Faculty Co-ordinator: Sarah Meunier
The technical speaking competition is held in the Spring and Fall calendar terms. At the competition, as many as eight Waterloo engineering undergraduate students will each give an 8 to 10 minute technical presentation followed by an opportunity for questions from the judges. All University of Waterloo undergraduate students are eligible to compete.
The topic of the technical presentation must demonstrate either engineering design or analysis based on work done by the student either as part of a work placement, an academic research project, or a volunteer role. Confidential technical presentations will not be accepted.
Assessment
Judging will be based on the following five aspects:
- Organization
- Quality of Presentation Slides
- Presentation Style
- Engineering Design and Analysis
- Response to Questions
The linked assessment form will be used to assess presentations. In the event of a tie, the judging panel will select the presenter that is expected to best represent the University of Waterloo at the Ontario Engineering Competition. In many cases, this decision will be based on the societal impact of the engineering design problem chosen, the quality of the engineering design and analysis, and the overall presentation quality.
Intended audience
The intended audience is engineering undergraduate students. You may assume that the audience has some knowledge of the following topics:
- Calculus
- Chemistry
- Circuits
- Differential equations
- Engineering as a profession
- Engineering economics
- Engineering writing
- Linear algebra
- Mechanics
- Programming
Students from all levels of engineering are encouraged to participate. Keep in mind that talks should demonstrate engineering design and analysis at a level suitable for typical engineering undergraduate students. The talks should be accessible to a general engineering audience.
Competition
Presentations will be prepared ahead of time and presented in front of a panel of judges on the day of the event. Submissions must follow these guidelines:
- Between 8 to 10 minutes in length
- The slideshow presentation must be submitted 30 minutes before presentations begin
- A separate copy of the slides in pdf format must be submitted as well
Question and Answer Period
Presentations are followed by a question and answer period with the judges. Questions to each presenter will be asked directly after their presentation.