A team of UPEI Sustainable Design Engineering students placed first at the 2026 Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC), with their "LimbRise" presentation in the Innovative Design category. Read about this opportunity and the dedicated work behind the students' project:

Richard Hetherington: "The name of our project is LimbRise. The purpose is to develop the first hands-free crutch for knee injuries, providing a safer hands-free alternative to traditional crutches, allowing users to walk confidently and live independently. The project is completely separate from coursework; it's an extracurricular project/startup I have been working on for over two years."

What kinds of things did you and your team really enjoy about the competition?

"My team and I really enjoyed the supportive community behind all the students across the 55 Canadian universities that competed in the competition. There were fun social events but more importantly, we got to meet engineering students like ourselves from all across Canada and develop new friendships."

What are the benefits of competing in student competitions like this one?

"I think it is critical for student development to have the opportunity to compete in competitions like this because it gives us exposure to all kinds of opportunities and cool projects that other students are working on. We get to network, learn, and build off of each other. We also test and hone our skills gained in the classroom to see how it compares to what other universities are doing. This builds our experience and builds new perspectives, given the opportunity to travel and push ourselves. From these competitions, it's proof of the quality of UPEI's education based on student performance at these competitions, with three of seven teams placing first at nationals, which has never happened before!"

What did you learn about yourself or your peers after experiencing the competition?

"After experiencing the competition, I learned just about how much I cared about the work that I've put into the project, and how much my team cared as well. During the awards ceremony, we were all extremely anxious, locking our hands around the banquet table with our heads down and jaws clenched during the awards announcement. I believe this mutual connection we shared with the project and problem we were solving is what made us become national champs. This overall experience has brought me and my teammates closer. I also learned about how persistent I am as an individual, to come back and form almost an identical team every time I ever competed at these engineering competitions, and it deeply shows how much these competitions mean to my school and me; it is part of our culture. To start off from last place and ending it off at first place in the nation is a memorable journey full of ups and downs, and I'm glad I was delusional to believe that I could be the one to win the competition while leading the same team each time."

"At last year's Canadian Engineering Competition, hosted at Dalhousie University, my team and I were in the awards ceremony seated around a banquet table all dressed in suits. They were announcing the awards and my heart fell out of my chest when our team placed fourth, falling short of a top-three place. We were all disappointed and I felt a bit discouraged. After the award announcements, they had revealed the next CEC in 2026 was to be held at Sherbrooke, Quebec. In that very moment I told myself in my head that I would return and this time I would get the job done. Fast-forward after a year of focus and staying true to my dream, my team and I had gotten first at the competition, which is one of the most satisfying and joyful moments of my life. These competitions mean a lot to me and they bring our faculty closer together!"