Communication, Collaboration and Kissing the Cod: Experiences at Shad 2024

Seven Greenwood students had the opportunity to participate in the Shad program this summer.

Shad is an annual month-long STEAM program offered to students in Grades 10 and 11 to experience living and studying at more than 20 universities across Canada during July. 

Participants can get first-hand experience attending lectures and listening to guest speakers while working in groups to design a project based on a theme. The 2024 theme challenged teams to answer, "How might we help people in Canada integrate affordable and reliable green energy sources into their everyday lives to create more sustainable communities?” 

If you’re interested in being part of Shad for Summer 2025, please apply on their website before December 1, 2024. 

My Shad experience was truly amazing. I would consider it one of the best experiences of my life, if not THE best. If I could go again this summer I would. I learned a lot, had a ton of fun, and met many great people from all over Canada. 

When I was accepted into the program I decided it would be a great opportunity to see another part of Canada so when ranking my campus choices I selected campuses outside of Ontario. I ended up going to Memorial University in Newfoundland. A typical day at Shad would start with morning rec (e.g., basketball, working out, volleyball), followed by breakfast. Then we would have two morning lectures. Topics included business planning and marketing, cyber security, data science, etc. After lunch, we would participate in hands-on workshops or attend seminars. These included learning how an autopsy is performed; disassembling and reassembling a lawnmower; and using Bloomberg software to analyze and select stocks. We would also have to give a pitch to convince a panel of “investors” why they should invest in these stocks. The evenings were spent working on group projects or doing recreational activities like going to the beach. 

Participants are divided into teams to tackle the Shad theme and given $100 to come up with an idea, build a prototype, write a business plan and prepare a presentation to a panel of judges. My team’s idea was an underground water turbine that would turn water into energy that homes in the community could use. Our team won the award for the best application of the theme. 

On weekends, we had a chance to explore Newfoundland. We went on several excursions, including going to Bell Island and touring an underground mine, whale watching, camping on Fogo Island, and exploring downtown St John’s. And of course, no trip to Newfoundland would be complete without kissing a cod! Shad gave me a really good taste of what university life would be like without the pressure of university. I developed many strong friendships with people who will be friends for life. I would highly recommend Shad to anyone who is considering a STEAM-related career path. 

My Shad experience this summer at the University of New Brunswick helped me learn how to communicate better and present innovative ideas. Small group discussions and nerve-racking innovation pitches before a panel of judges forced me to focus on communicating in a clear and concise way. The Shad program also spurred me to reflect on my values, the type of person I want to be, and the impact I would like to have on the world.

My team worked on making sustainable transportation more accessible and convenient to increase the utilization of public transport. We came up with sustainable modern gondolas to efficiently transport users along a gondola line featuring solar panels, a regenerative braking system and a bypass system. The solar panels provide sustainable energy to power the gondolas, the regenerative braking system was designed to recover energy and the bypass system improves operational efficiency by reducing the number of gondola cars needed as demand changes.

Outside the UNB Shad classroom, the Shad students took in some local sights of New Brunswick. We toured around the UNB campus in Saint John as well as attended town markets and shopped for locally made souvenirs. We also visited a local art gallery in Fredericton and a few beaches and a waterfall. These outings were fun and helped all of the students connect and bond with each other.

My experience at Shad UPEI 2024 was filled with so many memorable experiences, it's hard to count them all. We learned everything from biomass and its effect on energy generation to creating magnetic slime in a lab. We also got to go on a trip to a biopharmaceutical company and learned how drugs were manufactured from chemical synthesis to packaging to shipping. 

My design group designed an app called WattsApp. The app would pull data from the user's local energy network and would detect when the power grid is running on renewable energy. In some places (like Ontario), because you pay different rates depending on which time you use energy, WattsApp would take notes and automatically optimize when you run your home appliances when the power grid is running on renewable energy and when the price per kw/h is cheapest.

Aside from our learnings in class and during activities, our group also got to go on a two-day camping trip, during which we explored the forest, slept in tents and sang songs by the campfire. Despite how that was the most amount of bugs I'd ever witnessed, it was unforgettable looking back.

