[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/mec photo edited.jpg” caption=”Engineering students participated in the McMaster Engineering Competition, which involved activities that tested their designing, building and debating skills. Photo by Ashkan Eshaghbeigi.”]More than 120 students, volunteers and judges spent last Saturday planning, designing and building in hopes that their team would win the McMaster Engineering Competition and represent McMaster at the Ontario Engineering Competition.

Organized by the McMaster Engineering Society, the one-day event challenged students in a variety of categories to promote teamwork, innovation, leadership and creativity.

In the Junior and Senior Team Design, undergraduate engineering students were given a design challenge the morning of the competition and had to build a prototype and prepare a presentation with limited materials and budget within four hours.

First- and second-year students were asked to build a bridge-like structure that could support a suspended load and distributed top load in the Junior Team Design.

In the Senior Team Design, upper-year engineering students designed a Rube Goldberg machine with multiple stages to move a tennis ball the furthest distance possible.

The Consulting Engineering competition tested students' abilities to construct and promote an engineering solution to potential clients by preparing a written report and presentation.

This year's problem required teams to develop a solution that used solar energy to fuel a better transportation network that could be used within the next decade in Canada.

Competitors in the Parliamentary Debate category spent the afternoon competing in formal debates with a wide variety of resolutions. The final debate was held in front of an audience and proved to be an amusing time for spectators and competitors alike.

In Engineering Communications, a team had to present a well-supported viewpoint on the viability of biofuel in Canada from a Canadian perspective. The 30-minute presentation was intended for an audience composed of members of the general public, and presented in terms they could understand.

Innovative Design showcased the technical merit and feasibility of a unique product that students invented.

Congratulations to the winners who will be representing McMaster from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11 at Carleton University in Ottawa.