perform on special events at the university. I am also interested to learn playing the piano and I am planning to teach myself as soon as I get more spare time.
I like reading books specifically psychology matters and sometimes history romance.
I also play volleyball. I was a member of our high school volleyball team, actively practicing volleyball. However at university I just played for fun because I got busy with university courses and was not able to seriously prepare myself for competitions. Here in Carleton I have been playing in Intramurals leagues and I really have fun.
I also hang out with friends sometimes to free my mind out of the university and work matters and talk laugh and have fun with them.