Close to 90 high school students attended Conestoga’s CyberOlympiad on November 7 at the Cambridge campus. The full-day event ended with a robotics competition attended by MP Marwan Tabbara, Conestoga president John Tibbits and Julia Biedermann, executive dean of the School of Engineering and Information Technology.
MP Marwan Tabbara, executive dean Julia Biedermann and president John Tibbits cheered on the 2016 CyberOlympiad competitors at the Cambridge campus.
CyberOlympiad, now in its 6th year, attracts high school students from across southwestern Ontario who have an interest in computer hardware, software, electronics or robotics and gives them an introduction to the college’s Electronic Systems Engineering program while they take part in a fun, team activity.
“Engaging high school students who are interested in exploring electronics engineering as a future career through outreach events such as CyberOlympiad is extremely important to us in the Electronic Systems Engineering degree program,” said Ig Kolenko, chair of the School of Engineering and Information Technology and director of the Centre for Smart Manufacturing. “This event gives high school students and teachers an opportunity to experience project-based learning in action, to see our facilities and to understand future opportunities offered by an engineering degree.”
Throughout the day student teams worked with Lego Mindstorms kits to design and build a Cyber competitor robot. Students were not expected to have programming skills so they completed tutorials before attempting the task. During the activities students and teachers also had a chance to tour Conestoga's School of Engineering.
The Cyber robots competed against each other at the end of the day in the Conestoga Go competition - a take on the popular Pokemon Go - where robots had to collect and deposit multi-coloured pucks. Teams collected points based on the performance of their robots and awards were presented to recognize the first, second and third-place teams.
Conestoga’s Electronic Systems Engineering degree, accredited in 2014, features small classes, project-based learning and co-op work experience to prepare graduates for success in their chosen fields. It is geared to motivated individuals looking for challenging careers in the dynamic and fast-paced world of digital and analog electronics, embedded systems, software and communications.
Visit the Engineering website to learn more.