Back on February 26th 2022, the OSPE Exchange Hub in Guelph partnered with the Guelph Black Professionals group to host the 2nd annual technical writing contest. Students were given 24 hours to write a report either designing, or redesigning, a system that disproportionately, and negatively, affects the BIPOC community (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour).
Any engineering undergrad student was eligible to participate with the hope of winning a share of the $1,000 prize pool.
The winners were determined by a panel of University of Guelph professors – Dr. Julie Vale, Dr. Ryan Clemmer, Dr. Scott Brandon, and Dr. Cameron Farrow.
The 2022 winners were:
First Place:
Aidan Hopkins, University of Waterloo
Paper: Temperature Regulating Underground Water Transportation System
Winning Design: An underground water transportation system that can be used in the northern regions of Canada as the water passing through will remain unfrozen and adaptable to any ground changes.
Second Place
Isabelle Tam, University of Ottawa
Paper: BIPOC In the Beauty Industry
Winning Design: Decreasing inequalities in the beauty industry by increasing the variety of foundation shades by either requiring an allocation of an equal number of shades per complexion category or creating a program that uses artificial intelligence to generate the perfect shade.
Third Place
Adrianna Con, University of Guelph
Paper: Engineering Solutions for Healthcare for BIPOC Community
Winning Design: Software upgrades to the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework that focuses on BIPOC issues within the healthcare system, such as flagging racial errors that have been made.
Congratulations to all participants!
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