Dr. Selma Guigard grew up in a household that had a “fix it” attitude for almost everything. Whether it was fixing a broken curling iron, or changing the car oil; her parents always encouraged her to figure out a way to get the broken pieces working again. This, combined with an early exposure to women in engineering initiatives and strong mentors like her parents and teachers along the way, made engineering a very obvious career choice for Selma right from the start. Selma is now an Associate Professor, and the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta. Impressively, she balances all of this while also wearing the hat of a mother, a wife, an educator, and a mentor!
The Big Leap
Originally from Ottawa, Selma grew up in a European family, attending school in French immersion where she developed a love for chemistry, and an even greater appreciation for problem solving. And so, with the push of her parents, Selma decided to dive head first into her post-secondary career, travelling across the world to France to pursue a degree in Chemistry. What was supposed to only be a one-year study abroad stint turned into a four-year full degree, and despite the story that may tell, Selma will be the first to point out how challenging that first-year abroad was. From variations in teaching and learning styles, to 100% finals and studying in French full time, it’s safe to say that the initial shock of it all made Selma incredibly homesick for her Canadian life that by comparison, felt so easy. Selma was lucky though, in the company she kept. She lived with a family in her first year who was able to help her find her way, and support her in moving to this unfamiliar place. She also found friendships in other international students whose struggles she could relate with, and she found comfort in having her people, even when she was so far away from home. As she broke into her new shoes abroad, she slowly started loving the experience more than she feared it, and this led her to ditch any plans of finishing the rest of her degree at home, and she decided to stay for the full four years in France! While there, she even scored an incredible opportunity to complete a summer internship where she was doing analysis for a company that was determining the effects of Chernobyl across Europe. This gave her a first glimpse of how she could apply her technical skills to solve world problems.
Engineering
Driven by that same need to solve problems rather than just study them, and to follow her yearning to fix things, it seemed natural to transition into an engineering career where she could continue using her love and passion for chemistry to resolve issues. And so from there, with her previous internship experience relating to the Chernobyl Disaster, Selma found herself in the world of Environmental Engineering. She followed her undergraduate with a Masters and PhD from the University of Guelph and has now found her place within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as a Professor and the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies. In the first role, she is teaching a second year course in Environmental Chemistry for Engineering, and a fifth/graduate level course in Soil Remediation. In the second, she leads and manages all Student Services for graduate students in the Department. In both of these, and within academia, Selma has found what she has been looking for all along: an opportunity to teach, mentor, and fix problems. She gets to teach incredible courses to engaged students, to mentor students and help them see the positive aspects of their degrees, and to do cutting-edge research that shapes our world.
Making Research Accessible
Selma’s background in science allows for her to show up and dig a little deeper in the work she does now. She encourages students to ask the why behind everything that happens, and rather than always focusing on the solution, the way engineers are trained to do, she always starts her teaching with the basic fundamentals. If we do not understand the why, then there is simply no point in moving forward, she says. And that "why", she says, is what we should be explaining to the people around us as well. Selma talks about the way in which people often react when she tells them she’s an engineer. They’ll often say “Oh, you must be so smart.” But that, Selma says is not the point. The most important piece to being an engineer and researcher is to make this information available and accessible to the general public. Good research is not research that is presented over-complicatedly. Good research, she says, is one that is delivered in such a way for all to understand, so that the public can all benefit from the work that we as engineers do.
Last Thoughts
There is a great deal of self-motivation that is required to succeed in engineering, especially as you get higher up and are charting your own path. Selma advises all of us to make our own decisions, in our career and otherwise, and not ones based on what other people expect of you. Making your own decisions, without letting the noise around you affect you is the key, and will save you the hardship of regretting your decisions in the future.
Selma, we are so lucky to have you in our engineering community. Thanks for letting us share your story.
Comments