Target audience: Undergraduate, master’s and PhD students in architecture, engineering, computer science, management and related fields who are interested in joining Reconstruct for Summer 2026.

Presented by: Professor Michael Jemtrud, Chair in Architecture, Energy and Environment, at the Peter Guo-ha Fu School of Architecture at McGill, with members of the Reconstruct team.

About the information session

The information session intends to provide information to all students who are interested in learning more about Reconstruct, upcoming activities and opportunities to join the team full-time for Summer 2026 (May 1st to August 20th, 2026), with the possibility to continue part-time or full-time during the subsequent academic year (September 2026 to April 2027). The session will also include specific instructions

 Summer positions are available for undergraduate, Masters, and PhD students. The session will include specific instructions on how to apply within the scope of the SURE program (Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering).

The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer period and the opportunity to talk with members of the team one-on-one. All students and recent graduates who are interested in learning more about Reconstruct are invited to attend the information session.

Priority research activities for Summer 2026

To date, Reconstruct’s work focused on developing architectural solutions and a value proposition for realizing pilot project DERs, building relationships with key actors in the sector across Canada, and on assessing the existing building stock to identify a pipeline of pilot projects to spur development of capacity.  We are recruiting candidates for the teams who will continue development of architectural solutions and decision-making tools.

Architectural solutions

The challenge: Without sufficient industry capacity, panelized DERs cannot be delivered at the speed, cost, or scale required to meet climate goals. Architectural and construction solutions based on DfMA principles (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) need to be developed through case studies and pilot projects. Current and completed pilot projects include:

• multi-unit residential buildings from the Quebec social housing sector
• a prefabricated community Centre in the west end of Montreal
• residential duplex located in the Mile-Ex district of Montreal, including the addition of an extension using prefabricated panels.

Decision-making tools

The challenge: large building stocks need to be quickly surveyed and assessed to identify the most promising candidates for DERs. The following tools will be developed and expanded:

• Building Identification tool:  allows users to remotely survey a large list of buildings for specific characteristics.
• Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tool: ranks the buildings according to specified, weighted selection criteria to select the most promising buildings and retrofit measures.
• Costing database & framework: allows decision-makers to estimate the upfront costs of different retrofit scenarios and measures as well as the financial impacts over the lifespan of the building.

To apply

See Reconstruct's Summer 2026 recruitment page for more information about how to apply.

For more information

Email us at opportunities.reconstruct@mcgill.ca if you have questions or to get a copy of the slides if you missed the info session.