An image of a person with short brown hair and glasses smiling at the camera. They are wearing a blue striped collared shirt.

Sarah Vestrum

MSc
Pronouns: she/they

Positions

Assistant Professor (Teaching)

Schulich School of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Software Engineering

Contact information

Background

Educational Background

BSc Electrical Engineering, University of Alberta, 2021

MSc Electrical Engineering, University of Calgary, 2024

Research

Areas of Research

Queer identity, engineering identity, queering engineering, belonging in engineering

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
ENGG 225 Fundamentals of Electrical Circuits and Machines Fall 2024
ENGG 200 Introduction to Engineering Design Winter 2025
ENCM 335 Programming Fundamentals for Electrical Engineers Fall 2025
ENGG 225 Fundamentals of Electrical Circuits and Machines Fall 2025

Projects

Investigating the tensions and harmonies between engineering student identity and queer identity

The experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and many other sexual and gender identities) students in engineering is a deeply understudied area within the Canadian context. With the goal of increasing equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) in the engineering classroom, we must first identify the barriers faced by queer students, as well as what strategies and measures have been helpful in supporting them. The primary motivation of this research is a desire to better understand the population of queer undergraduate engineering students and their experiences in the classroom with the driving research question: how does engineering culture impact queer identity and experiences in engineering classrooms?