When I hear students talking about the Western Engineering Competition, one word comes to mind, pride. Not only was BCIT the first polytechnic to host the coveted undergraduate competition, I was lucky enough to be one of the few students to organize the three-day event.
My role on the committee was the VP Sponsorship. I was tasked with contacting and working with various engineering firms to secure funding for the competition. It took several months of hard-work, multi-tasking, and hundreds of emails and phone calls before I hit our sponsorship target. In total, with the help of the entire organizing committee, I was able to bring in 13 sponsors – with four companies at the Gold-level tier.
And it begins!
The first day of WEC centered around the annual career fair and wine and cheese social for over 350 students and industry professionals. As VP Sponsorship, I was to tasked in planning and executing these two events. I was able to use the skills learned in the Marketing Communications program to make both events a success. Student competitors came dress to the nines with the opportunity to network with over 10 companies, socializing with other engineering students, and drink wine.
On Friday, the competition finally began. The student competitors organized themselves into their teams and began brainstorming ideas on how to win their categories. With the career fair over and sponsorship collected, I spent the weekend taking over Life at BCIT’s social channels. I had a great time documenting and schmoozing with all the competitors.
Saturday marked the last day of the competition – it was a very eventful day. Senior design, consulting, programming, and re-engineering began their presentations while debate competitors moved into the final rounds. Hours later, the organizing committee ushered in competitors, sponsors, and BCIT representatives into the Awards Ceremony Banquet. The first award of the night went to the University of Alberta for Innovative Design.
The biggest moment of the evening: when BCIT was announced as the 1st place winner of the Senior Design competition. The room erupted. BCIT students, marketing and communications representatives, and even the Dean of The School of Energy, jumped to their feet with excitement. (To read more about BCIT’s big win read: https://commons.bcit.ca/news/2018/01/electrical-engineers-bring-home-gold-at-wec/).
What a magical weekend!