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����ý, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science undergraduate student Océane Boulais won the Extreme Engineer award, $2,000 in prize money and a paid trip to the 2015 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) conference in Baltimore, Maryland at the SHPE Conference 2014, Extreme Engineering Challenge (XEC) event.

The XEC is a non-stop 24-hour competition interview. At the 2014 event student teams were challenged with converting a cooler into a new product that was ready to sell to consumers. Each team was required to design and construct their new product, create a logo, build a marketing presence using social media and printed material and film a commercial. Student interviews and judging were conducted by representatives of the event company sponsors ─ Nissan, America’s Navy, Chevron Corporation, Ford Motor Company, NASA, Raytheon, Schlumberger, The Boeing Company, U.S. Army and U.S. Marines.

"I left the competition with a vivacious sense of accomplishment. After working 24-hours with a group of nine other students on the Schlumberger team from other universities all over the U.S. and Puerto Rico, we felt like a dynamic team of real engineers,” said Boulais. “Our success didn’t depend on exams, assignments or lectures – just our own innovative thinking and our ability to remain conscious for the whole event!”

The event was open to all undergraduate and graduate SHPE student members. Ten teams with ten students on each team competed in the challenge. Awards were given for best team ($4,000), Extreme Engineer ($2,000) and four awards for Top Engineer ($1,000 each).  

The purpose of the XEC is to promote an interest in engineering by challenging student’s imagination, creativity, organization and business skills to get an innovative idea to market. The challenge provides a structured environment that simulates an accelerated working scenario with deadlines, presentations, reviews, and obstacles to build awareness and the necessary skills to meet the demands of extreme engineering.

The SHPE Conference 2014 was held November 5 to 9 at the COBO Center in Detroit, Michigan. The conference is a major event for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Inc. and the largest technical and career conference for Hispanics in the country.