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Green Architecture students compete in the “Race to Zero” Student Design Competition – UPDATE

April 21, 2015 – Update. Richard Briginshaw, Coordinator for the Green Architecture reports – “Our Green Architecture students (Jessica Leblond and Nikita Kumar) did an excellent job with their project presentation and represented Algonquin College extremely well. I have attached some photos. Although they did not receive an award, they received some very positive comments from the four judges and others for their work. Of the 33 teams entered in the competition, most were university level teams with an average of 10 students per team, and most started work in September. Our team of three students only began work in January, but still managed to make an impressive showing.”

Congratulations to all on a job well done!

Original Story below

From April 17th through 20th, two Green Architecture students (Jessica Leblond and Nikita Kumar) and one professor (Richard Briginshaw) will be travelling to Golden, Colorado, for the students to present their submission in the U.S. Department of Energy “Race to Zero” Student Design

Competition (http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/2015-race-zero-competition-details ). The “Race to Zero” is a high profile international competition to design extremely energy efficient (“net zero”) housing, encouraging students to work directly with a “real world” builder to improve the energy performance of residential buildings. There are 33 teams entered, representing 27 universities and colleges from the U.S. and Canada.

Our team of students have been working on their design since January. This event is the culminating presentation to a panel of professional judges. There will also be an awards ceremony, tours to nearby sustainable buildings, and educational conference seminars given by experts.

This is also an excellent networking opportunity to meet other faculty and students from various International post-secondary institutions. This will provide a chance to establish connections for possible recruitment to our programs, and future collaborations or exchange of knowledge and ideas. This event will provide international exposure for Algonquin College. The students will have the experience of sharing their ideas with industry professionals and students from other post-secondary schools. They would also attend presentations from other student teams and learn from alternative approaches to net-zero design.

Best of luck at the competition!

Attend the Civil Engineering Technology Students’ Tech Fair – April 8th

What: Civil Engineering Technology Student Tech Fair

When: April 8, 2015 from 9:00am until 1:00pm

Where: Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence Atrium

Visit the Atrium of the Algonquin College Centre for Construction Excellence to see the final year projects being displayed by our Three-Year Civil Engineering Technology students. The Civil Engineering Technology students will be showcasing a series of projects, including sand vs. rubber on playground surfaces, different types of asphalt comparisons, and roller compacted concrete. Stop by to check out their innovations!

Third Year Civil Engineering Technology Student Paper Airplane Competition

Come out to the ACCE Atrium from 12:00pm until 3:00pm on Thursday, March 26th to challenge our students in their Paper Airplane Competition. Design and build a paper airplane then launch it into the ACCE Atrium to see who’s plane can stay aloft the longest. Courtney Higgins, 3rd Year Civil Engineering Technology student and the event’s organizer had this to say about the event, “We are looking forward to hosting this exciting event! It has been an interesting adventure to get to this point and we cannot wait to challenge students in the ACCE building to out-design our paper airplanes.”

Good luck with the competition and let the best student win!

 

Civil Engineering Technology Egg Drop competition covered in the Ottawa Citizen

What happens when you drop an egg from the second floor of the ACCE building? Third-year students in the Civil Engineering Technology program participating in the March 23rd “Egg Drop Competition” found out that it takes a lot of skill, design and sometimes a bit of luck to protect the egg from arriving at its destination scrambled.

This fun contest challenged students and spectators to use their imagination and engineering skills. Contestants were asked to design a mechanism that will protect a raw egg from being broken when dropped from the second floor of the ACCE building onto the main floor of the atrium. Please read the following article written in the March 24, 2015 edition of the Ottawa Citizen about how the students were able to apply what they learned in their program to this egg-citing competition.

What: Egg Drop Contest

When:Monday, March 23
Where: Algonquin College ACCE building, Atrium
Who: Third-year Civil Engineering Technology students

Civil Engineering Technology Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition – March 25 11:30am-2:30pm

What: Civil Engineering Student Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Contest

When: March 25 from 11:30am – 2:30pm

Where: Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence Atrium

Who: Third Year Civil Engineering Technology Students

 

Visit the ACCE Atrium on March 25th to watch the Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Contest. This exciting event tests a number of student-built Popsicle stick bridge designs to see which can hold the most weight, which design has the best strength to weight ratio. Points will also be given for design and aesthetic qualities of the bridges. Cheer on your favourite bridge as it is tested to the point of destruction….or a maximum deflection of 15mm.

To qualify the bridges must fit the following specifications:

  • The bridge must span a length of 400mm
  • A max. width of 140mm and a max lenght of 476mm (on top of the supports)
  • You must have 200mm above and 100mm below the top of the supports
  • Maximum weight of 600g
  • You must support a load that will be applied by a 100mm by 100 mm block
  • The load will be applied from the top.

Prizes will be given to the entry that holds the most weight relative to it’s weight and other design criteria.

 

Civil Engineering Technology Student “Egg Drop Contest” to be held March 23rd 12-2pm

What: Egg Drop Contest
When:Monday, March 23 from 12:00 to 2:00pm
Where: Algonquin College ACCE building, Atrium
Who: Third year Civil Engineering Technology students

This fun contest challenges students and spectators to use their imagination and engineering skills. Contestants are asked to design a mechanism that will protect a raw egg from being broken when dropped from the second floor of the ACCE building onto the main floor of the atrium.
The contest is free to enter and anyone is allowed to participate. Contestants are encouraged to construct their device prior to the competition but we will have some materials on hand to supply people with on the day of the competition.

“Our group was challenged to organize, promote and plan the annual Egg Drop contest as a part of our ENG4003 Project II course. It took lot of work and planning to make this event a success, but we had a lot of fun doing it. We learned how difficult it can be to manage a project from beginning to end which is a skill that we will be able to apply to our careers as Civil Engineering Technologists.” states Trevor Dunlop, Civil Engineering Technology student about the upcoming competition.

Feel free to come by the Atrium of the ACCE building on March 23rd to watch, or even participate in this “eggseptional” event.