Balazs Gyenes explains the workings of the U of A EcoCar to an enthusiastic visitor during an Engineering Expo open house event. Gyenes graduates this week from UAlberta with a degree in engineering physics.
Edmonton—What does an engineer do? It isn’t entirely clear to most people that engineering is the application of scientific knowledge. Growing up, everyone studies science—but because there are no engineering classes, people need to see what engineers do in order to understand it.
Balazs Gyenes was a high school student when he attended the U of A’s Engineering Expo open house event and discovered engineering.
“I was always interested in science when I was growing up but what scientists did—that was hard for me to figure out,” Gyenes said. “Then I saw what engineers were doing and I could see that it was practical and tangible and that it was science. I wanted to help people and have a positive impact, and the tangible nature of engineering appealed to me.”
This month, Gyenes graduates with a degree in engineering physics. Graduates of the discipline not only know how to harness and apply certain phenomena, but also understand why and how such phenomena occur.
“It seemed to me that engineering physics was about applying cool new developments in science to real-world problems, and I was looking for a department that did ridiculously cool things. I thought engineering physics seemed to fit that bill—and I still think so.”
In the program, he found a strong community of students who love to learn. “Everyone seemed to know the value of knowledge,” he said. “They help drive you and motivate you.”
Having enrolled in engineering, Gyenes felt compelled to join one of the faculty’s student clubs so he could get hands-on engineering experience. He joined a newer group, the U of A EcoCar team. By the time he was in his third year of studies, he became team leader. He led the team to a first-place win at the Shell Ecomarathon Americas competition in Houston in 2014. There, the hydrogen cell-powered car performed exceptionally well—the team squeezed the energy equivalent of 618 mpg (0.1 L / 100 L) from the car. At this year’s competition, technical challenges scuttled both the U of A team and its sole competitor in the urban design hydrogen cell category.
When he first joined EcoCar, then in its infancy, Gyenes says there was no plan to deal with new members; he wasn’t given a meaningful role. When he became the team’s manager, he made sure newcomers were given tasks related to the car and that every member was part of a project that was challenging, that they would learn from, and that they would ultimately be able to achieve “because at the end of it all, we have to make a car.”
Leading a team has definite rewards. While working on the vehicle, students are doing independent research and solving problems.
“In EcoCar you gain the tools and use them as soon as you learn them,” he said. “And when you finish the process, you have those tools and you know what to do with them and you’re a veteran. As a team, we have an end goal and we need to figure how to get there, so we do research and find a tool to help us get there and we use it right away.”
In the longer term, Gyenes says participation on the team gives students a definite advantage when it comes to finding jobs.
But there are many frustrations to leading a team, he adds. People can at times feel trapped by their role and responsibility on a team—you’re suddenly expected to manage projects, finances, and people, developing skills on the fly. There’s pressure to complete every task when the alternative is to have the team fail. And because it’s extracurricular, there are no academic credits or rewards for all the hours spent on the project.
But Gyenes knows what he has gained through four years of study and hard work. His immediate plan is, in a manner of speaking, not to have a plan. This summer he’ll move to Dusseldorf, Germany, where his girlfriend has landed a job. He’s hoping to travel, but not to a vacation hotspot—he’s giving serious consideration to visiting Tajikistan out of pure curiosity. Rather than chase a job immediately, he hopes to take some time to ask himself questions about his future.
He still wants to help people through engineering and his overriding goal is to find a niche “where I am most effective for the most number of people.” He has a definite interest in the auto industry because if he can make even small improvements, many people will be affected.
His interest in the leading-edge of science and technology is still strong, too. He’ll be looking into computer science and machine learning, new battery technology, and nuclear fusion as possible areas of study or employment.
A U of A engineering degree is recognized internationally and Gyenes doesn’t feel restricted by where he lives. His degree has opened countless possibilities and he wants to carefully consider what he can accomplish by applying his engineering education in these fields.
“I have the security of my degree,” he said. “I can think not only in terms of what I want to do, I’m also thinking of where I want to be.”