Come to the RecPlex tomorrow at 1 p.m. to cheer for Fairfield's newest cohort of up-and-coming engineers as they face their first 'sink or swim' engineering challenge: to race across the pool on buoyant hand-made contraptions designed and built using skills honed in their "Fundamentals of Engineering" class. The competition will be judged by the professors who team-teach the introductory course: Michael Zabinski, PhD, Djedjiga Belfadel, PhD, and James Cavallo, MS.

Since 2012, the annual Walk on Water competition has been a rite of passage for undergraduate engineers at Fairfield University. On Saturday, 16 groups of five classmates each will go beyond textbook learning to put knowledge into action for this team-based project. Given a budget of $100 for materials, teams are encouraged to use spare, repurposed, and recycleable parts.

Grades are affected if the students’ projects cannot make it across the pool, raising the stakes for participants – and the suspense for spectators. In past competitions, most devices have successfully crossed the finish line, but Dr. Zabinski recalls several student-operators falling underwater and at least one device breaking apart mid-race.

When asked what he likes best about the Walk on Water tradition, Dr. Zabinski said, “The teamwork and the creativity that this design project stimulates are extraordinary.”

Back in the classroom following the competition, the student teams will present their design processes and will be graded on design goals, creativity, performance, and problem-solving approaches, among other factors.

Spectators are encouraged to attend Saturday afternoon's competition, with the pool bleachers open to the University community and the general public. Come and root for the team of your choice – when it comes to the ingenuity and innovative work of Fairfield’s engineering students, seeing is believing!