Teams of first-year civil engineering students at the University of Waterloo will pitch designs for a new playground structure to a tough audience tomorrow — the elementary school kids who will eventually give it a workout.
The assembly at Keatsway Public School in Waterloo is part of a novel process that will culminate at its annual fun fair in June with a vote on the best structure to build in an area of 360 square metres and with a budget of up to $75,000.
Ten teams will present their ideas to students during an assembly in the gymnasium Tuesday. The children will then vote on their favourite three, which will appear on posters at the fun fair so that parents, teachers and other members of the wider school community can pick the ultimate winner, which could be in place next year.
Rania Al-Hammoud, a civil and environmental engineering lecturer at Waterloo, organized the project after she heard about a fundraising effort for a new play structure. After approaching the school’s principal with the idea, Al-Hammoud assigned 140 students in her mechanics class to design a structure using components from Canadian playground companies and input from the kids themselves.
“My students loved it,” she said. “They told me they got ideas from the school kids that they would never have thought of in a million years.”
Date: Tuesday, April 4
Time: 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Location: Gymnasium of Keatsway Public School, 323 Keats Way, Waterloo
The project is worth 15 per cent of students’ final marks, plus a three-per-cent bonus for the top three teams.
