UMES sends a number of University of Manitoba engineering students to conferences all over Canada during the school year; for more information on various conferences, please reference the information below. If you want any additional information and are interested in applying, please contact the Vice Stick External.

 

Engineering Organizations

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Western Engineering Student Societies’ Team (WESST)

WESST is an alliance of undergraduate engineering students’ societies across the Western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Together, these societies serve and represent over 18 000 students.
WESST was formalized in 1993, at the Western Engineering Competition and Conference hosted by the University of Saskatchewan, when student representatives from all the accredited Western Canadian Engineering Schools within four provinces decided on the need to form an alliance of all their undergraduate students’ societies.
WESST provides an environment for member schools to exchange information and resources for the benefit of student leaders across western Canada. It also provides a unified voice of engineering students in Western Canada, representing its member schools to other student societies, industry, professional associations, and to the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES).
WESST also provides an umbrella under which several annual events operate to benefit engineering students at its member schools. Find out more about WESST by checking out the WESST website.

Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES)

The Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES) is a national, bilingual organization that was founded in 1969. CFES represents approximately 60,000 engineering students across Canada. Offering services ranging from leadership development conferences, to technical skill competitions, a national student magazine and other outreach efforts, the CFES aims to provide opportunities in support of an all-encompassing education for engineering students in Canada to become unparalleled professionals in their field. Find out more about CFES by checking out the CFES website.

Board of European Students of Technology (BEST)

The Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) is basically the CFES equivalent in Europe. BEST is a constantly growing non-profit and non-political organization. Since 1989 they have provided communication, co-operation and exchange possibilities for students all over Europe.
96 Local BEST Groups (LBGs) in 33 countries are creating a growing, well organized, powerful, young and innovative student network.
BEST strives to help European students of technology to become more internationally minded, by reaching a better understanding of European cultures and developing capacities to work on an international basis. Therefore they create opportunities for the students to meet and learn from one another through their academic and non-academic events and educational symposia. "Learning makes the master", but the final goal is a good working place, therefore they offer services like an international career centre to broaden the horizons for the choice on the job market. Find out more about BEST by checking out the BEST website.

 

Conferences

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Conference on Sustainability in Engineering (CSE)

CSE 2025 will be held February 20th-23rd, 2025 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, by University of Guelph.

CSE is a three day, national conference that will gather top engineering students from across Canada to learn about sustainability and discuss its applicability to their engineering career and everyday life. It will be a stage for student leaders to share their passion and ideas of sustainability to like-minded peers and professionals. The goal of the conference is to provide students with the necessary knowledge to be able to balance social, economic, and environmental factors in the decision making process throughout their careers. These three components make up the triple bottom line which is the theme for CSE 2024.

The conference will have an optional but recommended LEED green associates certification course which will provide all the necessary information in order to obtain the certification. The other option is a case study in which teams will work together to present a feasible, sustainable solution to a real-world engineering problem. CSE will also provide delegates with esteemed keynote speakers, technical workshops, and engaging discussions in which students will be able to collaborate on ideas in order to create a sustainable future.

For more information, please contact the Vice Stick External.

WESST AGM Retreat (AGMR)

WESST AGM Retreat will be held September 27th-30th, 2024 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, by the University of Regina.

The WESST AGM Retreat serves as the annual general meeting for WESST and provides its participants with a variety of social and professional events. During the annual general meeting portion of the retreat, the upcoming WESST executives are elected and schools bid to hold the next Western Engineering Competition (WEC). Delegates from each of the engineering schools in Western Canada gather to learn more about the inner workings of WESST and the CFES. The retreat also provides participants with an excellent opportunity to meet and interact with representatives from other engineering societies across western Canada. Those interested in getting into a leadership role are highly encouraged to attend this conference. This conference also includes an Olympics event. This event is purely a fun social gathering designed to promote interaction among Western Canadian engineering schools, introduce new students to events outside their own university and to meet students from various other western Canadian universities. 

For more information, please contact the Vice Stick External or see the WESST website.

CDE

CDE 2024 will be held November 22nd-25th, 2024 in London, Ontario, Canada, by Western University.

CDE aims to encourage discussion and collaboration between engineering students and professionals around the theme of diversity in engineering. Previously known as the National Conference on Women in Engineering (NCWIE), CDE aims to develop knowledge surrounding the variety of individuals, cultures and perspectives found within engineering communities. CDE further aims to instill a notion of positivity and togetherness in creating spaces that value the differences between groups of engineering students and professionals. Delegates will not only leave the conference with a solid understanding of the issues minorities encounter in the engineering profession, but they will also be equipped to appropriately address these issues to create a more inclusive and thriving community. 
Students attending CDE will have the opportunity to meet and hear from successful, interesting, and talented speakers prepared to share their experience and knowledge on how to embrace diversity in order to better address the complex, interdisciplinary problems of society.
For more information, please contact the Vice Stick External or see the CDE website. 

UMEC

UMEC will be held in October 2024.

The University of Manitoba Engineering Competition (UMEC) is an engineering competition run by UMES. All engineering student currently enrolled at the U of M are invited to participate. 

UMEC serves as the qualifier for the regional competition, known as the Western Engineering Competition (WEC). The winning teams from UMEC will be sponsored by UMES to attend WEC, which is held annually in January. For details or questions on how to apply for any of the competitions listed below, please contact the Vice Stick External.

There are eight events in which you may participate:

Junior Design

Exclusive to first and second year students, this event challenges teams of four students with a physical engineering problem. With all necessary materials supplied, teams are given a limited amount of time to design and build a solution to the given problem. After the design phase students must give a brief presentation before testing their solution in front of a panel of judges.

