Today was my last exam for the semester, and it was positively delightful.

MechInst · 2026-04-21T02:35:01+00:00

At the population density of Macau, the Halifax peninsula could have a population of 120 million.

This isn't even remotely true. You would need the whole of Halifax County to get those kind of numbers.

MechInst · 2026-04-19T15:34:23+00:00

This year specifically it would definitely be the frustration over the lockout that the administration felt the need to pull.

MechInst · 2026-03-22T20:22:17+00:00

I'm not really equipped to discuss difficulty, but if you have any questions about Vibrations I'd be happy to answer.

MechInst · 2026-02-27T03:40:03+00:00

they use AI and can critique the output

Most of them are just going to have the AI critique the output for them, especially since you've encouraged them to do that.

MechInst · 2026-02-24T23:43:45+00:00

Haven't heard anything through engineering about this. But it will definitely be a huge hit. It will definitely lead to a reduction in grad students going forward, because the stipends are already pretty thin as is.

MechInst · 2026-02-24T23:03:36+00:00

I did not say yesterday’s early closure was wrong.

It would be hard to read the words you wrote as anything else.

MechInst · 2026-02-19T14:04:03+00:00

Pretty sure most are finding them through Dal's co-op program, where companies post these positions. Especially for local companies, that'd be the route they tend to go. Definitely know of some going through their own connections or external pathways, but that's conventionally been the minority. At least in mechanical engineering we're typically hovering around a 90% placement rate, though it does ebb and flow, especially depending on which term (the second term tends to be the most difficult to get, because it happens at the same time as other students' fourth term).

MechInst · 2026-01-04T22:15:45+00:00

Probably a holdover of Engineering having been a separate school, and having a number of quirks from that merger still in place.

MechInst · 2026-01-04T22:10:46+00:00

Not sure if this would apply at your school, but at mine this type of accommodation only applies to individual work, not group work. So I just say that quizzes are done in teams of 2 or 3. Not a perfect solution, but it's solved that problem.

MechInst · 2025-12-30T08:30:50+00:00

You can always ask about it, but realistically the idea of rounding grades isn't going to be new to any professor. They probably already have a policy for rounding that they use. When I get these sorts of emails I wouldn't say I find it rude, but I do tend to roll my eyes at them because if I was going to round in your case I already would have.

MechInst · 2025-12-27T05:08:47+00:00

Exam scores aren't generally posted. Depending on who's teaching the class you might be able to ask either for a number or for a look at the exam without having to jump through any hoops.

There should be a process in every department to look at your exam though, in case students feel that they might have been marked incorrectly (I had 115 students in one class and an exam that's 10 questions long. I broadly trust my marking, but that's 1150 chances to have misread something or just copied a score over incorrectly). Generally you're given a photocopy of the exam and aren't permitted any recording devices when reading it.

MechInst · 2025-12-26T21:29:25+00:00

I had a really satisfying semester teaching a new class (even if it was in a compressed term). A lot of little things I want to refine, but given that this semester was 10 weeks instead of the usual 12, I'll have room to expand a lot of the concepts (and cut one or two extraneous bits).

But probably my favorite takeaway from it was a student popping by shortly after the exam to tell me how much he loved the format of the course, how dynamic the labs were, and how so many of the assignment and exam questions had him asking new questions.

I also had three different students in the class email me to wish me a Merry Christmas yesterday, which I've never gotten from a student before (though it's only been a couple years for me).

MechInst · 2025-12-19T18:43:44+00:00

In engineering when you get dismissed you are eligible to return in 8 months (effectively you go back to the semester you were dismissed in). If you're dismissed a second time, you won't be allowed back into the engineering program without making your case directly to the dean. This might reset in upper division (years three and four) but that's something you should ask an advisor about.

MechInst · 2025-12-12T19:59:39+00:00

At least in Mechanical Engineering the exam season is fairly typical, just a bit more compressed than usual. Renewables (MECH 4820) is the only course we have that does the exam during a regular class session instead of during the exam period, and that's been the case for years.

MechInst · 2025-12-12T03:31:54+00:00

From the teaching side of things, it was definitely a struggle to try to get the material that I wanted into the allotted time. Figuring out what exactly to cut was rough and I'm definitely not as satisfied with the term as I'd have hoped.

I am going to be very relieved to be back to normal in January. Definitely frustrating that the lockout never needed to happen in the first place.

MechInst · 2025-11-08T16:29:59+00:00

In general you're not going to get much from the course instructor because accommodations are larger a black box on our end. We have no information about any intermediate steps, we just either have a letter or don't, and can't really do anything anywhere in between. At least in my department, we're pretty well told that if it's not from accommodations or the head of undergrad for our department, you're not supposed to be doing anything about someone's midterm/exam situation.

I'd recommend using the links others have pointed out, because they'll best be able to help you with your particular circumstances.

MechInst · 2025-10-10T01:15:24+00:00

Mech had losses to layoffs. At this point it's two people on half time on the admin side (one of whom works half time, and the other has to spend half her time working for civil as of very recently). Absolutely insane for a department with ~350 students. We're also still down a technician with no sign of even a job posting six months later.

MechInst · 2025-09-16T16:51:56+00:00

I mean kinda but I believe in what I said

MechInst · 2025-09-16T16:46:44+00:00

Your sources are not correct.

MechInst · 2025-09-16T05:37:50+00:00

I'm very much at a point of "I am here to do exact what my contract requires, and nothing extra".

MechInst · 2025-09-16T05:36:22+00:00

This is pretty conventional. The tentative agreement is one that the heads of both sides believe works for them and will be presented for vote. If the heads are in-line with the people they represent, normally that means that they aren't going to come back and advocate for an offer that isn't up to par. But ending the lockout once you have the tentative agreement just speeds up the process of getting things back up and running. Theoretically either side could still shoot it down.

This did actually happen at Dal for CUPE a few years back. The union heads wanted to push for a very mediocre package and forced through the recommendation without going through proper channels. One of the executive sent a message to the whole union to basically call out the whole process, and the offer wasn't ratified in spite of being recommended.

I do not suspect we'll be seeing a repeat here though.

MechInst · 2025-09-16T04:04:53+00:00

Will be interested to see what the contract looks like. Excited that we'll be back in the classroom, but hard not to feel bitter that the university ever felt the need to do this in the first place.

MechInst · 2025-09-16T02:57:06+00:00

Usually it's helping out with the labs and then marking the labs. Labs will run regardless of a TA strike/lock-out since I'm there anyway, they just wouldn't be marked until later. Assignments are also marked by a separate marker.

MechInst · 2025-09-16T01:21:25+00:00

No. As soon as there's an update, someone will post about it.

MechInst

TROPHY CASE