By Shaden Aly
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) engineering students are preparing to compete at the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC) later this month at McMaster University.
With the OEC taking place from Jan. 24-26, TMU’s student representatives set themselves up for success after the Metropolitan Engineering Competition (MEC) by preparing ahead of time to improve their performance.
The students qualified for the province-wide competition after earning spots in the MEC, hosted by the Metropolitan Undergraduate Engineering Society (MUES) in November 2024. The event tested participants in various categories, including junior design, re-engineering and innovative design.
Second-year mechanical engineering student Amar Ahmed and his team placed first in the junior design category. Their task was to build a functional structure using limited materials such as cardboard, paper clips and string—all within a six-hour time frame.
“There’s obviously challenges of the time constraint [and] not knowing how to do it when we first walked in,” said Ahmed, describing the group as “four puzzle pieces” that fit together seamlessly.
Similarly, third-year aerospace engineering students Emily Peeler and Sanaz Nasr excelled in the re-engineering category, earning a spot at OEC alongside Ahmed’s team. Their project focused on re-designing the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) system to improve safety and user experience while staying cost-efficient.
“Our idea was basically creating this sort of barrier system for the TTC, because there’s people that go on the tracks, and drop their things on it. It’s not safe,” said Nasr.
The project features touch screens that connect users to Toronto’s attractions and showcase local artwork, highlighting the city’s cultural features. “We just wanted to celebrate the City of Toronto, because we feel it has so much to offer,” explained Nasr.
The students emphasized the extent of the research behind their design. “We were looking through materials that are sustainable and also within budget,” said Peeler. “We don’t want to have an expensive project which would create more debt for the TTC. ”
A judge for the MEC’s innovative design category and TMU engineering alumnus Marcelo Sarkis noted the quality of work students have produced through the competition.
“I think the ideas are becoming more practical,” said Sarkis. “Students are presenting themselves more confidently and their projects are becoming much more sophisticated, which I think is great to see.”
Rayyan Faisal, vice president external of MUES, emphasized the importance of competitions like MEC and OEC for engineering students.
“I made a lot of professional connections and it really helped me think more critically about what I’m doing, what I hope to do and I think that’s what this competition is all about,” he said.
The OEC competition comes with an appreciated twist. According to Nasr, competitors will receive the problem statement a week in advance, giving teams time to strategize before the event begins, unlike at MEC.
“I would say the biggest challenge was the time constraint. We had eight hours to basically come up with our design, do all our research, write a report and prepare a presentation. It was intense,” said Nasr about the MEC.
Contestants from TMU look forward to testing their skills on a larger stage.
“We’re happy to represent TMU at OEC. It’s a big deal because it’s not just an everyday kind of competition…We’re just really looking forward to it,” said Ahmed.
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