Systems Design Engineering (SYDE) and Biomedical Engineering (BME) welcomed incoming undergraduate students with Design Dayz
During the full-day event, students moved through three problem-based, hands-on learning activities that introduce design concepts and begin building relationships with their peers, faculty, and staff.
New for this year was the Big Systems Game, an interactive large-format board game that gets students thinking big-picture and collaborating with each other. In teams, students are assigned a city to develop resources and build alliances to survive natural, technological, or societal events.
Developing the game was a collaborative effort, with faculty lending expertise in teaching, game design, and authentic real-world disaster impacts and technical staff bringing the concepts to life with custom 3D-printed game pieces.
Next, students went to the Gear Lab for a video game programming activity. They modified code for the retro arcade game Cyclone, with the goal of earning points for stopping a moving light at a desired location on the playing surface.
Last was the returning favourite cell phone drop activity, which asked students to build a device to carry a phone safely during a one-story fall. To inform the design of their prototype, students are introduced to the concept of dynamics and the forces at play when the phone falls. They have a chance to improve their design to minimize the speed, with the lowest acceleration earning a prize.
Through these activities, along with icebreaker games and a social lunch, students receive a dynamic and engaging introduction to design principles while fostering collaboration and creativity.