Graduate student Meagan Flus (MIE PhD 2T6) used 24-hour observation to analyze conflict on design teams — and how to navigate it
During her PhD thesis, Meagan Flus (MIE PhD 2T6) often found herself in a noisy lecture theatre at 3:00 AM, wielding a video camera and a notebook.
“I joined 24-hour hackathon events in Toronto and Waterloo with a team of research assistants for data collection,” she says.
“We would stay awake overnight with hackathon teams to collect audio and video recordings, along with observation notes. Our unique approach to collecting rich, in-situ data is something I’m particularly proud of.”
Flus is a recent graduate of the Ready Lab, headed up by Professor Alison Olechowski (MIE). Using an interdisciplinary approach, the team studies how engineering design teams can collaborate more efficiently and effectively.
Over the course of her PhD, Flus and her research projects earned awards at the national and international levels. She is now in the process of relocating to Glasgow, Scotland for a postdoctoral position with the University of Strathclyde.
Flus completed her undergraduate degree in Knowledge Integration at the University of Waterloo. But she was always interested in graduate studies, and was encouraged in this path by her project advisor and mentor, Professor Ada Hurst.
“Excellent mentors provided, and still provide me with great insight and inspiration,” says Flus. “They helped me realize the importance of surrounding oneself with good mentors and being a good mentor for others.”
One piece of advice she received was to engage with organizations aligned with her research goals, such as the Canadian Design Workshop (CDW). Convened every two years, CDW brings together design educators and researchers from across Canada to advance engineering design education.
It was during one of these meetings that Flus first met Olechowski. Flus joined her team as a PhD student in 2021.
“I have always considered myself a collaborator and interested in how people work together,” says Flus.
“I would say that has been the overarching theme of my research: helping people do engineering design effectively.”
Flus’ strategy of collecting real-time recordings of design communication during team collaboration was highly novel and opened the door to multiple new research directions. Analysis of this data could help design communities better understand team dynamics, inform decision-making and improve engineering design processes for both hardware and software projects.
In 2025 Flus was the recipient of the Design Theory and Methodology Best Paper Award at the International Design Engineering Technical Conferences. Later that same year, she was awarded the Volunteering Scholarship Award from the Design Society for her participation at the International Conference on Engineering Design, held in summer 2025.
Also In 2025, Flus received the Engineering Education Student Award from the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACÉG). The award recognizes a commitment to innovation, change and improvement in engineering education.
“As part of CEEA-ACÉG, I have worked with folks so passionate about engineering education,” says Flus.
“It deepened my appreciation for engineering education as a space of innovation, equity, and transformation. It also reaffirmed my commitment to ensuring students have access to diverse, empowering learning experiences that prepare them to be not just engineers, but changemakers.”
Her postdoctoral position will be with the University of Strathclyde’s Department of Design Manufacturing and Engineering Management, where she will focus on a project known as SEISMIC SHIFT. (SEISMIC SHIFT stands for: Systems Engineering Innovation Hubs for Multiple Long-Term Conditions: Systemic Health Innovation for Transformation)
“The project aims to improve care for patients living with multiple long-term health conditions,” says Flus.
“We will take a systems-based redesign focus to prioritize whole patient care and work closely with a team of researchers, designers, and practitioners from the National Health Service (NHS). I am very excited about this opportunity and to have the chance to conduct applied research that will impact many lives.”
– This story was originally published on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News Site on July 7, 2026, by Kendra Hunter.