Badge Day 2026: Laughter, learning and lava lamps
On a snowy Saturday, dozens of Girl Guides of Canada took to Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) as part of the nationwide Badge Day. Organized by the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering (ONWiE), this inspiring initiative is designed to empower girls and young women to explore engineering early in their educational journey. Engineering student ambassadors from TMU’s Engineering Outreach team spent the day with the Girl Guides, showing them that engineering is for all – and can be fun too!
Arianna Economou, a TMU chemical engineering alumnus, was the keynote speaker at Badge Day. She rallied the Guides and had everyone excited to start building their lava lamps.
The Girl Guides couldn’t wait to get started and were eager to learn.
Ambassadors showed participants how to build their very own lava lamps, with a range of funky colours to choose from.
The day capped off with the Badge Ceremony, where all the participants received an unique ONWiE badge crest in recognition of their engineering feats.
"It was an amazing opportunity for the girls to do some hands-on learning together while getting inspired by great role models. They were so excited to take their lava lamps home and share with their families what they learned!"
A big thank you to the FEAS Outreach ambassadors and staff who were great mentors on the day, including Claire Barnes, Sofie Khan, Eve Thamir, Fatima Choudary and Avin Rahimpoor. Also, TMU Engineering Outreach would like to thank all the partners and sponsors who made this event possible including ONWiE, Rodney Yip, Actua and Hydro One's WEMADEIT.
Photography credit: Keir Patrick
About TMU Engineering Outreach
The TMU Engineering Outreach team actively partners with schools, and other youth-oriented organizations, to inspire and educate the next generation of STEM students. We run in-classroom workshops and on- and off-campus events, with our engineering students and alumni as mentors and educators. We also equip teachers with resources to promote STEM within their classrooms.
If you would like to join, host, or sponsor an outreach initiative, please contact Minakshi Suri, Manager, Equity and Community Inclusion at minakshi.suri@torontomu.ca or visit our pre-university programs webpage.