Senior Design

Teams made up of four students are presented with an engineering design problem on the day of the competition. Teams have several hours to implement their solution with the materials provided. Teams must also prepare a short presentation on their approach to solving the design problem, followed by a demonstration of their prototype. Senior design is geared towards upper year students, as the design challenge is more difficult than the Junior Design challenge.

Innovative Design

The most technical competition, innovative design requires teams of one to four students to bring a solution to a problem of their choosing. The problems are typically applicable in the real world, and their solutions must be practical, useful and original. Winners at WEC are selected based on the overall engineering process: market research, feasibility studies and design prototyping. 

Impromptu Debate

Teams of two competitors use analytical techniques to present, in parliamentary debate format with minimal preparation, a reasoned point of view on a topic disclosed immediately preceding the event. The goal is to assess the competitors’ abilities to convey ideas and develop arguments and not to assess the competitor knowledge of formal debating rules. Therefore the rules normally used in debates are relaxed. 

Consulting Engineering

The Consulting Engineering competition challenges teams to design a detailed solution to a large-scale engineering problem. Competitors are presented with a problem that morning, and have up to 8 hours to develop a solution and submit a report and presentation they will deliver the next day. The proposal must be made in a way that promotes the solution to potential customers in the form of judges. 

Communications

This competition challenges competitors in teams of two to describe a complicated technical process or issue in terms that the general public can understand. At WEC, this is done in the form of a 20-minute prepared presentation of a topic of the team’s choosing to a panel of technical and non-technical judges, who select winners based on presentation skills, topic analysis, and conveyance. For UMEC, competitors are asked to prepare a brief presentation (5-7minutes) on a topic of their choosing. This topic must be the topic chosen to present at WEC if competitors qualify.

Re-Engineering

The Re-Engineering competition challenges teams of two competitors to find innovative ways to redesign or repurpose an existing product or process in order to improve its functionality or adapt it for a completely new purpose. Competitors are provided specifications on a piece of infrastructure, technology, or design and are given one day to propose a way to use it in order to solve a completely new problem.

Programming

The programming competition will challenge competitors to design a program to simulate an existing engineering problem and demonstrate a solution. Competitors will be provided specifications on a piece of infrastructure, technology or design and will be given one day to design a program, then present it. A portion of this competition will include the design of GUI.

Western Engineering Competition

WEC 2024 will be held January 24-27th, 2025 by University of Saskatchewan. 

The Western Engineering Competition (WEC) is an annual competition held by WESST. WEC is an event held in January each year at an engineering school in Western Canada.
WEC serves as the qualifier for the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC), which is held over four days in March.
Besides competitions, WEC is also a lot of fun. Participants will find that WESST has many interesting traditions. WEC is also a great opportunity to meet engineering students from across Western Canada and network with industry representatives who are present as judges or sponsors. Also, there is a career fair and many industry tours available for participants of WEC during the week. 
As with all conferences, UMES sponsored delegates are required to pay a $300 delegate fee and make a refundable damage deposit (usually just a credit card upon arrival at the hotel). 
For more information, please contact the Vice Stick External.

Canadian Engineering Competition

CEC 2025 will be held March 14-17th, 2025 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, by the Dalhousie University - Sexton.

The Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC) brings together 150 of the most innovative and creative engineering undergraduate students from across the nation to compete against each other in one of seven categories, ranging from design, consulting, presentation and debate. Each competition category at CEC challenges its participants to expand their frame of reference and to identify solutions to problems experienced by our profession.
Established in 1985, and hosted yearly at a constituent university, CEC is a highly selective competition. Those invited must first best their peers at their own intra-university competition, and then must achieve a top performance at their respective regional competition (Atlantic Region, Quebec, Ontario, and Western Region). Manitoba falls under the Western Region and you must win WEC in order to qualify for CEC.
For more information, please contact the Vice Stick External.

Canadian Engineering Leadership Conference (CELC)

Candian Engineering Leadership Conference will be held January 1st-7th, 2025 in Fredriction, New Brunswick, Canada, by University of New Brunswick - Fredericton.

The Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES) Congress is the annual general meeting of CFES. Over 45 engineering schools from across Canada send representatives to participate in the event. This is easily the largest conference for engineering students in Canada as over 200 delegates are present. CFES Congress is an event held in the first week of January each year. Delegates will participate in a variety of sessions including presentations on budgets, personal development, and reports from the various Engineering Societies; there will also be ample opportunity to develop camaraderie in a fun atmosphere. Part of the events in congress is the plenary session - round table discussions regarding changes to CFES. Schools are also able to bid to hold upcoming events (CDE, CEC, CFES Congress, and the President's Meeting).
As with all conferences, UMES sponsored delegates are required to pay a $300 delegate fee and make a refundable damage deposit (usually just a credit card upon arrival at the hotel). Beyond this, all other costs associated with the event will be covered by UMES and the Engineering Endowment Fund. 
For more information, please contact the Vice Stick External

EngComm

EngComm will be held February 18th-22nd, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 

EngComm promotes collaboration between the Engineering and Business faculty. Teams consist of two Engineering students and two Commerce students. The teams are given three cases each with distinct preparation time. After each case, students must give a 15-minute presentation in front of a panel of judges. For more information, please contact the Vice Stick External or see the ECCC website.

 

EQ Canada Conference

EQ Canada Conference will be held February 6th-9th, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 

EngiQueers Canada is back, organizing the 2025 edition of their award winning Conference, to further foster connections between queer students in STEM. Over three days, industry professionals, member groups, and student leaders will transfer knowlegde, discuss challenges student advocacy groups face, and provide tangible ways to address them. Delegates will leave with the resources they need to promote EDI on campus, connect with their local community, and run a thriving and sustainable organization. For more information, please contact the Vice Stick External.