The Centennial Campus Challenge will allow students to begin camping out Monday as part of a week-long College of Engineering tradition.

The Centennial Campus Challenge began in 2008, when seniors in chemical engineering decided to create the event on Centennial Campus to give the College of Engineering an identity and to spark social networking between students of different engineering departments, according to the Centennial Campus Challenge website.

The first co-chairs of the event were Garrett Swindlehurst and Robert Bradley. The co-chairs for the 2010 event are Alex Manasa, senior in aerospace engineering, and Caitlin Winnike, senior in mechanical engineering.

According to Manasa, co-chair for the event, the challenge is divided into two parts.

“There are two main parts to this event, the Engineering Village Challenge and the Greatest Engineers Challenge,” Manasa said.

According to Manasa, the two parts have different goals, but in both, teams can win prize money.

“In the EVC, students form teams and camp out on the field next to BTEC alongside Oval Drive. These teams earn points when the team members swipe-in during the check points; one in the morning and one at night,” Manasa said. “Whichever team has the highest score by the end of the week wins $500. Second place is $100, third is $50.”

Teams in the GEC do not have check-in points. Instead, these teams build designated items.

“In the GEC, student teams are given a specific amount of materials each night during the week and are told to build something specific out of them,” Manasa said. “The teams earn points based on how well they do in each challenge during the week, and the team with the highest score by the end of the week also earns $500.”

Registration for this event is not required, Manasa said.

“Students can sign up by coming to our main tent on the BTEC field. Registration is

$10, which gets you a T-shirt and the opportunity to win the $500 in the GEC and EVC,” Manasa said. “However, students can camp and do all the other fun stuff for free.”

To wrap up the events of the week, there will be a ball Friday night, Manasa said.

“There is also a formal ball this Friday night in the Progress Energy rooms in Engineering Building II,” Manasa said.

According to the site, the N.C. State Jazz Ensemble will perform at the ball. The winners of the EVC and GEC will also be announced.