What does McGill aCADemy provide?

Marcus Kam

VP External

Good day! My name is Marcus, a second-year mechanical engineering student. My experience with computer-aided design software dates back to my participation in an accelerated program organised by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. There, I studied the basics of CAD and designed a solar-powered toy car to showcase my learning. This gave me a solid foundation that benefitted me considerably for my endeavours, including, but not limited to, my high school fridge project and the CAD work of the fuel grain model and burst disk I have made for the McGill Rocket Team as a propulsion subteam member. My interest in CAD grew as I saw its pivotal role in engineering designs along with sophisticated calculations and its economic implications on projects. In addition, I have had prior experience coordinating events with my committee and our internal and external supervisors as the chairman of our school's astronomy club. Furthermore, through McGill aCADemy, I wish to pass this skill and allow more students to take advantage of modern computational power instead of letting a lack of CAD competency hinder their progress and confine their ideas. Utilising my relevant experience, I will be responsible for coordinating and organising connections between our students and our instructors as the program's VP External. I will also be responsible for devising strategies of garnering interest in our program whilst simultaneously listening to feedback from our students as an assiduous organiser.

Nima Hemati

President

Hi! I am from Calgary, AB, and currently a second-year student, studying mechanical engineering. In regard to relevant software, I am proficient with SolidWorks and Siemens NX. My experience with CAD stems from my time in high school, for which I was the CAD lead of my school’s robotics team - we competed in numerous competitions throughout our province. However, the most prominent period of skill development came from my first year at McGill, which proved to be a transformative experience, made especially complete by my involvement on McGill’s Baja Racing team - a collective of undergraduate students who design, build and race a “Baja” buggy in large international competitions. During my time with the team, I had the responsibility of being the team’s body panel subsystem lead; the position’s duties entailed designing and manufacturing the body panels of our vehicle, whilst simultaneously designing the wrap as well. Currently, I am the transmission subsystem lead for the team, allowing me to expand my depth of knowledge of simulation by applying FEA and physics-based CAD tools to my disposal. This experience, as well as my continuous involvement with the team, catalyzed the development of my CAD skills, which is something that I am eternally grateful for. Furthermore, my experiences instilled a passion for CAD which I would love to spread to others, as I find the process therapeutic and constructive; it provides a medium that consistently stimulates the creative portion of one’s mind. As president of this program, I am responsible for the oversight of the program and executive decisions, as well as coordinating with any of our governing associations (e.g EUS, MAME). If you have any inquiries or concerns (or general curiosity), please don’t hesitate to contact me.