About Our Design Teams
The Engineering Society runs a group of design teams focusing on all aspects of Engineering. The design teams offer a great opportunity for students to get involved outside of the classroom, while gaining direct experience with real-world engineering projects. The team projects range from concrete canoes, to a sailboat that sails itself. The teams provide a great deal of jobs for a variety of levels of commitment. There are team leader positions, as well as drop in positions. They allow participants to put in as many or as few hours fit their schedule.
Questions?
For more information on design teams, or to find out how you can get involved, please email the Director of Design:
Liam Murray
design@nullengsoc.queensu.ca
If you have any requests for equipment in the design bay or design team workshops, please email the Deputy of Design:
Penny Richards
deputy.design@nullengsoc.queensu.ca
Design Team Forms
Design Teams
Queen’s Rocket Engineering Team
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 Space Engineering Team
The Queen’s Space Engineering Team is a group of over 60 exceptional and passionate students who share the desire to explore and compete in the world of space science and technology. Created in 2006, QSET has built stand-alone, off the grid, mobile platform rovers, as well as 3U CubeSats which were all used to compete in various international space competitions (University Rover Challenge, European Rover Challenge, Canadian Satellite Design Challenge).
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. Based in Kingston, Ontario, we compete in the North American Baja SAE three-race series each spring, which attracts over two hundred teams from around the world. For almost forty years our team has been a strong international competitor in Baja SAE, recently placing first, fourth and seventh overall.
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 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.

Queen’s Bridge Building Team (QBBT)
We are the Queen’s University Bridge Building Design Team. We build bridges.
No, seriously. We are currently in our 6th year of operation and we compete in the Troitsky Bridge Building Competition which originated in 1975 and hosts universities all across Canada. We are an entirely student run team that oversees the design, fabrication, construction, and crushing of multiple wooden bridges.
Our task is simple: build a bridge out of popsicle sticks, glue, and dental floss. Seems pretty simple, right? We break into 6 teams of 6 Engineering students and each team designs and assembles a bridge. We spend a month designing the bridges and then the next 4 months constructing them so we can crush them in March.