The Western Engineering Competition (WEC) is a highly prestigious competition between engineering students from the nine different universities in Western Canada. This year the Western Engineering Competition is being hosted at the University of Regina from January 21st to January 25th.
At WEC, students showcase their creativity and technical knowledge and skills before an audience consisting of their peers, faculty, and industry. Every year, more than 150 students attend to take part at all levels of competition. WEC is also the western qualifier for the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC), a national contest bringing the best from the West and the East together.
There are six different categories that students can compete in at WEC. They are:
Junior Design – Teams of four 1st and 2nd year students are given four hours to solve a design problem, challenging their imagination and technical skills. At the end of the four hours, teams will present their design to a judging panel. The presentation itself will be judged as well as the results of the build.
Senior Design – Teams of four senior students, from 3rd year upwards, are confronted with a more challenging engineering problem that they must solve in twelve hours. Just as in Junior Design, teams will be required to present their design and results at the end of the build time, and this presentation will be judged. Please bear in mind that at the UBC Engineering Competition, Senior teams will only have four hours, just like the Juniors!
Debate – Given little time for preparation, teams of two students must compose convincing, well-constructed arguments on an issue. Depending on the amount of interest, there will be a debate competition at the UBC Engineering Competition.. If not, a debate question will be provided to which a written response must be submitted for judging.
Communications – Competitors must take a technical topic and explain it in a manner understandable to everyone, using Powerpoint as an aid. The communications competition is a great opportunity to use and develop your presentation skills – something highly sought after by companies.
Innovative Design – Competitors establish an existing problem of their choosing and design a solution. Emphasis is placed on the real world implications. Just a quick note that many Fourth year design projects are great to submit into the Innovative Design category.
Consulting Design – Teams of four work on a design problem in an office environment. The competitors “bid” on the project by presenting the solution to a panel of judges, keeping in mind economic, ecological, and social impact. The related field of engineering is identified before the competition, to allow teams to prepare and review information. Obviously presentation is a huge part of this competition as well.
The selection of teams going to WEC will be done through the UBC Engineering Competition (formerly: pre-WEC Competition) or via email, depending on the category. The UBC Engineering Competition will be taking place on Saturday, November 15th.
Two competitions will be set up, one for Junior design and one for Senior design. If you are interested in Senior or Junior design, please e-mail us with your name and the names of your three other teammates (for a total of four people per team). For those who are interested in the other four competitions, we ask that you please contact us individually for more information. If you are interested but are having trouble finding four people for your team please just let us know and we will do our best to help you out. Students on their Co-op term are also welcome to compete.
There will be no cost for the UBC Engineering Competition, and the top teams (top two for Junior Design) will be invited to represent UBC engineering at WEC. All we ask is that you bring a competitive spirit and a sense of creativity with you. We hope that this e-mail has provided you with enough information to consider competing at the UBC Engineering Competition. If you would like further information, or have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at prewec2008@gmail.com.
We are also looking for volunteers for the event. This is a relatively low commitment volunteer opportunity and any help would be much appreciated. If you are interested, please email us (as above).
All The Best,
Sharzhad Pedram and Joël Mertens, on behalf of your Engineering Undergraduate Society