From February 3 to 5, more than 230 engineering students from across Ontario gathered at U of T to put their engineering skills to the test at the 33rd annual Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC).

OEC challenges students in design, innovation and communication in six competition categories. This year’s event focused on issues relevant to urban and suburban areas, both close to home and around the world. Students were asked to engineer innovative, sustainable and adaptable solutions to these issues while considering political, economical and societal repercussions. A panel of faculty and industry professionals then decided on which winning teams would advance to the Canadian Engineering Competition in Vancouver, BC.

U of T Engineering students had a strong showing, with eight teams competing. By the end of the day, U of T came away third in the Engineering Communication and Innovative Design categories. Lorne Mlotek (CivE 1T3), who competed in the Communication category, also picked up the Social Awareness award for his “green building” design.

During the competition, Mike Del Balso (ElecE 1T2) and his senior design team were tasked to create an automated truck that could collect garbage, cross a bridge and drive around a curb to dispose of the garbage. Before presenting to the judges and a packed room of observers and competitors, Del Balso was nervous and running on little sleep.

“We finished at 4 am,” said Del Balso. “But it’s fun to see what ideas you can come up with in just eight hours. We used some creative engineering to make things simpler. Other teams opted for a forklift in their design, but we’re using a lever.”

Although it was the third year of competing at UTEK and OEC for Del Balso, it was the very first OEC experience for Jenny Yao (IndE 1T5). She and her team in the Junior Design category had to engineer a solution to storing nuclear waste before it seeps into houses.

Yao is already hopeful to participate again next year. “This event lets you see new ideas and explore problems that we face today and the problems we’ll face in the future,” she said.

That was the take-away Andy Chen (MechE 1T3), this year’s OEC Chair, was hoping for when he and his committee came up with the focus. “Not only is this event an opportunity to interact with students in Ontario, industry and faculty, we’re having engineering students think of ways to make cities and suburbs sustainable. By doing that, we’re redefining the challenges and opening up possibilities of engineering design,” he said.