Submitted by Hugh Fraser, P.Eng.

Every year, the School of Engineering at the University of Guelph holds a day in April to showcase the results of their ENGG*41X course. This capstone engineering design course is required to be completed by all engineering students in their final semester of study.  Students apply the knowledge gained throughout their time at the U of G in solving open-ended problems related to their majors.  Students work in groups of 4 or 5 in a team environment, encouraging them to collaborate.  Designs include the socio-economic and environmental impacts of their solutions.

Part of the students’ marks includes marks from judges who are brought in for the day to provide feedback. These judges come from all walks of life and all ages of life and experiences. All must have their P.Eng. and at least five judges are needed for each student group. With over 70 projects this past April 2019, it takes a lot of judges to pull this day off. Being a judge is a lot of work, yet is very fulfilling and a lot of fun. It is a great way to reconnect with University life and see how gifted the next generation of engineering students is. Students are working on exciting things that those of us who have been out of school for a long time can only marvel at.

If you would like to be a judge, there is no training involved. You must have a P.Eng. and be willing to devote most of one day to the task. There is some light ‘training’ on how to use a judging rubric, then you are unleashed to go listen to the students as they tell you what they have learned during the course. Your practical life experiences and feedback are vital to the students. Many students produce working prototypes of gadgets that one can tell will have commercial applications in the near future. To learn how you might get involved at the next one in April 2020, please contact the current course coordinator, Ping Wu at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..