Ontario Tech hosts hundreds of students at 2023 Engineering Robotics Competition

In one of Ontario Tech’s longest-standing annual on-campus community events, more than 250 secondary and intermediate school students recently put their science and technology skills to the test at the university’s 16th Annual Engineering Robotics Competition.

Schools from across the Greater Toronto Area and the province come to Ontario Tech each Fall to be engineers for a day and showcase their science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills. Over the years, many robotics showdown participants have later gone on to be become engineering graduates at Ontario Tech.

The competition aims to spark a curiosity for engineering and STEM and give students hands-on experience with coding and mechatronics while working collaboratively.

For weeks prior to the November 25th competition in the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre gym, student teams prepared for the final showdown by using LEGO Mindstorm technologies (programmable robots based on LEGO building blocks) to design, build, program, and test autonomous robots capable of traversing a maze. The goal is to complete the course in the fastest time, dodging obstacles and other robots.

Judges for the 2023 competition included:

• Daniel Nucci, high school technology teacher at Crescent School in Toronto, and Ontario Tech Software Engineering Alum
• Aaron Yurkewich, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
• Meghan Charest-Finn, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science

This year’s winning teams:

• 1st place: R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate and Vocational Institute (Oshawa)
• 2nd place: Toronto District Christian High School (Woodbridge)
• 3rd place: Toronto District Christian High School (Woodbridge)
• Referees’ Award for Sportsmanship: As-Sadiq Islamic School (Thornhill)
• Women in Engineering Award: Greenwood College School (Toronto)
• Most Novel Design: Scarborough Academy for Technological, Environmental and Computer Studies (SATEC) @ W.A. Porter Collegiate Institute (Scarborough)
• Best Engineering Design: As-Sadiq Islamic School (Thornhill)

The Engineering Robotics Competition was organized by the university's Engineering Outreach office, which delivers a wide range of engineering outreach programs for Kindergarten to Grade 12 students in Durham Region and surrounding communities.

Quotes

“It’s important to teach students about the engineering design process since problem solving is applicable anywhere, and playing with robots is a fun time. These events reinforce how fun STEM can be and allow students to get some recognition for things other than sports.”
-Daimen Landori-Hoffmann, Lead Referee, Ontario Tech University Engineering Outreach

"This is the event I look forward to every year, it is so exciting to see future engineers and innovators all in one place. The energy is unmatched, and I hope all the participants enjoyed their day and time leading up to the competition." 
-Sydney Smith, Special Projects Coordinator, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Ontario Tech University