COVID-19 Forces First Online Atlantic Engineering Competition

When the Atlantic Engineering Competition learned they had to move online due to COVID-19, the student organized competition was moving uphill from the start. The host university, The University of Prince Edward Island was forced to modify their whole platform along with, redesigning a website and changing the tasks competitors would have to complete.

Sydney Wheatley who is the Chair of the competition oversaw the full operation. “We had to make many changes especially to the rule book.” She says.  

From finding judges that were okay to sit in on video calls from their homes, to organizing packages that fulfilled all the needs of competitors to complete the challenges from their home. The competition had never looked so different. 

Normally when these competitions are held students

are given access to all machines and labs the host universities have to offer. Some competitions are just as easy, like the debate but, others like, design, programming and re-engineering are much more difficult to complete from a remote setting. 

The University of Prince Edward Island students who were organizing the events were also faced with tasks and expenses they never considered. Bridget Patterson VP Communications was in charge of posting zoom links and designing the user-friendly website that would be the main hub of information throughout the competition. “Finding extra people to watch, to ensure nobody was cheating on their camera, along with extra interpreters was very expensive.” The only big bonus to an online competition was not having to house the competitors.

“By not needing hotel rooms for out of province competitors it reduced our sponsorship need and allowed us to redirect our focus to figuring out how we can produce a good competition remotely.” Patterson says. 

It is difficult to make a competition as engaging and intense when the competitors are not seeing each other and sharing the labs. “We did our best to give thorough directions and use extra preparation to let the competition run smoothly.” Says Wheatley.  

This was the first time an online competition had been held. Making it a new experience for all organizers, judges, and competitors. The organizing committee expects to see some difficulties but, are prepared and excited to see what is in store for all competitors and how they overcome the adversity some will experience. It is the first online competition, so they will be prepared to work out any problems on the fly.