Concordia’s 40-member delegation has returned from the Quebec Engineering Games, hosted by Université de Sherbrooke from January 3-7, with its best competition results in over a decade. The team finished third overall, and first in several categories. Sharing the podium with the likes of Université Laval and Polytechnique Montréal is an achievement that none of the Concordia students is likely to forget.
James Fradette, a fourth-year student in building engineering and the president of the delegation’s executive, attributes the success to the intelligence and dedication of the students and their diversity of skills, not to mention several years of contest experience.
“It was fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for more from the delegation,” he says. “We have a real feeling of being like a family.”
Also on the executive planning team was Carole-Anne Trudel, a second-year mechanical engineering student. She is proud of the challenges that the Concordia team was able to overcome in order to rank among the top engineering schools, including competing in a Francophone event. Though as a native of Quebec City, French is no obstacle for her, it was definitely a challenge for others in the group.
“You have to be outgoing,” she said. “The Games are a lot about team spirit.”
She’s also proud that the students were able to raise more than $20,000 from sponsors such as Mind Geek, Group Mag and Desjardins to support their equipment, transportation and registration costs.