The Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC) was hosted by Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario on March 8-11, 2018. Competitors from 15 participating schools participated in the weekend in a total of 8 different competitions.
The competitions held this year were: Junior Design, Senior Design, Innovative Design, Communications, Re-Engineering, Parliamentary Debate, Consulting, and new this year — Programming.
CEC gathers the top tier competitors from each competition category. Those invited must first best their peers at their own intra-university competition, and then must achieve a top performance at their respective regional competition (Atlantic Engineering Competition , Ontario Engineering Competition, Quebec Engineering Competition, Western Engineering Competition)
In Junior Design, teams were tasked with the challenge of prototyping a lightweight device capable of loading and unloading cargo from incoming ships at the Toronto Port quickly and safely.
The winners were:
- Third place: University of Saskatchewan
- Second place: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
- First place: Dalhousie University


In Senior Design, teams had to build and program an arduino-powered fire-fighting robot, controlling it to put out fires by dispensing ping pong balls in buildings of varying heights.
The winners were:
- Third place: Université du Québec à Rimouski
- Second place: École Polytechnique
- First place: Lakehead University


In Re-Engineering, teams are asked first to present the redesign of a technology of their choice. They were also required to prepare a second presentation on a theoretical design of either a durable but portable Ice Hut, or a piece of Personal Protective Equipment that is more comfortable and accommodating to movement.
The winners were:
- Third place: University of Manitoba
- Second place: University of Toronto
- First place: Université de Sherbrooke


In Programming, teams are tasked to automatically select the positioning of a company’s fleet of mining robots in order to extract the most amount of ores while using the fewest resources.
The winners were:
- Third place: Western University
- Second place: University of New Brunswick – Fredericton
- First place: University of Manitoba


In Engineering Consulting, teams were given the challenge of designing a 10-year project timeline for an Amazon competitor to set up a distribution network in the GTA.
The winners were:
- Third place: University of Ottawa
- Second place: McMaster University
- First place: Université du Québec à Rimouski


The winners of Engineering Communications were:
- Third place: University of Calgary
- Second place: McGill University
- First place: Macdonald Campus of McGill University


The winners of Innovative Design were:
- Third place: Macdonald Campus of McGill University
- Second place: University of Waterloo
- First place: University of New Brunswick – Fredericton


The final round of Parliamentary Debate was showcased during the CEC Closing Gala, with a light-hearted topic of “BIRT America is Canada’s pants”. Both finalist teams presented amusing and (surprisingly) politically relevant arguments, providing great entertainment for the dinner.
The winners of Parliamentary Debate were:
- Third place: York University
- Second place: University of Toronto
- First place: University of Saskatchewan


Congratulations to all of the winners! Thank you to Ryerson University for hosting a successful 33rd annual CEC, and all of our sponsors for their support and involvement. CEC 2019 will be hosted by the University of Waterloo next March.
All photos from the weekend.
