For the first time in over 10 years, the presidential candidate for the Engineering Society (EngSoc) is running unopposed.

Taylor Wheeler, Sci ’13, spoke at the ILC atrium for the presidential debate on Wednesday night. The event was attended by almost 50 Engineering students.

He said that while he has no EngSoc experience outside of being a FREC, he wants to promote teamwork, accountability and personal responsibility within the Society.

One of his platform points is to increase accessibility and participation in EngSoc.

“The way the Engineering Society is run right now is by a few people, doing a lot of work. The volunteers need to be commended but we need to get more people interested in EngSoc. The vast majority are indifferent,” Wheeler told the audience.

“Whether or not all the students engage with the Society, they deserve to be represented.”

Wheeler said he wants to improve the image of Engineering students at Queen’s and in Kingston.

“If we do a better job with our image in this world … in the city of Kingston, alumni would be more interested in hiring us and we’d better engage current members of EngSoc who are future alumni,” he said.

Wheeler declined multiple interview requests from the Journal.

At the debate, he said he had little knowledge of the time commitment involved or the position’s role.

“I am prepared to take a fifth year. My course load is heavy this year so it’ll be interesting if I’ll have to drop a course, though I don’t foresee this happening, for transitioning,” he said.