WOOD WORKS 2009 PICNIC SHELTER

Department of Architectural Science students award winners for picnic shelter

By Antoinette Mercurio

Third-year students from the Department of Architectural Science won first place in the Best Marketing Plan category for their picnic shelter design in the 2008 Wood Product Design Competition. From left: Hitesh Doshi, Architecture Professor; Michael Grunstra, student advisor; Rosa Umana Rosales, student advisor; Bill Thornton, Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources; Donna Cansfield, Minister of Natural Resources; Kevin Shonubi; Dario McPhee; Brandon Scott; Jason Borg; and Ryan Alexander.

       A team of third-year Ryerson students from the Department of Architectural Science won the first-place prize for Best Marketing Plan in the 2008 Wood Product Design Competition. Sponsored by the Canadian Wood Council Wood Works program, the competition is a real-life problem-solving exercise.

Students are challenged to examine trends, barriers and opportunities that relate to the forest products sector and then use this information to create viable products that overcome existing challenges or take advantage of new opportunities. The Ryerson team, which consisted of Ryan Alexander, Jason Borg, Dario McPhee, Brandon Scott, and Kevin Shonubi, designed and built a picnic shelter which was built on campus during Orientation.

Ryerson went up against 16 teams from seven schools throughout Ontario. The students were presented with their award by Donna Cansfield, Minister of Natural Resources, at the Ontario Wood Works Awards Gala in Toronto.

"This project was of tremendous educational value," said Kendra Schank Smith, Chair, Department of Architectural Science. "This is a wonderful example of actually getting out there, working on site and learning by doing. I couldn't have been prouder of everyone involved."

Marianne Berube, Ontario Executive Director, and Steven Street, Technical Director, of the Canadian Wood Council came to Ryerson to personally congratulate the five-person Ryerson team.  "We really want to make an impression on young people and help guide their career choices," Berube said.

"The students found it of enormous value to be so engaged with professionals in the wood industry," Professor Hitesh Doshi, Department of Architectural Science, said. "They gained knowledge about wood products and wood design. In addition, this project provided the students with a real-life example of seeing design come to fruition. For some, this type of experience only comes after graduation. To have such an experience in an undergraduate program was highly meaningful and will be remembered."

In total, three Ryerson teams entered the competition. The winning students were inspired by the teepee to build their picnic shelter. They wanted something that could easily support itself without any complicated attachments.

"We hoped to do well but didn't expect to win," Jason Borg said. "We were shocked and surprised to win. This competition gave us a taste of the real world. It provided us with a lot of opportunities to network and meet many people in the wood industry."


A TIME LAPSE VIDEO OF THE SHELTER CONSTRUCTION

Link:http://www.ryerson.ca/news/news/General_Public/20081217_WoodProduct.html

To see the actual construction of the shelter  click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ1OFNUZ_Sg