News & Events

Five Ryerson engineering students captured kudos and awards with a record-breaking performance at the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC) in London, Ont.

A unique concept for a prosthetic arm led to two of the awards.

Three of the five Ryerson team members finished first and second in the innovative design category - the first time in OEC history that one university took the top two positions. It's also the first time a Ryerson team placed first at the provincial level and qualified to compete in the national competition.

The first-place students will represent Ryerson and the province in the Canadian Engineering Competition at McGill in Montreal from March 10 to 13.

The winners are:
- First place: Roman Dabrowski and Sasha Harpe for parliamentary debate; and Thiago Caires and Michal Prywata for innovative design.
- Second place: Peyman Moeini for innovative design.
- Social Awareness Award: Thiago Caires and Michal Prywata.

Biomedical engineering students Caires and Prywata received their two awards for an innovative pneumatic prosthetic arm, controlled by the brain. The pair sought to create an efficient and affordable device that enables patients to maintain independence. Compressed air serves as the main power source for the arm's artificial muscle movements, which are triggered by brain inputs fed into a microcontroller.

To develop their concept further, the two have linked with Ryerson's Digital Media Zone, the university's unique centre for student innovation and idea development. They have also applied for three patents for the arm and other innovations they are developing.

"We were very proud to be a part of Ryerson upon winning one of the most prestigious engineering competitions. We were also honoured to win the Social Awareness Award," Prywata said. "The biomedical engineering program at Ryerson has stimulated our creative minds and interest in helping people with their medical difficulties." 

The goal of the innovative design category is to encourage undergraduate engineering students to use their creativity and education to develop a marketable product or service that is a significant improvement upon a previous design. Winning entries must combine originality, technical and economic feasibility, justifiable design choices and a high quality presentation and exhibit.

This is the second consecutive year Ryerson students have fared well at the OEC. Last year, chemical engineering students Charles Gilmour, Kirill Cheiko, Pawel Kita and Reuben Fernandes received the Social Awareness Award for their wastewater treatment process for removing pharmaceuticals.