As someone who is interested in environments and animals, I was very interested in the history of the lands of Alberta. One of my favourite speakers talked about the travels of the buffalos and how the Iniskim tribes were able to use the buffalos travel routes to their advantage for hunting. I think that every learning experience was memorable.

We had many mini projects during the duration of our stay. The biggest project we had was the final project. This is where my team worked on creating a solar panel community garden. This building would be used to collect solar energy, then this energy would be used to rent to communities close by, as well would be used to run the community garden to grow fresh produce, another attribute that communities would enjoy. As a garden it was also aesthetically pleasing and can be used as a beautiful garden to enjoy nature walks in.

We had the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and learn about the community we were in. We participated in many nature walks around our campus as well as travelling through coulees to parks. We also had field trips to museums where we learned about the Iniskim and their ancient tales.

During Shad, I learned how easily you can connect with so many people in such a short time. Everyone was from all across the country and had completely different experiences in life. I also learned about many different topics in STEM through hands-on workshops and lectures. Some of my favourites were the nursing lectures where we practiced fake scenarios on realistic cadavers and a chemistry lab where we were able to use the university lab equipment. 

We were split into groups of eight and tasked with helping youth in Canada integrate affordable and reliable green energy sources into their everyday lives. I was designated as my group's CEO, where I delegated roles, filled in where needed and came up with creative solutions. My group's final project was called 'Kineti-Kids'. We designed playgrounds for underfunded schools that generate electricity to power the school. Our solution theoretically would have saved a junior school in Scarborough around 15% of their yearly energy bill. Our group won the 'Innovators' award for the most original and creative project.

While in British Columbia, there were many opportunities to be outdoors. We went on a two-night camping trip to Campbell Lake, which allowed us to see amazing wildlife and a stunning sunset. We also went on a day trip to Kelowna where we went swimming in Lake Okanagan. We took two separate day trips where we were able to explore the town of Kamloops, as well as a trip to the town's foodbank where we saw the behind-the-scenes operations. 

 

I found it to be a great experience overall - especially for people looking to try new things, get a feel for life at university, and meet new people from all across the country. 

I learned about various topics during my time at Shad - how to break a microwave, how to climb a mountain and some fun facts about dinosaurs. The more memorable things that I've learned are lessons that will help me in the future, such as suturing workshops and DNA labs. My biggest takeaways from Shad, however, are the importance of living in the moment and always trying your hardest. 

My design project team "Columbia" worked on implementing microbial fuel cells into wastewater management systems for indigenous communities. The goal for the design was for a small-scale project that worked to incorporate green energy into the everyday lives of Canadian citizens. Microbial fuel cell technology uses chemical reactions to remove organic waste from the water and generate electricity in the process. We found that this technology could be used to sustain the wastewater plant itself while also working as an enhancement to the wastewater purification process. My team also developed a prototype.

We had the opportunity to explore the city of Calgary and the university's campus, however, the most exciting trips were when we travelled around Alberta. One of my favourite trips was when we went camping in the Rockies and climbed a mountain in Kananaskis. In addition, we visited the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, where we also had the opportunity to hike in the Hoodoos.

Something memorable I learned at Shad was the importance of connections. Shad really stressed meaningful networking and it was an amazing opportunity to connect with bright students from all across Canada. I may not have been close friends with all 114 of the Shad students at my campus, but I had the opportunity to speak and get to know all of them individually, and I still keep in contact with many of them.

 

My team worked on a solution to provide sustainable, accessible and affordable energy. We created a startup named Connected Winds. We designed a modular wind turbine blade that was segmented into thirds. Unlike traditional turbine blades that are one piece and can be up to 150 feet long, our blade was much shorter and in smaller pieces so it could be easily transported. Traditional blades are extremely difficult to transport, causing highway closures and often the trucks flip. Our blade pieces could fit on standard flatbed trucks making the shipping process much more cost effective. The bolting system we designed made it possible to connect all the pieces on site. This also makes repairs much easier as instead of replacing the whole blade, you could just replace that specific segment. Overall, this makes energy more accessible and affordable as more rural areas can now be accessed with standard trucks versus specialized trucks and oversized loads. It also makes the start-up cost lower so historically inaccessible regions can now be reached and be connected to sustainable wind energy.