A team of four Dal students that won an Atlantic engineering design competition earlier this year went on to represent the region in the prestigious Canadian Engineering competition last month where they earned a second-place finish.听
Robert Holmes, Jami McDowell, Ian Redden and Caleb Hominick, all students from the Faculty of Agriculture's Engineering department, fended off students from nine universities across Atlantic Canada to win the regional competition and secure a spot representing Atlantic Canada in nationals.听
鈥淲e saw the competition as a great opportunity to challenge ourselves, apply our engineering skills in a hands-on way and represent our Faculty,鈥� says Robert, who is from Truro, of the Atlantic comeptition.听 鈥淚t was also a chance to collaborate as a team and gain experience solving real-world design problems efficiently while working within constraints.鈥�
We saw the competition as a great opportunity to challenge ourselves, apply our engineering skills in a hands-on way
The Atlantic Engineering Competition is an annual student-run initiative that is one of the largest and highly anticipated engineering competitions in Canada. The three-day event, held in January this year, provided a setting for students to develop meaningful relationships with their peers while demonstrating their engineering skills in a competitive environment.
The Dal Ag students competed in a series of eight competitions designed to test their innovative, problem-solving and leadership skills 鈥� key qualities of a successful and well-rounded engineer.
Competitors were presented with a real-world industry problem and were challenged to generate a practical, creative and feasible solution. With limited time and resources, teams had to design, create and test a physical prototype before delivering a brief presentation to a panel of judges.
Students applied separately to join one of two junior design teams representing the Faculty of Agriculture and the university.
鈥淧ersonally, I am a very competitive person and enjoyed the idea of showcasing and developing my skills within a competition setting,鈥� says Jami, of Pictou.听 鈥淲e did not know how we were going to work as a team until we got to the competition which was why it was particularly exciting when we won the Junior Design competition at the regional level.鈥�
The road to national silver
The team went on to place second at the national competition, which was held at Dal in Halifax on March 14.听
"I am incredibly proud of our engineering team for their performance at the Canadian Junior Design competition,鈥� says Dr. Travis Esau, acting chair of the Faculty of Agriculture's engineering department. 鈥淪ecuring second place in a national competition is a testament to their dedication, creativity and technical excellence. Their hard work and innovative thinking exemplify the spirit of engineering, and I have no doubt they will continue to achieve great success in the future."
Securing second place in a national competition is a testament to their dedication, creativity and technical excellence
Attending an Atlantic and national competition provided a lot of learning opportunities for the four students.
鈥淥ne of the biggest takeaways was the importance of teamwork and adaptability,鈥� says Robert. 鈥淭he competition required us to think critically, manage time effectively and quickly apply problem-solving skills. It also highlighted the value of diversity, incorporating different perspectives led to more well-rounded and effective designs. Additionally, we gained valuable experience in applying engineering principles in a practical setting, reinforcing what we鈥檝e learned in the classroom.鈥�
Each teammate agreed it was access to professors on a small campus which really enhanced their learning experience.
鈥淚 was drawn to the Faculty of Agriculture because of the smaller class sizes and the opportunity for hands-on design work within classes,鈥� explains Ian, of Dutch Settlement 鈥淚nstead of just generating ideas, we get to build and see our projects through in physical stages, which leads to a much better understanding of engineering concepts. The hands-on learning, combined with strong support from professors, creates a great environment for problem-solving and practical application, making it an ideal place to study engineering.鈥�
Caleb of Truro echoed this sentiment.
鈥淭here are multiple reasons I attended the Faculty of Agriculture to study Engineering,鈥� Caleb explains. 鈥淭he biggest is the unique experience you get with the AC. You get way more hands-on experience, better relationships with your professors and you get to know everybody well. I am also a third-generation Dal AC student with my father and grandfather both attending the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. My sister also attended the AC last year.鈥