January 2009 issue
|
Student Column
Sticks, Sleds and Spirit
Editor’s Note: Jeremy Kooyman, a second-year mechanical engineering student with a biomedical specialization, joins The PEGG’s student writing team as our Schulich School of Engineering columnist. Jeremy, the social commissioner for the Engineering Students’ Society, is responsible for a weekly event called POETS. It’s an acronym The PEGG won’t spell out in its entirety — suffice to say the event involves putting everything aside because tomorrow’s Saturday. When he’s not doing homework or working for the good of the school, Jeremy likes indoor and outdoor rock climbing.
 |
|
BY JEREMY KOOYMAN |
With academic pursuits in full swing at the Schulich School of Engineering, it’s tough for students — especially new ones — to realize that an enjoyable, less academic side of engineering exists. In fact, it’s stronger than ever.
Leading the charge against late-night lab reports is the University of Calgary Bridge Building Team, a collective of four smaller teams representing Alberta on an international scale at this year’s Troitsky Bridge Building Competition.
Taking place at Concordia University in Montreal during National Engineering Week, the competition attracts as many as 40 high-calibre student teams from around the world. They’re pitted against each other to design the strongest and most original small-scale bridge.
While this may seem a simple task, tough restrictions are placed on building materials, bridge dimensions and bridge transportation. Limited to craft sticks, toothpicks, white glue and dental floss, teams must construct a bridge that spans at least one metre with a clearance of 150 mm, while weighing in at less than five kg.
And there’s more. Further com-plicating matters is the requirement that the bridge arrive in a box that measures 500 mm by 400 mm by 350 mm. Only two hours is allowed for assembly. This requires the bridge to be designed with the joints and splices in non-critical locations — a far more challenging task than your typical pedestrian overpass poses.
Building on its reputation as one of the most creative and innovative teams in Canada, the U of C Bridge Building Team is working feverishly on its new designs. Extra motivation comes from a strong showing last year when a Calgary team achieved an impressive seventh in a field of 35.
“We’re a very diverse group of students,” said Brian Yee, the team sponsorship commissioner. “We’ve got everything from second-year students to ones going for their Iron Ring in the spring, and even a few currently on internship.”
Drawing from every engineering discipline from mechanical to geomatics (and civil, of course), the teams are a mixture of Troitsky veterans and doe-eyed second-years. This makes for a productive atmosphere, with the new students bringing in design concepts that haven’t been previously explored.
Increasing the number of teams certainly helps the U of C Bridge Building Team’s odds, but Mr. Yee believes that the key to success is the tight bonds created between the four groups. “Our team dynamic this year is unparalleled. We share a lot of ideas,” said Mr. Yee, an APEGGA university student member.
Prep time helps, too — the design process has been underway since “shortly after the last competition finished.”
Continuing the trend of non-conventional building materials, the recent Schulich Engineering Competition challenged nine student teams to build a crane made from foil plates, craft sticks, straws and pipe cleaners. The top two teams were awarded spots to attend the Western Engineering Competition in Regina in January, along with other teams from the Schulich School of Engineering.
A newly formed team and the returning champions took the top two spots, constructing cranes that held 610 and 690 grams respectively. To put this into perspective, consider that the bottom two teams constructed cranes that held only 55 grams each before collapsing. They cited the short amount of time allotted for getting the job done as their biggest challenge.
 |
BRIDGE TO CONCORDIA |
No Craft Sticks Here
Not to be outdone by students playing with sticks, the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race is poised to celebrate its 35th anniversary. It’s being organized by the school that started it all — our very own Schulich School of Engineering — and will take place in Red Deer where the first one took place.
Careening into action Feb. 5-7, the concrete toboggan race is the largest student-run engineering competition in Canada. It draws 400-plus students from universities and technical institutions from all corners of the country.
Seen as the Canadian answer to the American Concrete Canoe Challenge, the race mixes technical problem solving, teamwork and project management, challenging teams to design, build and race a concrete toboggan down a snowy slope. The organizing committee hopes to attract dozens of volunteers to ensure that the weekend goes off without a hitch.
Having never missed a Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race since its inception, the Schulich School of Engineering team plans to tap into its wealth of experience for a strong showing at this year’s event. Team name is Save a Horse, Ride a ’Boggan.
With awards ranging from the sled with the smallest ecological footprint to the best team spirit, even contestants whose entries aren’t performance focused are guaranteed a great time. Awards are a comfort to teams attempting unique designs — since the hardest part of the competition is getting toboggans that weigh up to 300 lb. to stop at the bottom of the hill.
The Spirit of Engg
Welcoming students back to classes in January is the legendary Engg Week, not to be confused with National Engineering Week, which occurs later in the year. With all funds raised going to the Back Door, a Calgary homelessness charity, departments are pitted against each other in events including cook-offs, snow sculpture and the all-time favourite, the Engg Week Film Festival, which inspires departments to make a short film based on a theme of their choosing.
Keeping with the charitable spirit of Engg Week, points are awarded to departments that not only win events but also have the most fun and attract the most first-year students to their discipline. Even a partial list of themes suggests this will be a week to remember — BatManu, the Mech Knight (mechanical/manufacturing), the Matrix: Zooloaded (computer, software and electrical), and the Geodfather (geomatics).
With such a wide range of creative outlets available at the Schulich School of Engineering, motivated students can create bonds that last throughout their academic and into their professional careers. Frosh are guided by the experience of senior students and all involved get to apply their knowledge to real-life scenarios and gain valuable experience.
More Info
U of C Bridge Team
www.ucalgary.ca/~cbridge/2009
Concrete Toboggan Race
http://gnctr-gcntb.org
Schulich Engineering Competition
www.ess.ucalgary.ca/events/
schulich_engg_comp
Engg Week
www.enggweek.com
|