The University of Waterloo will announce next week the winner of a student contest to redesign the university's south campus gateway.
WATERLOO, Ont. (Thursday, July 14, 2011) - The University of Waterloo will announce next week the winner of a student contest to redesign the university's south campus gateway, the area around South Campus Hall and the entrance road that links to Seagram Drive and crosses University Avenue.
On Wednesday, July 20, the winning proposal for the i3 Challenge will be unveiled, outlining the initial plan for construction of the project. The top three teams will attend the event, with team members on-hand to discuss their ideas and designs. The top 10 proposals will also be displayed.
The one-of-a-kind project began in October 2010 in order to transform the campus entryway from University Avenue into a more original and inviting space. A call went out to students across campus to put together ideas for an innovative, integrative and implementable project with a Waterloo vision for the area.
“As far as we know this has never been done before,” said Jeff Casello, a professor of planning and civil and environmental engineering and chair of the i3 Challenge committee. "This embodies the University of Waterloo's spirit of innovation. Across the university, from the president's office through the faculties, we are all so excited to capitalize on our students' creativity to enhance our campus.”
The student proposals address everything from sustainability concerns to pedestrian movement in the area. In addition to their ready-to-go projects, teams have also included long-range plans to show future options for the south campus gateway.
The top three teams include students from the faculties of arts, engineering and environment. The proposals reflect the goals of the competition: to integrate students' ideas from different disciplines in order to generate an innovative, high-quality and implementable solution to the south campus gateway.
More than 200 students from across campus have participated in the i3 Challenge. And over 20 teams competed in four rounds to make it to the finals. The i3 Challenge committee and jury members from across campus have guided the teams throughout the competition. The challenge was sponsored in part by the Regional Municipality of Waterloo.
Although space is limited, all are invited to the i3 Challenge final event on Wednesday, July 20, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the festival room in South Campus Hall on Waterloo's main campus. Register at i3challenge.eventbrite.com
For more information about the i3 Challenge, visit innovate.uwaterloo.ca
About Waterloo
The University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's Technology Triangle, is one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities. Waterloo is home to 30,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students who are dedicated to making the future better and brighter. Waterloo, known for the largest post-secondary co-operative education program in the world, supports enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. For more information about Waterloo, visit www.uwaterloo.ca.
Contacts:
Steve Krysak, recruitment officer, faculty of environment, 519-888-4567, ext. 32787 or skrysak@uwaterloo.ca
John Morris, Waterloo media relations, 519-888-4435 or john.morris at uwaterloo.ca
Waterloo news release no. 39
