OEC 2011 to be held at Western - WEC winners to compete
By Mphatso Mlotha
Western’s best in engineering talent competed at the
Western Engineering Competition (WEC), from January 14 to 16, 2011.
The event included Western Engineering undergraduate students, in all programs or years. Throughout the competition, students participated in challenges, a lunch mixer, and a banquet held on January 16.
“The organizing committee really put in their all to make this one of the biggest competitions in recent memory,” says Sorin Popa, WEC chair. “The number of participants tripled, compared to last year’s event.”
The competition was broken down into six categories where teams were asked to execute a challenging task in a four-hour time period. Out of the six categories, competitors were allowed to sign-up for five competitions, including Junior Design, Senior Design, Engineering Communications, Parliamentary Debate, and Consulting Engineering.
The winners from each category were as follows:
Junior Team Design: Mohammad Shariq, Greg Thomas, Brandon Edmonds, Brandon McRae
Senior Team Design: Thomas Butler, Jeff Jung, Long Vu, Adam Turton
Consulting Engineering: Jeet Zandawala, Adam Spadotto, Sarah Goodridge, Meredith Conrod
Parliamentary Debate: Latif Abid, Shaunvir Sidhu
Engineering Communications: Wesley Johnson, Adam Newsome
To illustrate one of the challenges, the Junior Design team designed an efficient irrigation system for a third world country, which maximized the area covered by water from a source with specified flow rate and duration which the water flowed. The objective was to create a system that would be easy for farmers to maintain, cost-effective and use low pressure water as a source.
Prototypes were built in several buildings, including the Thompson Engineering Building and the Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion. Testing and presentations took place in the Spencer Engineering Building.
Popa adds, “The event was a success, I believe all the competitors had a great time dealing with the design challenges and produced some awesome prototypes and presentations. I am looking forward to seeing an even bigger competition next year.”
The journey continues for the 2011 WEC winners as the top teams from each category will compete in the
Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC), taking place at Western from February 4 – 6, 2011.
"We are honoured to host the 2011 Ontario Engineering Competition at Western this year,” said Kirsten Petersen, OEC 2011 chair. “After 32 years it continues to be an enriching experience for the competitors and the sponsors involved.“
OEC is expected to bring over 200 competitors, judges and sponsors from across Ontario to London. Events will take place on Western’s campus as well as at the Hilton London.
This year’s theme, “Engineering a Better World”, focuses on the fundamentals of what it means to be an engineer as well as a global citizen.It strives to showcase the ways engineering continues to improve the world every day. The theme will also appear throughout the competitions, with the problem definitions focusing on developing effective engineering solutions which consider technological, economic, political and societal implications.
“OEC hopes to showcase competitors’ skills in communication proficiency, engineering and entrepreneurship skills,” said Elaine Samuel, OEC VP of Public Relations.
Similar to WEC, there will be categories for teams to register in, including Parliamentary Debate, Engineering Communications and Innovative Design.
Participants will also have the privilege to meet and learn from keynote speaker, George Roter, founder of Engineers Without Borders, a renowned and respected International development organization.
"This special event allows the top engineering students from across the province to gather together with working engineers for a weekend filled with learning, networking, and fun," says Kirsten Petersen, OEC chair.
Winners from OEC will move on to compete in the Canadian Engineering Competition held at McGill in Montreal from March 10-13, 2011.
Also from this web page:
Contact
.: Allison Stevenson
Spencer Engineering Building, Room 2074
T: .519.850.2917
F: 519.661.3808
contactwe@eng.uwo.ca
