UBC Okanagan engineering students will be displaying their year-end projects at a number of design competitions next week.
As the academic year winds to a close, UBC Okanagan engineering students are getting ready to show how the knowledge they’ve learned in class can make a real-world difference.
There are three opportunities next week for the public to learn about the innovation, ingenuity and community partnerships taking place at UBCO.
What: Manufacturing Engineering 330 final design competition
When: Tuesday, April 7, from 2 to 3:30 pm
Where: EME 4218, Engineering, Management and Education building, 1137 Alumni Avenue, UBC Okanagan
On Tuesday, five third-year student teams will present their final designs from a hands-on collaborative project. This year, they designed and built a fully functional pneumatic press made up of five distinct, yet integrated, subcomponents, explains Dr. Ray Taheri, Professor of Teaching.
“This project is meant to feel like a real engineering design environment, where teams build complex systems through interdisciplinary teamwork, communication and iterative problem solving,” he says. “Through this process, students are expected to apply core principles of manufacturing, mechanical design and systems integration while also gaining valuable experience in collaboration, project management and functional design.”
The final presentations start at 2 pm and will showcase each team’s technical quality as well as the collective effort required to bring the complete machine from concept to implementation.
What: Applied Science 171 final design competition
When: Thursday, April 9, from 2 to 6:30 pm
Where: Upper and lower foyer, Engineering, Management and Education building, 1137 Alumni Avenue, UBC Okanagan
As the School of Engineering’s longest-running flagship design showcase, this annual competition highlights creativity, innovation and experiential learning within the UBCO engineering program, says Dr. Taheri.
The competition takes place on April 9 and features first-year engineering students competing against their peers as they present their design solutions.
“This showcase has become an important event for both the university and the community, highlighting the ingenuity of our students and the school’s focus on design-based education and socially relevant engineering practice,” says Dr. Taheri.
There are two themes this year. Students were tasked with designing a product to support older adults with their daily activities, while improving overall quality of life through practical and user-centred engineering.
The second project focuses on climate change. Students will present projects that explore wildfire mitigation, flood resilience, individual and community carbon footprint reduction and living more sustainably.
“Together, these themes encourage students to engage with important issues and consider how engineering design can contribute meaningfully to human wellbeing and environmental stewardship,” adds Dr. Taheri.
More than 70 first-year student teams have shown their designs so far, and the top 20 teams will advance to the live competition on April 9. The competition encourages creativity and gives students experience presenting their ideas to a panel of professional judges.
What: School of Engineering capstone project showcase and competition
When: Friday, April 10, from 2 to 4 pm
Where: KF Aerospace Centre for Excellence, 5800 Lapointe Drive, Kelowna
The capstone event highlights the work of more than 340 final-year engineering students who will present 59 projects developed with industry and community partners from the Okanagan and across Canada.
The projects represent a range of themes, including automotive and aerospace, community and humanitarian engineering, infrastructure and construction, innovative devices and systems, software and data systems, as well as sustainable and environmental solutions.
The event is the culmination of years of learning and hard work by the students, with their projects aimed at providing solutions to real problems in the Okanagan and around the world.
Some of the unique ideas include a wheelchair-friendly snow shovel, a chemical-free way to control Eurasian watermilfoil, an educational robotics kit for low-resource communities, sustainable solar power solutions for Cuba, micro-farm domes and sustainable solutions to help rebuild Camp OAC after the McDougall Creek Wildfire.
A panel of industry leaders and engineering faculty will judge the projects. Winning teams will be announced at the closing ceremony at 3:30 pm.
“While many of these projects are done with industry partners, some are student-led, making this event a launch pad for their entrepreneurial ideas,” explains Dr. Alon Eisenstein, Associate Professor of Teaching in the School of Engineering. “We are incredibly proud of the graduating students’ creativity and skills, and the is invited to see the ingenuity these students will bring to their future careers.”
As part of the year-end design competitions, engineering students will explain their product design to a panel of judges.
