What is ESEC?
The Engineering Science Education Conference (ESEC) is a student-run, EngSci-exclusive annual conference held every January, mandatory for Year 1 and 2 EngSci students and optional for Years 3 and 4. The goal of ESEC is to let you explore the many opportunities available to you with an EngSci degree.
You’ll hear firsthand from professionals from a wide range of career paths—broadly related to the subjects taught in EngSci, who will talk about their professional and personal lives after graduation.
Details for ESEC 2027 will be posted in the Fall. You can view details on ESEC 2026 here.
Follow ESEC on Instagram right now @esecuoft! That way you’ll learn about this year’s conference as soon as details are announced.
Past Speakers
In the past, we’ve had highly accomplished speakers like Dr. Robert Thirsk (Canadian astronaut), Donna Strickland (recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics), Anna Goldenberg (AI Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Chair and Senior Scientist in the Genetics and Genome Biology program at SickKids Research Institute), Geoffrey Hinton (Vector Institute, U of T and recipient of 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics), and Raffaello D’Andrea (EngSci ECE 9T1, co-founder of Amazon Robotics and founder of Verity, as well as a professor at ETH Zurich).
Fireside Chats and Lunch & Learn
On top of inspiring talks, you are given opportunities to chat with the speakers and ask them personalized questions in informal settings. The first of these is Fireside Chats the night before the conference. The second is the Lunch & Learn session in the middle of the conference day.
ILead ESEC Prep Workshop
If you’ve never attended a professional conference before or want to hone your skills for interacting with senior professionals, sign up for the ESEC Prep Workshop, organized by ILead specifically for Year 1 and 2 students! By attending the workshop, you can learn:
- How to navigate new interactions with ease
- How to view “networking” as “relationship-building”
- How to prepare for a networking situation
- How to be a good listener
- The art of asking good professional questions at a conference or 1:1
Keep an eye out for registration information on ESEC’s website and Instagram page (@esecuoft) once details for ESEC 2027 are posted this fall.
ESEC Student Executive Team
ESEC is run in part by upper-year EngScis, for younger EngScis! This student executive team works hard to find speakers for the conference and bring students’ perspectives to ESEC’s planning. Your ESEC 2027 student executive team is:
Co-Chairs: Sara Parvaresh Rizi and Jessica Fu (both Year 3 ECE);
Director of Operations: Perry Xu (Year 2);
Director of Communications: Jiaxu Zhao (Year 2)
