By Oliver Wilmot

On the weekend of Jan. 30, the Laurentian University Engineering Student Society (LUESS) hosted the First Year Integration Conference, in collaboration with the Engineering Student Societies’ Council of Ontario (ESSCO).

ESSCO is an alternative body that represents all of the student engineering societies in Ontario, and provides services for Ontario schools, as well as helps facilitate communication between organizations and engineering students.

The conference was held in hopes of inspiring networking among the various Engineering Student Societies, and students spent the weekend engaging in various activities and workshops which aimed to develop leadership, conflict resolution and communication skills within the team dynamic.

Though the majority of the activities took place on the Laurentian University campus, others were held at the Holiday Inn and at Science North.

Brandyn Taylor, the Director of Logistics and a second year mechanical engineering student, was responsible for the management of resources, volunteers and transportation.

“(I’m) meeting a lot of great people. Everyone’s getting along really well, so far and things are going pretty smoothly,” said Taylor. “It’s been a pretty great success. Basically we got a lot of first years from across Ontario and we teach them how to act as well as get more involved with their schools and engineering societies.”

Sarmila Senthil, a first year civil engineering student from Ryerson University, was among those attending the conference, and said she was glad to attend.

“It’s been pretty good so far. I met a lot of people and Laurentian is welcoming. It’s a really nice community and has a nice feel. They’re exceeding my expectations, and the sessions are really interesting. Highlights were probably the food, or the sessions because the speakers really knew what they were doing. It’s not like somebody was reading off a slide, they were really engaging. This has been a really good experience. I’m glad I came.”