March 4, 2008 - 8:00am
On February 26 and 28, the Department of Physics and Engineering at Malaspina University-College held one of its very popular Engineering Fairs. This event introduces students to the Engineering profession and provides them with the opportunity to design and build a Trebuchet (siege engine) and compete with other students.
“The main goal of this engineering fair was to introduce students to the idea of engineering in a hands-on environment,” said Brian Dick, a professor in the Engineering department at Malaspina. “Students often have little knowledge of what an engineer does aside from building bridges and roads, so this event attempts to show students the engineering design process by laying out a set of criteria and creating a competition where students can compete with their peers.”
On February 26, grade 11 physics students from Wellington and Woodlands Secondary Schools participated in the event, while on February 28, the participants were grade 11 and 12 physics students from John Barsby and Cedar Community Secondary Schools. The days began with a welcome speech followed by a brief history of trebuchets and an overview of the design process.
Engineering professor Ray Penner provided specific details about building the Trebuchets, while professional engineers from Herold Engineering Ltd and Inuktun Services Ltd also provided a glimpse of the engineering profession and gave practical advice about the path to becoming an engineer.
The students had the opportunity to show their ingenuity by competing against their classmates in a competition which tested both the accuracy and distance capabilities of their designs. A friendly contest between the teams from the two schools concluded the competition and all students were rewarded with participation medals. The top teams were awarded prizes.
“The feedback we got from students was very positive,” said Dick. “The students really enjoyed designing and testing their siege engines. Our department was also very pleased with the success of the event and we’ll definitely be doing it again.”
The Engineering Department would like to thank the participating teachers and students as well as Herold Engineering Ltd and Inuktun Services Ltd for their contributions to the event.
For more information about the engineering fair or the engineering program at Malaspina, please contact Brian Dick at 753-3245, local 2435, or dickb@viu.ca
Competition results:
February 26, 2008
1st: Devin Winters and Tyler Rail, Woodlands Secondary School
2nd: Ken Tso and Dean Hulley, Wellington Secondary School
3rd: Chris Backhouse and Jessica Twiss, Woodlands Secondary School
4th: Lee Myhre and Jesse Lim, Wellington Secondary School
February 28, 2008
1st: Matt Morton and Steve Hemmerich, Cedar Community Secondary School
2nd: David Atkins and Ethan Meservia, John Barsby Secondary School
3rd: Nelson Sanrvd and Blake Knezevich, Cedar Community Secondary School
4th: Samantha Friesen and Gregory Sigalet, John Barsby Secondary School
Tags: In the Community
