For 35 years, McMaster Engineering’s Venture Camp has introduced youth to the world of STEM. Each summer, current McMaster Engineering students share their love of STEM with campers and inspire the next generation of engineers through engaging, hands-on learning.
Recognize Venture’s 35th anniversary by supporting the next generation of diverse STEM leaders with a gift to the Venture scholarship. Your generosity will help create a future where curious children, regardless of their families’ financial barriers, have the chance to participate
Learn more about what Venture means to past instructors and McMaster alumni, Rodney Gabay, Jackie Spackman, Alison Bayzat, Adam Rocque, Dave Colangelo, and more to come!
2005 (Instructor), 2006 (Curriculum Coordinator) & 2007 (Director)
What does Venture mean to you?
Venture is the place where my career in education really began. It was the first time I felt that mix of excitement, challenge, and purpose that comes from working with young people. Those summers showed me how much I enjoyed teaching, creating hands‑on learning experiences, and being part of a team that cared about making science fun.
As I moved from instructor to curriculum coordinator to camp director, Venture became the place where I learned how to lead, how to trust my instincts, and how to support others so they could do their best work. A lot of the way I run my department today can be traced back to those early lessons.
More than anything, Venture represents growth. It shaped me at a time when I was figuring out who I wanted to be as an educator, and its influence is still with me every day.
What’s your favourite Venture memory?
My favorite Venture memory is one I can still picture almost 20 years later. We ran a project where campers built Spider‑Man cutouts and attached straws to the hands, threading a long string through them which was then attached to the ceiling of the room. Using the principles of friction, two campers would race their Spider‑Men by pulling the strings as fast as they could.
The energy in the room was unforgettable. The cheering, the determination, the friendly competition, and the pure joy on the kids’ faces as their Spider‑Man “climbed” the rope was unforgettable. It was such a simple activity, but it captured everything I loved about Venture: creativity, hands‑on science, and kids discovering how fun learning could be.
What skills or lessons from Venture have stayed with you in your career?
Venture was truly the beginning of my career in education. My first summer in 2005, working as an instructor, helped me realize how much I loved teaching and working with kids. It pushed me to develop my communication skills and gave me the confidence to lead a classroom for the first time.
In my second summer, as a curriculum coordinator, I had the chance to explore my creativity by designing hands‑on projects that made science exciting and accessible. That experience taught me how to think like both an educator and a learner — a balance I still rely on today.
By my final summer in 2007, serving as Camp Director, I learned how to lead a team of diverse, talented, and incredibly smart individuals. Managing staff, supporting instructors, and creating a positive environment for campers taught me leadership skills that translated directly into my current role as Science Department Head at a Toronto high school. Many of the ways I mentor teachers and build department culture today can be traced back to those summers at Venture.
Venture in one word?
Legendary
2008 & 2009 (Instructor)
What does Venture mean to you?
Excellent STEM education for kids to be exposed to exciting concepts and careers they would not normally experience!
What’s your favourite Venture memory?
Some of the kids in my Comp & Tech class coding their own video games – some with great detail including sprites they drew themselves! The spark in their eye and the excitement for a project in a youth with great potential is always fulfilling.
What skills or lessons from Venture have stayed with you in your career?
Being able to break down complex concepts into simpler, teachable bites is such a valuable skill. Engineering teams often have to coordinate with sales, logistics, management and other non-technical departments, so being able to communicate necessary technical details to laypeople is essential.
In my personal life I have continued working with youth as a volunteer with Scouts Canada. I’ve been a Beaver Leader for 4 years and my years at Venture well prepared me for this age group!
Venture in one word?
Bright
2013 (Instructor) 2014 (Curriculum Coordinator) & 2015 (Director)
What does Venture mean to you?
