Megan Wood joined the McMaster Engineering EcoCAR Team during her first year as an undergrad student at McMaster University. She is currently the Engineering Manager on the team this year, and during her time at McMaster, she has had the opportunity to see the growth of the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge.
She describes her role on the team as being the highlight of her university life. Megan has gained numerous friendships, experiences, and new opportunities that she would not have been exposed to otherwise. Megan is now finishing up her Masters of Applied Science for Electrical Engineering, and has credited EcoCAR in providing her hands on experience and an environment to apply learned theories in a real world applications. Megan is also the recipient of the EcoCAR 3 Year Two General Motors Women in Engineering Rookie Award.
Megan is an advocate for breaking gender expectations and encourages girls to get involved in fields such as engineering. She herself was the first female on the McMaster Engineering EcoCAR Team and has been very proud to see a 25% increase in female members during her time on the team. Throughout her years on the team, she has seen that as the team continues to grow, the team’s ratio of female to male students gradually increases. Megan believes “If younger females see women in leadership roles on the team, they will probably be more encouraged to join; However, I also don’t think girls should join the team for the sake of having more girls. If the team is something that a student is truly passionate about, that’s how they will get the full experience.”
In the next few years Megan will be graduating and aspires to be working on the F1 circuit as a race engineer. EcoCAR has played a very big role in Megan’s university life, and she urges future students to get involved in EcoCAR early on, to be inquisitive, and to not be afraid to put yourself out there.
