After taking top spot at the UAlberta Engineering Design Competition, Raoul Ravin's team is representing UAlberta at the Western Engineering Competition in Banff.
Amidst snow-bound mountain tops of Banff National Park, 18 Faculty of Engineering students will be solving mind-bending challenges at the Western Engineering Competition (WEC) Jan. 12-14. Running against 12 engineering schools representing the Canadian West, the U of A engineers set their sights on victory.
"We have a very dedicated team and we have expertise in a wide range of areas. We also understand the mechanical side of the competition," said Rahul Ravin, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, of the U of A senior design team he leads.
Ravin's team, dubbed 'ARTS' for Autonomous Robotic Terrestrial System, is comprised of four senior mechanical engineering students eager to gain hands-on engineering experience, learn from other schools, and have some fun along the way.
They qualified to compete at WEC by successfully completing the preliminary stage of the competition run locally by the Engineering Students' Society (ESS), where built and programmed a robot to solve an engineering challenge.
In Banff, Ravin and teammates Nigel Rodrigues, Carson Iwaniuk, and Harry Singh, will be competing to design and construct a working solution to an engineering problem-in 12 hours, using given materials.
"We've been given little bits of our challenge. We know we're going to be using a VEX robotics kit to build a robot that can perform a series of tasks," said Ravin.
The competition promises to be tight, as the winning teams will represent the West at the provincial and national levels at the Ontario Engineering Competition and then the Canadian Engineering Competition.
"Even though it's a competition, it's also a gathering of the engineering community where we get to see the most brilliant minds. The competition's bringing us together," said Ravin.
With this year's theme, collaboration, the three-day event invites the participants to mingle at a career fair, network with peers, reach out to sponsors, and interact with other schools.
"This gives you an exposure to the companies that exist in Alberta," said Singh.
The Faculty of Engineering boasts a long history of participation in the event and some outstanding results. This year, the U of A engineers will be putting their technical and soft skills to good use in six different categories: senior design, junior design, re-engineering, consulting engineering, engineering communications, and innovative design.
Last year, the U of A consulting engineering team came out third. Henry Su, a fourth-year chemical engineering student, was on the team.
"The biggest challenge for my team at last year's consulting engineering competition was time pressure. Competitors were given eight hours to create a comprehensive report and presentation for a technical subject. We were tasked to address multiple facets (i.e. social, environmental, economic, etc.) of the problem," said Su.
For Ravin, however, picking a solution that works poses the biggest concern.
"When you look at a challenge, you'll have a dozen of ideas running through your head and it's hard to know which one's going to work," he said.
"I feel like it (WEC) gives you a taste of what you'll be dealing with in the real world," added Maha Adnan, a third-year chemical engineering student and vice-president, external relations (winter) with the ESS. The ESS covers the costs associated with the competition, takes care of scheduling and accommodation.
"The competition's a good way to use your skills outside school. Being able to make something from scratch is the main reason why I decided to participate," said Singh.