Candidate for the election to the Board of Governors of one full-time member of the support staff.

D! (Puranjan Gaur) is a seventh generation Cowboy. His grandmother taught him the necessary skills to be an efficient and empathetic cowboy/wrangler. D! started fighting bulls (helping the bull riders) at the age of four. At the age of seven, he started riding on bulls and working as a bull rider.  

At the age of twelve, D! left his home due to terrorism and human trafficking in the area where he was growing up. He decided to pursue education in engineering because of his admiration of planes and satellites. After few years, he stared his education in computer science program and started working in his first year with several game development companies such as Epic games, Rockstar games and NVIDIA. He also worked on a very successful game called ‘Fortnite’ as a shaders programmer.  

After working on the software side, D! decided to learn the internals of computers and electronics system. That’s when he decided to pursue Computer engineering and Electrical engineering with specialization in electronics engineering. He worked as a drone engineer and embedded systems engineer for industrial motor control systems for pulp and paper industry after he graduated.

D! joined the University of Ottawa as a support staff (EECS undergrad labs) to assist the students in understanding practical aspects of Electrical and Computer engineering. He is currently working as a lead technologist in the faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). His main job is to oversee the students’ progress (both professional and personal) and provide them with the resources they need to understand the concepts better.  Besides working with the students, D! also assists professors in developing new courses and labs to keep up with the everchanging landscape of electrical and computer engineering.

Summary:

Experience: Wrangler, Bull fighter, Bull rider, Software engineer, Control systems engineer (Drone), Embedded systems engineer, Electrical engineering Technologist

Extracurricular activities: Human trafficking and missing people case investigator (RCMP, Toronto Police Dept., Trace labs, Kids Internet Safety Alliance, virtual global taskforce) 

D! (PURANJAN GAUR)

Letter of Intention

Dear all,

I am writing this letter of intent to express my interest in joining the Board of Governors of the University of Ottawa.

Through this opportunity, I will be able to contribute directly towards the University’s growth and reach for advancing the education and contributing to this thriving institution.

My intention of joining this committee is the following:  Students’ success defines our success. It is our job to provide them with the necessary resources and support for advancing in their personal and professional growth. To me, support staff plays a major role in day-to-day execution of our desired goal.

By becoming a member of Board of Governors, I will have an opportunity to represent my fellow support staff members, and act for the benefit of the well-being of each and every member of this group.

My focus will be on the following:

  1. Mental and Physical well-being of support staff members
  2. Safe and inclusive workplace for support staff
  3. Increasing the productivity and efficiency of support staff members by providing them with the required resources.
  4. Improving the working conditions and implementing accessibility policies for members of support staff who are physically/mentally/emotionally challenged.

By becoming an active member of the Board of Governors, I intend to emphasize on our institution’s growth and success in terms of its outreach, diversity, inclusivity, and collaboration with external members of this community.  

This opportunity will also allow me to learn more about our institution and contribute towards its overall success.

Sincerely,
-D! (Puranjan Gaur)