Camosun Mechanical Engineering Showcase brings a bit of television drama to Interurban campus

Everyone has ideas. 3D printing filament extruders, for example. Who hasn’t daydreamed of making those? Uh… who knows what those are? Well, the students involved in Camosun’s annual Mechanical Engineering Showcase do, and they’re ready to show off their ideas in physical form.

Every year, second-year mechanical engineering students get a chance to display their inventions at the showcase; this year, it includes things such as the aforementioned extruders, modular GoPro camera mounts, a grain packaging center, a programmable industrial coffee grinder, and a custom four-axis CNC table. All of it sounds awesome, if incomprehensible, and the behind-the-scenes of how the showcase got to where it is today is just as fascinating.

“We have something called a ‘technical defence,’” says Camosun mechanical engineering faculty instructor Jeff Stephen, who is serving as head of the student showcase. “We bring a panel of engineering experts; they’re either professors or industry engineers or research specialists. The panel comes in and the students have a half an hour to explain the inspiration, the design, the manufacturing, and demonstrate their product. The industry marks them on it and it’s directly 10 percent of their final grade.”

This approach not only helps students validate their accomplishments, it also makes the whole process fun… and reminiscent of a certain popular television show.

“It’s the same feel as Dragons’ Den,” says Stephen, “where they come into a room that’s cleared out except for the panel sitting there in the middle and their desks, and they stand at the front and they have a full presentation to go through, and then the panel is open to grilling them with questions. It’s pretty neat.”

And who knows? Maybe with all the excitement and this reality-show vibe, the Mechanical Engineering Showcase could soon be coming to a small screen near you soon.

“I’ve always thought that it would be neat to tempt a film crew to come out and say, ‘Huh, we might have a reality show on our hands,’ because the excitement and the progress of the projects could really be good TV.”

But dreams of television stardom aside, the showcase will show off what Stephen calls “absolutely stunning visuals.” As a matter of fact, if people didn’t know better, they would assume these products were purchased, not made on campus.

“The finish on the products is amazing,” he says. “You’d walk up to this and say, ‘Okay, well, that’s cheating. Where’d you buy it? I want to buy one.’ No, actually, we built it. We started with absolutely no ideas and then in three months we’ve built what looks like a commercial product.”

And not only do the products look good, but attendees can test some of them out to see if they live up to their shine and sheen.

“Students will be encouraging people to try them out,” says Stephen. “We have a lacrosse trainer that will be available to use. The GoPro camera… you can grab these products, try them out. The scrummaster has a force readout, so they will be taking hit counts to see who has the strongest push.”

So, students can practice their scrum techniques, and there’s another added potential bonus for students who have their work in the showcase: employment.

“Most students will be on the job market right away, although a few still have co-op terms to do,” explains Stephen. “A lot of employers do come out to this event, and the students all have résumés at the ready, and sometimes offers are made. We’ve had companies fly out from Alberta to specifically come and see this event, and they’ve had job fairs on the spot.”