Local Fluid Power Challenges typically involve teams of four Grade 7 and/or 8 students. These events take place over two days, the Workshop Day and the Challenge Day, separated by four to five weeks. Both events take place at the same host site which can be a school, college or sponsoring company.

The Workshop Day reinforces the students’ knowledge of fluid power concepts, introduces them to the tools and materials they will use to build a device and gives them some practice building simple fluid power devices. At the end of the Workshop Day, the teams are introduced to the Challenge Scenario and given a Prototype Kit of materials.

During the intervening four to five weeks, the teams (using out-of-class time and their Prototype Kit ) design a device that will solve the problem presented by the Scenario, build prototypes, test and fine-tune them, and document their design process in a Design Portfolio as they go.

On the Challenge Day, the students build their devices from scratch, fine-tune their designs and construction and demonstrate their devices to all in attendance.  Their Design Portfolios are also reviewed and scored by the judges.  The overall winner is graded on the performance of their device and the quality of their portfolio. An additional award is given to the team with the best portfolio.

We are currently preparing for the 2024 Toronto Fluid Power Challenge. For more information about this event as well as links to the resources that will be used by the teachers and students, go to this page.

For members who would like to participate or sponsor the event, click here

“Thank you for an amazing two-day experience!! My students and I benefitted greatly from this opportunity.  Students rarely have an opportunity to present their work outside their classroom/school community.  While they found it nerve racking, in the end it helped build their self confidence. The challenge, with the emphasis on the portfolio, allowed students to develop a wide range of skills. Additionally, it allowed me to see areas in our science program that need more emphasis. My students really struggled with the planning phase.  They could visualize the parts but not the whole, suggesting we need to incorporate more system design in our program. We also need to put more time into teaching the design process.  This was an excellent learning experience for us all!”                         From a teacher at the 2023 Toronto Challenge