Sasha on the Street

I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus since the seasonal holidays and then getting pretty sick (get your wisdom teeth out before they make you sick!). Lots has been happening in and around the engineering, sustainable development and renewable energy front. My plan this week is to take a look at the things that [...]

Last week I helped to organize a conference to celebrate Women in Engineering in the Ontario Public Service – although not as you may guess, it was not a man-bashing, yeah women event. It was an event to let those who came before us in engineering to share with the younger generation how far things [...]

Thanks to my bf I was directed to the ‘ultimate’ TTC Map on torontoist.com. Dreamed up by Dieter Janssen, an architecture professor at the University of Toronto this map adds new lines, extends existing ones and tries to capture the GTA audience. Below vs. Above Ground Streetcar or Subway? Economically it just doesn’t make sense [...]

Asphalt Roads versus Concrete Roads … what is better long term? There is no easy way to answer this question; it depends on the climate the roads are subjected to, the traffic volumes, the maintenance contracts, etc. But yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a seminar that shifted my preference to concrete roads. What [...]

Friday I had the opportunity to attend a seminar put together by the OTC (Ontario Traffic Conference) on Transportation Planning. The day covered various southern Ontario initiatives from bicycle routes, to public transit, to planning for long-term projects. Here is a summary on the presentations I enjoyed: Transit City: Planning for Light Rail in Toronto [...]

The last few weeks have been fairly busy for me and it seems like the trend will continue. Last week was the final week of classes at U.of.T for my Master’s courses. The week was quite stressful with an exam, a presentation and a final paper. The last evening were the presentation for my Engineering [...]

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Canadian Value Engineering Conference. Value Engineering? Value Engineering (VE) is much like a design vignette. A group of individuals including engineers, technicians, planners, etc get together and brainstorm solutions to a given construction opportunity. That might be a new subway, a GO expansion, a highway rehabilitation, a [...]

Although I was nervous this morning, I survived my first day of class … new program, new building and an old friend. My first class, titled above, is taught by Professor W.H. Vanderburg. His passion’s lie in the study of technology, society, biosphere interactions and its application to the development of preventive approaches for the [...]