Update March 24, 2023: Read about BCIT Electrical Engineering students placing first at the 2023 Canadian Engineering Competition
Congratulations to BCIT Engineering students for finishing top places at the recent 2023 Western Engineering Competition (WEC).
Electrical Engineering students Laurel Kinahan and Ramon Vicencio took first place in the Communication category based on this year’s “Sea-to-Sky” theme, while Electrical Engineering students Tom Kuzma, Jimmy Bates, Faran Bhatti, and Clinton Gaudet scored first place in Senior Design with their impressive work and presentation. These students have aced the most competitive category by building a trash can sorter in nine hours.
Mechanical Engineering students Oscar Gutierrez, Yehen Adikari, Santiago Quintana, and Faniel Yemane achieved third place in Junior Design, in which they effortlessly built a gondola from very simple materials.
BCIT was the only polytechnic among many post-secondary schools that competed. WEC is the largest undergraduate engineering competition in Western Canada, with over 250 competitors from 11 Western Canadian Universities attending the four-day annual competition held since 1985. These competitors must first win their university’s engineering competition to qualify for WEC, representing the best engineering students from the 11 Western Engineering Student Societies’ Team (WESST) member schools.
“I’m so proud of my team as we had to overcome some major scares, such as the microcontroller not connecting to our computer, but we kept calm and persevered in a high-stress environment,” says Jimmy. “A huge thank you to our BCIT instructors for giving us the knowledge and skills to succeed, and to the organizers for hosting a fantastic competition.”
In addition to participating in this competition, students had the opportunity to network with industry leaders and build connections with students from post-secondary across Western Canada. The valuable hands-on skills and professional network that students gained will be valuable in paving the path to the workforce.
The two teams that placed first will be heading to the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC), in Waterloo, Ontario, to compete nationally.
Congratulations Team BCIT!
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