Etobicoke students flex their engineering muscles.
The Engineering Idol competition comes to Father John Redmond on March 3. Here, from a previous competition is the Etobicoke Collegiate team: Divya Patel, Mirkamal Tolend, Paul Wells, Subiksha Suresh, Sonia Cacoilo, and Pater Novak.
File photo/IAN KELSO
This year's annual Engineering Idol Competition in Etobicoke will see teams from eight Greater Toronto Area high schools battle it out early next month to see who can create the best 'bionic ear'.
The Etobicoke Chapter of Professional Engineers Ontario will hold its 5th annual Engineering Idol competition on Saturday, March 3 in the cafeteria at Father John Redmond Catholic School, 28 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Dr.
The teams - Etobicoke's reigning champs Martingrove C.I., along with Michael Power/St. Joseph, Richview C.I. and Father John Redmond C.S.S. (all from Etobicoke), as well as North York's Loretto Abbey C.S.S., East York's Leaside High School, and Brampton's Louise Arbour S.S. and Sandalwood Heights S.S. - will compete to see who can develop the best Cochlear Implant (or 'bionic ear') prototype.
What makes the Engineering Idol competition unique is that students actually get to experience what it is like to be an engineer, said organizer Richard Weldon.
"Students will learn that successful engineers are innovative, communicate well, remain professional (even when under pressure), are highly skilled, and prioritize well," he wrote in an email to The Guardian, noting that the challenge this year is geared primarily toward electrical engineering, mixed with a bit of bio-engineering.
"The students will be making presentations to our judges and trying to sell their invention as the best one for commercialization - kind of like Dragon's Den for engineers."
The scenario for this year's Engineering Idol challenge mimics the ultimately successful invention of the Cochlear Implant, which Weldon said today helps hundreds of thousands of deaf adults and children speak and hear.
The Engineering Idol events, which are open to the public, will start with an opening address at 9 a.m. Student teams will then begin building their devices throughout the morning, then testing them starting a 1 p.m. Judges are scheduled to announced the winners at 4 p.m.
Go to www.etobicoke.peo.on.ca/engidolmain.htm for more information.