Engineering Fair 2007

Department of Physics and Engineering, Malaspina University-College

On May 17, the Department of Physics and Engineering at Malaspina University-College held its inaugural Engineering Fair. Grade 11 students from Kwalikum, Wellington and Dover Secondary Schools took part in a fun and rewarding event that culminated in a Trebuchet building competition.

The event began with a short introduction to the engineering profession by George Hrabowych, of Herold Engineering, followed by an overview of the design of the Trebuchet, one of the earliest examples of engineering design, by Engineering Professor Eric Smiley. The students then formed their teams and considered their design options and constraints. During the design and construction, Engineering and Physics professors as well as practicing engineers from Herold Engineering were available to answer questions and provide assistance.

All teams competed in two categories, distance and accuracy. The competitions were exciting and everyone was impressed with the vastly different designs and capabilities of the trebuchets.

Due to the success of the event, the Department of Physics and Engineering has established the Engineering Fair as an annual event and is considering holding similar competitions throughout the school year for individual Physics classes at local high schools.

Finally, the Department of Physics and Engineering would like to congratulate all participants in the event and announce the winning teams. In the accuracy competition, the winners were: Levi Botelho and Daniel Brown (1st place), Chris McClure and Ilya Tchernov (2nd Place), Brandon Hendsbee and Laura Gudowski (3rd Place). In the distance competition, the winners were: Emo Joel and Greg Cobley (1st Place), Laura Gudowski and Brandon Hendsbee (2nd Place), Mychal Rodway and Kevin Boorer (3rd Place). We would also like to thank Herold Engineering for its kind contributions to the event and continuing support to our department.