Austin Sawyer

What area(s) of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are you pursuing for your undergraduate degree?

I will be studying Engineering at the University of Victoria.  After two years of generic classes I will be specializing in chemical engineering.  This field fascinates me and has close ties with the science research I have done in specific to oil spill remediation.  Although the oil industry is extremely advanced in their efforts to obtain oil, their environmental hazard equipment can and needs to be improved.  I hope to study and create new technology along with what I have already done to accomplish this.   I also hope to take some ocean science courses to learn more about how oil spills affect water environments and ecosystems.

What is your favourite inspirational quote? 

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” (Milton Berle)

What is a little known fact about you?

I find prosthetics and artificial limb researching very interesting and like robotics.

Why do you think you make a great Schulich Leader?

I think I make a great Schulich Leader because I have a unique take on our society and where we have come with technology.  Its one thing to appreciate how far we as a race have come, but it is an entirely different thing to realize what we  have damaged in the process.  I don’t shy away from problems that are tough or take copious amounts of times to solve.  To succeed in the future we need to address the past and improve upon our mistakes, not cover them up.  I hope to bring a fresh and open view on how we can improve  technology without environmental repercussions, and clean up the spills of our learning in the process.