1% Inspiration

As people who know Hanna personally, we’ve always known her to take chances even in uncertainty. She has always been a person to make the first move and chase after opportunities - even intimidating ones. During our chat, we talked about how this has helped her find and stumble through research before beginning university at Sunnybrook Hospital, and how every experience is an exercise of “rebuilding shattered confidence.” This talk is all about the hidden aspects of working and research - the nervousness, pits in your stomach, executing on visions without a solid plan, and handling interpersonal differences.

Subaita’s fascination with research began in high school, which is where we began. It led her to the University of Toronto’s Life Sciences Program, where she carved out a space for herself as a community builder and entrepreneur, pursuing Ryerson University’s DMZ Youth Basecamp Program within her first year. Here, she learned to “condition herself to failure,” a skill that came in useful later as she emailed over a dozen scientists at U of T to conduct research at their labs a summer later. Her persistence led her to Dr. Alison McGuigan’s lab at U of T, learning how to code with no prior experience, eventually making so much of a change that she was awarded top researcher at the U of T Undergraduate Engineering Research Day.

But it wasn’t easy. In between these successes, Subaita talks about the difficulty of finding scholarships to fund your dreams, and lack accessibility of opportunities. We also talk about how hard it is to find a community in a large program of study, how she overcame that.

*Subaita mentions that the PEY co-op program wasn't available at the time she was looking for internships. Arts & Science recently launched the ASIP (Arts & Science Internship Program) program*

We spoke about Madeline, or Maddy’s fascination with tinkering, and how that interest led to admission to the Engineering Science program. She sees education as eternal and as more than mathematical or scientific; it’s about “becoming a better human.” Her definition of research is unexpected- Maddy suggests that we’ve all been researchers since we were babies. After all, “curiosity is something everyone is born with,” and something that is satiated gradually as we learn (which leads to more questions). She also helpfully breaks down the main categories and types of research engineers typically engage in, and we discuss her research journey; from UTAT, Norway, and now the Netherlands!

We also talked about what gets her through her through the hard times in research (and life); remembering that curiosity, friends, reading, the Richard Feynman poster on her wall, and focusing on what makes us human first.

During this conversation, we explored Robert’s fascination with and deconstruction of knowledge, beyond the profession of engineering in philosophy, the importance of developing philosophically informed technical systems. He retold stories about his multiple research experiences and the lessons he learned, both humorous and humbling, about conducting research in Toronto and abroad, as well across the disciplines of engineering and philosophy.

Robert suggests we develop an orientation of success rather than a definition, and an observational one, at that. What if instead of constantly thinking of legacy making in our pursuit of growth, we took a step back to just marvel at how cool existing can be?

Welcome to 1% Inspiration, a University of Toronto based podcast designed for future researchers where we transform traditional coffee chats with our guests by exploring a question beyond scientific; what are the untold and overlooked stories behind your success? We spotlight underrepresented pathways in research and diverse fields & backgrounds.

Grab your favourite warm drink, and let's share an honest conversation. Talk soon!