The Western Engineering Competition (WEC) is an annual competition held by the Western Engineering Students' Societies Team (WESST). WEC is a five-day event held during January each year at an engineering school in western Canada.
WEC serves as the qualifier for the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC) which is held over four days in March. Also, there are substantial cash prizes for the winners of WEC.
Besides competitions, WEC is also a lot of fun. Participants will find that WESST has many interesting traditions. WEC is also a great opportunity to meet engineering students from across western Canada and network with industry representatives who are present as judges or sponsors. Also, there is a career fair and many industry tours available for participants of WEC during the week. UMES is able to send approximately 14 students to WEC each year. However, anyone who did not qualify, but is interested in competing in WEC (in any category except for the Junior and Senior Team Design) should contact the {Mail: vse@umes.mb.ca, Vice Stick External}.
As with all conferences, UMES sponsored delegates are required to pay a $250 delegate fee and make a refundable damage deposit (usually just a credit card upon arrival at the hotel).
For more information, please contact the
Vice Stick External or see the
WEC 2012 website.
The following event descriptions were taken from the
WEC 2012 website:
Consulting Engineering
In Consulting Engineering, students are required to develop a solution to a real-world problem. In the 5 hours allotted, teams of four must conceive an economically feasible design with minimal social and environmental impacts. The design and development process are presented the following day.
Engineering Communication
Engineering Communication challenges participants to describe the principles governing a technology or technical subject in terms the general public can understand. Evaluation is based upon the competitor’s public speaking skills and ability to persuade the audience.
Impromptu Debate
In the Impromptu Debate category, teams of two students present convincing, well-constructed arguments on a wide range of issues. Preparation time is minimal, as topics and viewpoints are determined at the beginning of each debate.
Innovative Design
The highly technical Innovative Design category requires participants to present a novel solution to a problem of their choosing. Winners are selected based on the overall engineering process - market research, feasibility studies, and in most instances, design prototyping.
Junior Design
Participants in this competition must solve an engineering design problem according to objectives and constraints divulged the day of the event. Teams of four students in the first and second years of the undergraduate program are given 4 hours to complete the assigned task with limited resources. Following the design stage, teams give a brief presentation and test their design for a panel of judges.
Senior Design
In Senior Design, teams of four students have 12 hours to develop and construct a prototype that completes an assigned engineering task. The design problem is of broader scope than that of Junior Design. While competitors are presented the general topic a week in advance, specific objectives and constraints are disclosed only minutes prior to the start of the event. Following the design stage, teams present and test their design for a panel of judges.