Design Teams

The Engineering Society comprises eighteen distinct design teams, each dedicated to achieving their team's objectives and advancing expertise in various engineering applications.

Queen’s Baja SAE

Queen’s University Baja SAE is a multi-disciplinary, student-run engineering team that challenges students to design, fabricate and race a small off-road vehicle. We compete in the North American Baja SAE three-race series each spring, which attracts around two hundred teams from around the world. For forty-five years our team has been a strong international competitor in Baja SAE, consistently achieving top ten finishes.

Queen’s Bridge Building Team (QBBT)

Queen’s Bridge Building Team (QBBT) is a design team at Queen’s which focuses on the design and construction of model bridges. These bridges measure around 1.5 m long, and are made of only popsicle sticks, white glue and dental floss. Every year, QBBT sends 5-6 bridges to the Troitsky Bridge Building Competition in Montreal, where universities from across North America compete to have the strongest and most efficient bridge. All teams submit their bridge into a hydraulic press that tests the strength of the bridge. Past bridges have sustained over 3500 kg (approximately the mass of two cars).

Queen’s Formula SAE (QFSAE)

Queen's Racing Formula SAE Team stands as one of Queen's University's most storied, active, and advanced design teams, with a legacy dating back to 1993. For decades, the team aims to empower students with real-world engineering and business experience, all while proudly representing the excellence of Queen's University. Dedicated to providing a unique, hands-on educational experience, Queen's Racing Formula focuses on the design, manufacturing, and testing of a Formula-style race car that competes in the renowned Formula SAE Series. We provide students with invaluable skills and knowledge beyond the confines of traditional academia, shaping them into adept professionals with a passion for innovation and teamwork.

Queen’s Hyperloop Design Team (QHDT)

Queen's Hyperloop Design Team (QHDT) is a team comprised of over 100 like-minded students who share a vision for changing the future of transportation. We Leverage the amazingly talented students within the Queen's community to work in a cross-functional team, striving towards a shared goal of making the Hyperloop a reality. We are multidisciplinary and collaborative, spanning five faculties and all engineering disciplines. A well-structured and carefully planned management system enables our members to choose from 16 sub-teams and contribute to 7 projects within the team’s portfolio.

Queen’s Knights Robotics Team (QKRT)

We are a close-knit, interdisciplinary group of students developing advanced robots that compete in the annual international RoboMaster competition. Our team provides an inclusive environment for students to collaborate and explore the world of robotics. We are devoted to supporting each member, empowering them with both technical and interpersonal skills to excel in their future pursuits.

Queen’s Relectric Car Team (QRCT)

Relectric is developing a streamlined approach to EV conversions to enable consumers to have greater access to more affordable and sustainable vehicles, while providing undergraduate students with hands on experiences working with EV technology.

Queen’s Space Engineering Team (QSET)

QSET is a group of exceptional and passionate students at Queen's University who share a desire to explore and compete in the world of Space Science and Space Technology. We are one of the largest design teams at Queen’s and our members cover most engineering disciplines. From mechanical and electrical, to chemical and financial, the competitions that QSET participates in offer a wide range of challenges. Operating as an independently run team offers members the flexibility and freedom required to successfully plan, research, and implement solutions to open-ended design problems. QSET consists of two teams that operate independently on various technical projects: the Rover Team and the Satellite Team. Members can take on a variety of projects covering a variety of skill levels, but no experience is required to join. The only requirement to join is an interest in space and engineering design. Our goal is to provide an environment where students can develop industry transferrable skills through hands-on experience!

Queen’s Aero Design Team (QADT)

The Queen’s Aero Design Team competes in the International SAE Aero Design Competition, held annually each spring in the United States. The team builds one or two small scale remote control aircrafts, which aim to accomplish several goals, including highest payload fraction (smallest plane, biggest load), accuracy in dropping a payload onto a target, and largest payload carried. New aircrafts are designed and built each year using a variety of design software and techniques, and then constructed in shop. All disciplines and faculties are welcome to join the team, and of course, no experience is required. Come check us out in the ILC in BMH 115A!

Queen’s BioMechatronics Team (QBMeT)

Queen’s BioMechatronics Team (BMeT) is a multidisciplinary design team at Queen’s that utilizes mechanical and electrical engineering concepts to produce wearable bionic devices that analyze, study, and enhance human motion. The prototypes are designed for use in nearly any industry or application including construction, medicine, and emergency services.

