Novelty, function, and sturdiness are criteria that can lead to success
What: Engineering student design showcase
Who: More than 300 students compete against each other’s design in annual competition
When: Thursday, December 3, 1 to 4:30 p.m.
Where: EME building, UBC’s Okanagan campus, Kelowna
The semester is about the wind-down and UBC Okanagan first-year engineering students have an opportunity this week to demonstrate what they’ve learned in class.
Thursday marks the annual engineering student design challenge, where teams of first-year students display a project they have designed and built to match specific requirements from senior instructor Ray Taheri.
“The students were given a choice of three different themes,” says Taheri. “During the design showcase, they will explain and demonstrate their final intricate design to a panel of judges.”
Students had a choice of themes — create a device to make everyday living easier for an elderly person, a ‘Make Space’ project where they had to find an innovative way to transform non-teaching and learning spaces on campus to teaching and learning spaces, or create a personal cart where homeless people can store their belongings.
“Students are judged not only on the idea, but the novelty, function, and robustness of what they have designed and engineered,” explains Taheri. “Only the excellent designs make it to the final round, and only the very best will win the design showcase.”
The Applied Science Design Showcase takes places in the lower two levels of the Engineering, Management and Education building, 1137 Alumni Way, at UBC’s Okanagan campus, December 3 from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
This event is open to the public, and Taheri especially encourages any high school students who are thinking about a career in engineering to drop by and see the work prepared by the first-year students.
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