Virginie in the mechanical room at the top of the John Molson School of Business, the control centre for the sophisticated SolarWall, a hybrid technology that combines solar air heating and photovoltaic electricity in one building-integrated system.
By Malcolm McLean
Virginie Gauvin knew a long time ago that she wanted to build things. “My dad was in construction,” she explained. While her CEGEP studies focused on business, she realized that engineering would allow her to mix business and science, and would also let her be involved in building things. Engineering also attracts her for another reason: “I like detail. I like accuracy. I like it when things work!”
Concordia’s building engineering program caught her eye. “This is a unique program in Canada, combining aspects of mechanical and civil engineering into one program focused on buildings,” she explained.
However, Concordia presented other challenges to her. “I was afraid of coming here, because I didn’t speak English.” A meeting with Martine Fachena, student recruitment officer for the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, encouraged her to see Concordia in her future and identified scholarship opportunities. Now in her third year, Virginie speaks confidently in fluent English, and describes how Concordia has been a portal to bilingualism and wider opportunities. “This gives me opportunities to go to the United States, British Columbia… so many places.”
Virginie’s passion is for green buildings: “net zero energy, net zero water, LEED, living building, this is the way we have to build now.” She got involved in the Solar Decathlon: “a wonderful project building a full scale house that has to produce as much energy as it consumes.” In passing, she observes with satisfaction that the EV Building is LEED Gold rated.
As a member of Concordia’s Institute for Cooperative Education (Co-op), Virginie did an internship with PCL Constructors in Vancouver, and had the opportunity to work on a project that has a nine-acre green roof. “One mall and a few other buildings all together, put the same amount of ground on the roof as was taken away by the development: they have rooftop restaurants, a dog park, lots of services that were desired in the area… but didn’t have space.”
The internship experience was a crucial passage for her. “After my first year, I didn’t quite grasp how the information I was acquiring in the classroom was applicable to engineering as a profession, and I was excited to finally be able to apply my knowledge usefully. I was working with engineers and project managers who trusted me, gave me responsibility that I still couldn’t imagine for myself. That gave me more confidence, confirmed that I could push myself and succeed.”
The experience of working in BC cemented her confidence in speaking English. It also gave her a new perspective on another aspect of engineering: how to succeed in engineering as a woman. She was entered in a contest last year called Chapeau les filles, intended to provide recognition of women studying in male-oriented professions. “I think it is a great contest, but sometimes I wonder: why do we still need this?” She agrees that more women need to take an interest in fields like engineering, but adds: “I don’t want to get any job because I’m a woman, but because I’m an engineer. Because I deserve it.”