University of Alberta Engineering Competition (UAEC)
The University of Alberta Engineering Competition (UAEC) is a two-day event where engineering undergraduate students can participate in one of eight different design and consulting engineering challenges. UAEC challenges engineering aptitude and individual communication skills as teams must present their projects to a judging panel. The winning team of each category are invited to represent the University of Alberta at the January 2026 Western Engineering Competition (WEC) hosted by the University of Regina.
Eligibility: All competitors must be currently enrolled as University of Alberta engineering undergraduate students. Proof of enrollment may be asked
This year's UAEC will be held in the engineering buildings (ETLC/ECERF/ICE Incubator) from November 21st-22nd, 2026.
Please consider not all categories will be held on both days.
If you have any questions regarding UAEC, please contact the Directors of Competitions Arjun Chand at director.competition@ess.ualberta.ca
Qualifying Competitions
Western Engineering Competition (WEC)
Eligibility: Must place 1st in UAEC in your respective competition category
The Western Engineering Competition was established back in 1985, and is Western Canada’s premier engineering student event. It showcases the ingenuity, technical skills, and creativity of the region’s brightest future engineers. Since its inception, WEC has seen over 200 competitors from all Engineering Disciplines each year from over 11 Western engineering accredited institutions.
75% of fees and travel costs are covered by the ESS
Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC)
Eligibility: Must place 1st or 2nd in WEC in your respective competition category
CEC brings together over 200 of the most innovative and creative engineering undergraduate students from across the nation to compete against each other in eight categories. Each competition category at CEC challenges its participants to expand their frame of reference and to identify solutions to problems experienced by our profession.
100% of fees and travel costs are covered by the ESS
Competition Categories
Senior Design
Only open to students who have completed their second (2nd) year of their engineering undergraduate degree. Teams of two (2) to four (4) competitors must design and construct a working prototype that can complete a given engineering objective, typically using a mechatronics approach. Although the general theme of the task is released one week prior, the teams must wait until the morning of the competition before the full objective is released.
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Saturday, November 21st, 2026 and Sunday, November 22nd, 2026 (2 Day Challenge)
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TBD
Junior Design
Only open to students in their first (1st) and second (2nd) year of their undergraduate engineering degree. Teams of two (2) to four (4) competitors must solve an engineering design problem and build a prototype of their design using hardware supplies (example: cardboard, popsicle sticks, etc.), according to the objectives and constraints announced the day of the event.
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Sunday, November 22nd, 2026
(1 Day Challenge)
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TBD
Consulting Engineering
Teams of one (1) to four (4) competitors develop a solution to a large-scale real-world engineering problem. During the given time, team must develop an economically feasible design with minimal negative social and environmental impacts. They must then present this design to their clients (i.e. judges).
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Saturday, November 21st, 2026
Sunday, November 22nd, 2026
(2 Day Challenge)
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TBD
Re-Engineering
.Teams of one (1) to two (2) competitors will have to apply the re-engineering process in order to reimagine the design of two existing products or processes in order to improve their functionality or to adapt them for a completely new purpose. The first challenge will be provided a week in advanced for competitors to complete before the competition days, and the second challenge will be provided on the day of the event.
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Saturday, November 21st, 2026
Sunday, November 22nd, 2026
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TBD
Impromptu Debate
Teams of two (2) competitors must use analytical techniques to present convincing, well-constructed arguments in a parliamentary debate format on a given engineering topic with technical, political, and economical conscious questions given minimal preparation time.
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Saturday, November 21st, 2026
(1 Day Challenge)
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TBD
Engineering Communications
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Sunday, November 22nd 2026
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TBD
Teams of one (1) to two (2) competitors are challenged to describe the principles governing a complicated technology or technical subject in terms the general public can easily understand.
Innovative Design
Teams of one (1) to four (4) competitors are challenged to those their own design topic in order to research and develop their own design. The designs must be new, innovative, and address a void in society or industry. Guiding themes will be provided a week in advanced which is also when teams are to start their research and development of their design to be presented to a panel of judges on event day.
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Saturday, November 21st, 2026 (1 Week Challenge)
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TBD
Programming
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Saturday, November 21st, 2026
Sunday, November 22nd, 2026
(2 Day Challenge)
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TBD
Teams of two (2) to four (4) competitors are challenged to create a program/code that solves a a presented engineering problem given on the day of the event.
Volunteer Registration
Volunteer Registration Closes on Saturday, October 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (MDT)
Competitor Registration
Competitor Registration Closes on Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 11:59pm (MDT)
Frequency Asked Questions
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Unfortunately, no. Only students enrolled in undergrad engineering can compete, and this is in line with eligibility rules of WEC and CEC.
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No you cannot. At WEC and CEC, categories are 2-day competitions, unlike some UAEC categories which are 1-day; thus, you are only eligible to compete in 1 category at WEC and CEC. The reason some UAEC categories are 1-day long is due to financial and logistical limitations.
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No you cannot. Most volunteer roles are to help run each competition categories.
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Yes you can! We welcome anyone and everyone who would love to help out!
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Absolutely you can still compete, but you may not have as much time compared to other teams.
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As WEC and CEC recognized restricting Senior Design's more robotics-based competition to students who've competed 2nd year didn't make sense, they changed the eligibility for all years.
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Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to thoroughly figure out the logistics to coordinate online participants, thus we don't accept online participants.
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