Queen’s Biomedical Innovation Team (QBiT)

Queen’s Biomedical Innovation Team (QBiT) is an undergraduate student-run, interdisciplinary design team focusing on biomedical device design and innovation. The team typically consists of ninety members in mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering, kinesiology, biology, biotechnology, and more. The team emphasizes collaboration between disciplines to create a comprehensive and fully-realized final product. The QBiT team strongly believes in education through application, and thus the team’s projects focus primarily on problem identification, prototyping design, and testing phases of product development. The team aims to compete in numerous international competitions per year, depending on the nature of the projects undertaken. QBiT also focuses its diverse knowledge base on providing learning opportunities for both the students on the team and other interested members of the community. The team organizes case competitions, speaker series, and collaborations with other design teams to expand the team’s potential and cultivate the principles of biomedical innovation at Queen’s and in the greater society of academia.

Queen’s Concrete Canoe Team (QCCT)

The Queen’s Concrete Canoe Team is an interdisciplinary competitive design team that designs and builds a canoe out of concrete every year! Want to know more? Come check us out on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm in the Ellis Hall concrete lab (Basement of Ellis Hall).

Queen’s Concrete Toboggan Team (QCTT)

Tobogganing down a snow-covered hill never goes out of style. The Queen’s Concrete Toboggan Team is a civil engineering-based design team that competes annually in the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR). The team is challenged to design and construct a toboggan with a running surface made from concrete, complete with steering and braking systems. Competitors are evaluated on their concrete mix and toboggan designs, speed, stopping distance, team spirit, technical presentation and technical report writing skills. The competition also addresses sustainability with two environmental based awards. Being a student run event, industry sponsorship is crucial to the success of each team and the competition.

Queen’s Genetically Engineered Machine (QGEM)

The Queen’s Genetically Engineered Machine (QGEM) Team is the Queen’s University chapter of International Genetic Engineered Machine (iGEM). QGEM is an undergraduate research and design team that uses innovations in the fast-evolving field of synthetic biology to tackle current real-world problems related to medicine, industry, the environment, sustainability, and more. We also part of the collective Ontario Genetic Engineered Machine (oGEM), with whom we collaborate with to share ideas, lab protocols, and funding plans.

Queen’s Rocket Engineering Team (QRET)

The Queen’s Rocket Engineering Team (QRET) is a team of students from Queen’s University that share a passion for design and construction of high speed aircraft for the space and aerospace industries. The team builds a rocket each year to compete at the Spaceport America Cup. The objective of the competition is to deliver an 8.8 lb payload to an altitude of 10,000 feet, then track, and recover the rocket and payload in reflyable condition.

Queen’s Soft Robotics Team (QSORT)

Queen’s Soft Robotics is a student run organization founded in 2017 at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Queen’s Soft Robotics aims to explore the field of soft robotics and increase awareness of the field’s applications within the Queen’s community. Soft robotics is a new area of research that integrates engineering for biologically inspired applications often in the fields of medicine and healthcare. Its focus is on utilizing soft materials such as silicones and rubbers to replace the conventionally rigid parts found in robotics. These soft materials allow for more fluidic motion of designs and provides a more organic appearance for ease of implementation in many applications.

Queen’s Solar Design Team (QSDT)

The Queen’s Solar Design Team aims to provide both hands-on-experience and education to students interested in sustainable technology development. Since 2011, the team has shifted its focus from building and competing with solar vehicles to designing and engineering fully off-grid, autonomous houses such as the Queen’s Solar Education Centre (located on West Campus). Last year, QSDT was a finalist in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon for our design of a suburban single-family home. This year, our Solar Decathlon entry will be designed in partnership with Tiny Town Association to address the affordable housing crisis and house vulnerable populations within Kingston. All disciplines and faculties are welcome!

Queen’s Supermileage (QSM)

The Queen’s Supermileage Team is an EngSoc design team at Queen’s University that aims to design and manufacture ultra fuel-efficient vehicles to compete in the annual Shell Eco-Marathon.

Queen’s VEX U Robotics Team (QVEX)

The Queen’s VEX U Robotics Team (QVEX) is a diverse team of students competing in the VEX U Robotics Competition. Our current roster includes over 20 students from 4 different faculties, a combined total of over 50 person-years of competitive robotics experience and 15 World Championship appearances. While the objective changes year to year, QVEX focuses on creating a pair of high-quality robots that are capable of precise object manipulation, visual object detection, unaided autonomous motion and navigation, driver-assisted remote operation, and much more. QVEX strives to continually push the boundaries of the VEX U Robotics Competition by developing cutting-edge software and by utilizing advanced manufacturing techniques of both electronic and mechanical components.