When I was in high school McMaster Engineering Community Outreach had LEAP (Learning Enrichment Advancement Program), focused on providing students a two-week introduction into STEM fields. This was my first adventure into the world of engineering, although initially attending for biomedical engineering, I discovered my interest in electrical engineering and computer science. When I returned to my final years of high school, I shifted focus to computer science and FIRST Robotics, receiving admission to McMaster University to study Electrical Engineering & Society with a minor in Computer Science and later Software Engineering.
While at McMaster it was important to me to work to inspire the next generation, just as this program and its leaders did for me. Throughout my time at McMaster I had the opportunity to work as an Instructor, Computer Science Curriculum Coordinator and ultimately as the Director of Engineering Youth Programs. During my time as the Director of Venture, we were able to create new learning opportunities for students, expanding the program to include Codemakers in partnership with Actua and Google and Yes SHE Can focusing on engaging women in STEM. Throughout my education and career, I have had the continued privilege to lead within similar STEM engagement programs and spend time with future innovators!
What’s your favourite Venture memory?
Looking back on my years with Venture, my favorite memory is leading travelling STEM workshops throughout the community, reaching a wide audience across elementary and high school students to inspire the next generation!
What skills or lessons from Venture have stayed with you in your career?
One of the most important skills I developed at Venture was learning how to create and present content for a wide range of audiences. Whether it was a group of young learners, parents, or fellow engineers, I had to adapt my communication style and make technical ideas accessible, this has stayed with me throughout my career and has been critical in every role I’ve taken on.
Venture in one word?
Future
2013 (Instructor), 2014 (Assistant Director Operations) & 2015 (Instructor)
What does Venture mean to you?
Venture is a massive opportunity – for campers and counsellors alike. For the campers, it reframes STEM entirely. It’s not equations on a page, it’s designing solutions to real problems, discovering something new, and having a blast while doing it!
For the people running it, it’s a crash course in the skills that formal engineering education often misses – time management, interpersonal communication, and learning to actually convey complex ideas clearly. Engineers have an edge in knowledge – but without the ability to communicate it, it can dull.
Venture sharpens that edge.
What’s your favourite Venture memory?
It happened after my Director role with Venture. I was presenting my capstone project during McMaster’s public day – several of engineering and work experience culminating in one massive project.
A young man came through with his family, touring the school as a prospective undergrad. When I got a closer look, I recognized him immediately – he’d been one of my campers in my very first year as a counsellor, and I’d had the privilege of watching him grow through the program over the years.
He told me McMaster was his top choice – and that what he’d experienced at Venture had a lot to do with that decision. It was a quiet reminder of why this work matters, and one I carry with me still.
What skills or lessons from Venture have stayed with you in your career?
Presentation and public speaking. Doing science workshops in schools every day forces you to hold a room, adapt on the fly, and make technical content land for any audience.
Building out the Codemakers curriculum also gave me my first real taste of leading a team and owning a department’s direction end to end – setting goals, managing people, and being accountable for the output. Those two things – communicating well and leading with intention – show up in everything I do professionally.
Venture in one word?
Inspiring!
2001 (Instructor), 2002 (Director) & 2004 (Instructor)
What does Venture mean to you?
My time at Venture as a counsellor and director were really special. I made a lot of great friends that I’m still in contact with today. Venture presented us with an opportunity to put what we were learning in the classroom into practice in a unique and challenging way: we had to figure out how to translate complex ideas from physics, chemistry, electronics, computer science, and biology into simple, hands-on projects that would children would get excited about.
What’s your favourite Venture memory?
The CO2 powered racecars that we made one year. Campers got to choose between 3 different models, assemble and decorate their cars, then race them down the hallway in the engineering building. We created a custom starter that would puncture the C02 cartridges in two cars at the same time so that they would simultaneously take off down the racetrack lined with kids going wild.
What skills or lessons from Venture have stayed with you in your career?
How to distill and translate complex theories into simple hands-on activities that bring those concepts to life. Also: how to manage a classroom!
Venture in one word?
FUN
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