Canadian University Science Games
# Canadian University Science Games

The Canadian University Science Games (CUSG) are an annual, student-led initiative designed to bring together undergraduate university science students from across Canada. The four-day conference generally consists of guest speakers, competitive challenges and social events. Currently the games are under a restructuring phase - the Games are seeking registered Canadian charity status in order to add continuity from year to year. The Games currently have no website.

## About CUSG

Teams of students (usually numbering 20) gather at the host university for the four-day event. Teams are assigned points based on their performance at competitive challenges, as well as for their enthusiasm throughout the event. Among participants, the games are informally known as "the Science Olympics". Each CUSG generally consists of 6 competitive challenges. In the past, these have included debate, visual arts, "Cascade" (Construction of a Rube-Goldberg Machine), sport, a scavenger hunt and a quiz bowl.

## History

A student initiative at the McGill University in 1999 is generally regarded to be the first CUSG. In the past, the event has been hosted by:

1999 McGill University 2000 University of Toronto 2001 University of Western Ontario 2002 Concordia University 2003 Laval University

2004 University of Ottawa

2005 University of Montreal (Cancelled)

2006 University of Windsor

2007 University of Waterloo/Wilfrid Laurier University (Cancelled)

2008 (Cancelled) 2009 University of Windsor

2013 University of Western Ontario

2014 TBD

### 2006

The 2006 event, held at the University of Windsor, was regarded by many as a huge success. A record number of participants attended, and there was no financial shortfall. These games were sponsored by the Michener Institute, the University of Windsor and various other organizations.

### 2007

In 2007, students from the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University were to collaborate and host the games in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. A notice appeared on the games' website, a few months before the games occurred, that they would not be held due to lack of sponsorship.

https://web.archive.org/web/20131104092913/http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/article.cfm?articleID=906&day=30&month=11&section=News&year=2006

## Results

Since no formal records of the event are kept, the only verification for results are the physical awards, each owned and possessed by students of the respective winning team. The following results are generally accepted:

Year: 2006

Host: University of Windsor

1st: University of Windsor

2nd: University of Waterloo

3rd: University of Western Ontario, Team 3

"Cascade Challenge": University of Waterloo

Spirit Award: Wilfrid Laurier University

Year: 2004

Host: University of Ottawa

1st: Laval University

2nd: University of Waterloo

3rd: Unknown

Academic Award: McGill University "Cascade Challenge": University of Western Ontario

Spirit Award: University of Western Ontario

Year: 2003

Host: Laval University

1st: University of Montreal

2nd: University of Windsor

3rd: Unknown

Academic Award: McGill University "Cascade Challenge": Spirit Award: Wilfrid Laurier University

## Contest

For the duration of the games, all participants from all schools, including the host school, are housed in one hotel. All meals are usually provided by the hosting students. Corporate and institutional sponsorship usually subsidizes the financial cost of the games.

## Website

The corporation had a presence on the Internet at www.cusg.ca, until July 25, 2007, when the domain name was left unregistered and was bought by a cybersquatter

