UPEI engineering students win gold in national competition
Students in the UPEI Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering brought home three gold medals from the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC), held at the Université de Sherbrooke from March 20 to 23, 2026.
This win comes on the heels of an excellent showing by UPEI students at the 2026 Atlantic Engineering Competition (AEC) in January. Twenty-one of the 34 students who competed in the Atlantic competition qualified for the CEC.
Of the eight categories at the CEC, six teams from UPEI competed in five and won gold in three—the most of any school in Canada.
Richard Hetherington, Elijah Dodd, Morgan Maclean, Luke Jennings, and Noor Mazhar won gold in the Innovative Design category for inventing a brace that allows people with knee injuries to perform daily tasks hands-free. In this challenge, teams had to showcase their entrepreneurial spirit by designing an innovative product.
In the Re-Engineering category, Syed Imran Ali and Syed Daniyal Ali took gold for a plan they developed for a data centre in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Teams in this challenge were asked to redesign AI data centres for increased computing power and improved thermal management.
Myah Van’t Veld and Emma Ledgerwood (missing from photo) won gold in the Communications category for a presentation about biomimicry in engineering. Biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. Teams had to demonstrate thorough understanding of a topic and were judged on the clarity and consistency of their presentation, oral communication skills, and their ability to make an engineering topic accessible to all.
Ledgerwood’s win this year makes her the first UPEI engineering student to win two medals at the CEC; last year, she was on a team that won bronze in the consulting category.
Since its inception in 1985, the CEC has been an annual celebration of engineering excellence, bringing together Canada’s best engineering students to tackle real-world challenges. The event brings together over 200 students for a weekend of competition and networking with some of the top engineering companies in the country.
