News

The Faculty of Engineering congratulates the students that participated in the 29th Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC). Dalhousie Engineering had one of the best performances of any of the forty-five universities that competed in the national and regional competition this year.

The competition was held in London, Ontario at Western University from March 13-16, 2014. The CEC is a nation wide competition organized under the umbrella of the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES) that draws Canada’s best and brightest undergraduate engineering students together to showcase their technical, communication and innovative skills in a variety of challenging competitions.

Three teams were sent to the competition to compete in re-engineering, consulting engineering, and innovative design. The teams won first place in both the re-engineering and consulting engineering categories, which are two of the most competitive of the seven competitions at the CEC.

In the re-engineering competition, team members Bryan Bendle, 3rd year environmental engineering, and Elise Ouellet, 3rd year civil engineering, were required to apply the re-engineering process to an existing gadget or mechanism in order to add new functionality to it or enhance its original functionality. The intent of these improvements are to extend the use of the device to an alternative solution or use case.

Concepts are presented to a panel of judges, and teams are evaluated on the practicality, originality, feasibility, and marketability of their concept. This year the re-engineering tasks involved modifying Google Glass for the medical profession, both civilian and military, while addressing issues of privacy, security, and adaptability.

Pictured above are the consulting category team members: Greg Bowser, 4th year chemical engineering, Margot Elliott, 5th year chemical engineering, Jessica Noble, 4th year environmental engineering, and Benjamin Rans, 4th year industrial engineering.

Teams of four students are given eight hours to devise a creative solution to a real-world problem. They must develop holistic solutions that consider economic, social, and environmental impacts. They must present their comprehensive solution to a panel of judges familiar with the industry of the problem’s theme.  

This year the problem required students to optimize a traffic flow system and community space for the new installation of a light rapid transit system for the King-Victoria street intersection in downtown Kitchener, Ontario. Dalhousie's team won the competition by incorporating sustainable design initiatives similar to those at the Halifax Seaport Market and by incorporating a box jacking method to build an underpass for the new development.

In addition, the consulting team qualified to compete in the Shell International Engineering Competition in Calgary this September.  

Congratulations on a solid performance!