Tigers track star jumps his way to an iron ring

Dal Engineering student Tobi Oshikoya, a decorated member of the Dal Tigers Track and Field team, is looking forward to his biggest accomplishment to date this weekend — receiving his iron ring.

Dal's annual Iron Ring ceremony offers an opportunity for those who will join the engineering profession to obligate themselves to the highest standards of integrity the profession has established. This year's ceremony will be held Saturday (March 9) at the Halifax Convention Centre.

“The iron ring to me symbolizes the hard work and determination put into the last five years,” says Tobi. “It also serves as reminder of what an engineer should be, which in my opinion is to be innovative and considerate of the impact of our work."

And this soon-to-be chemical engineer is familiar with hard work and determination. The jumper has been a Tiger athlete since he began his engineering career on the Truro Campus.

“I did my weight-room sessions mostly by myself or sometimes with my high school coach in Truro,” Tobi explained. “I would also drive up twice a week for technical jump sessions with the rest of the jumps team in Halifax.”

Born in Ireland, Tobi moved to Canada in 2015 and settled in Truro. A strong STEM student, being able to apply chemistry, math and even physics to real-world applications is what drew him to the field.

Recommended reading: A banner weekend — Dal Tigers collect five AUS titles 

A balancing act

Tobi completed his first two years of his program on the Truro campus before transitioning to the Halifax campus. 

“Looking back now, I think I really benefited from the smaller engineering class sizes on the Truro campus compared to the 100+ student class sizes you would see at other campuses,” said Tobi.

A multi-sport athlete throughout high school meant Tobi always had practice throughout the year.

“The only difference I found in university was school was harder, so it meant spending more time being a student than an athlete some weeks,” explained Tobi.  “The opposite was also true, with taking my sport more seriously as a university athlete, I was a more of an athlete than student sometimes, particularly leading up to a competition.”

This has proven especially true for Tobi this month as he will be unable to attend the Iron Ring ceremony as he will be competing at the U SPORTS national championship March 7-9 in Winnipeg after winning a gold medal in the triple jump at the AUS championship at the end of February.  

Tobi is considering a master’s program after graduation in the spring.