Nom nom nom. The Faculty of Engineering celebrated Dean David Lynch's contributions to engineering education-and treated students to cake.
Edmonton-Dean of Engineering David Lynch completes the final term in his 21-year tenure as dean June 30. So to thank him for his years of service, and to help students celebrate the second-last day of classes, the Faculty of Engineering dished out cake-lots of it-to students.
Lynch, who taught two classes to students in their final year of studies today, was on hand to cut a made-to-order carrot cake emblazoned with the Faculty of Engineering's logo. At one point between classes, a line-up of students in the hundreds snaked its way through the John and Barbara Poole Family Artium.
Students, between bites of cake, had praise for the dean; some students in the 400-level course he teaches (The practice of the Engineering Profession) said they appreciate his genuine concern for their success.
"Every time you ask him a question, he's really patient with you," said Fanxing Lei, a civil engineering student in her final year of studies. "He's a warm person, you can tell he's passionate about what he's doing."
Justin Forth, a former Engineering Students' Society president who's also in the class, says the dean takes his teaching responsibilities quite seriously. The course Lynch teaches to students in their final year of studies touches on a wide variety of topics related to the "how" of being an engineer, covering subjects like ethics, professional responsibilities, safety and risk management and intellectual property laws.
"It's really neat to have the dean teaching this course," said Forth. "He has so much experience as a lecturer and experience with different professional associations and board-he is one of only a few people on campus who can share that level of experience with student. It's a really good use of his time."