January 2009 issue
Student Column
Extracurricular Events Wrap Up Fall Semester Of U of A Engineering
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BY JOCELYN WESTWOOD |
Engineering students have been tackling their normal school-related tasks at the University of Alberta, such as finishing midterms, writing lab reports and studying for finals. There’s been much more going on as well, however, in the final months of the semester.
Co-op students going on work terms in January spent time applying and interviewing for jobs. Some students added to their workloads by participating in engineering-related extracurricular events, such as the Western Engineering Students Societies Team Retreat, the University of Alberta Engineering Competition and the APEGGA Student Mixer.
The Prince George retreat, hosted by the University of Northern British Columbia, brought together student representatives from Western Canada, Oct. 23-26. Ten member schools are represented on the Western Engineering Student Societies’ Team, including U of A and the University of Calgary. In addition to the retreat, WESST sponsors the Western Engineering Competition and other events.
The retreat focuses on sharing ideas and strategies in the operation of engineering student societies. It also features discussion on the roles and future direction of WESST.
The Engineering Students’ Society at the U of A sent four delegates to the retreat this year — Daryl Tran, Claire Smith, Dana Marsh and William Weng, all of whom are university student members of APEGGA.
Western Competition Looms
The second major event for the student society was the U of A Engineering Competition, which is the qualifying event to decide which teams go to the Western Engineering Competition in mid-January. Among the categories at the WEC are junior team design, senior team design, consulting engineering, innovative design and impromptu debate.
As a result of suggestions discussed at the WESST Retreat, teams for the two team design categories were chosen via an application process.
The innovative design category takes into account various aspects of engineering, and the qualifying competition for it was held Nov. 15. A technical solution to an existing problem must be found.
Once the solution is derived, the business aspect must be examined. Teams draft and present their business plans, based on market research, and the information must be presented in a booth at the competition.
The winners of this competition, a team of four, will attend the WEC in Regina, Jan. 21-25. Also attending will be the two winners of the impromptu debate competition and the successful applicants in the junior and senior design and consulting categories.
In the Mix
APEGGA and the ESS worked together to hold the APEGGA Student Mixer, Nov. 19. This evening consisted of a presentation on team building for students, followed by a mixer for students to meet representatives from corporations and APEGGA.
Diego Carducci, P.Eng., of Aecon in Edmonton, gave the team-building presentation. He said he wanted to convey the general ideas of team building in a low-tech, personal manner.
Mr. Carducci certainly succeeded. The atmosphere before the presentation was fairly tense. But when students left, they were smiling and relaxed.
The mixer itself was also successful. More than 60 corporations and six technical societies took part, and so did as many students as could fit in the room.
Onward and Upward
With fall semester done and winter holidays about to end as well, students are entering the second term. It will likely be just as busy as the first and fly past just as quickly.
That means that Reading Week is just around the corner!