Fat Cantab employee entrance exam

Closed book, no device exam of three (3) hours
 
1.
Design a thought-activated avalanche airbag backpack that fully inflates in <300ms, protects the vital organs, ensures non burial and requires no notification when flying with major airlines. Retail price should be <300 Euros. And weight <2 kgs. (Provide 3D schematics, tooling, Gant chart of product development. 10 points out of 100)
 
2.
Who is the greatest skier of all time? Justify your choice. (1000 words – 5 points)
 
3.
Bluff your way into VIP parking at each of Canterbury’s commercial ski resorts. (Practical – 15 points)
 
4.
Survey the last 6000 years of skiwear focusing on those periods when that which was practical was also fashionable. (1000 words – 5 points)
 
5.
Design and build an accurate global snowfall forecasting app. (Provide source code – 10 points)
 
6.
Describe the ways in which a ski club committee always knows best. (10,000 words – or more if required – 1 point)
 
7.
Sketch the limits and complexities of ski competition; quantitative (measured) vs qualitative (judged) – which is the most legitimate? (2000 words – 5 points)
 
 
8.
Summarize the cultural and technological cross pollination between skiing and snowboarding since 1985. Provide a timeline. Which sport got the better deal? (1000 words – 10 points)
 
9.
Defog a pair of goggles on a chairlift. In a storm. (Practical – 5 points)
 
 
10.
Graph the average velocity of gold medal winners of the Olympic Downhill (male and female) over the history of the winter games. Elucidate the various factors – technical, cultural and technological – that increased average speed of competitors focusing on paradigm-shifting athletes. (Graph + 1000 words – 9 points)
 
 
11.
Describe in detail how a three-antenna avalanche beacon works. Start at the atomic level and work your way up. (2000 words – 5 points)
 
12.
Locate all parties of a deep, widely dispersed, multiple-burial avalanche scenario. In a white out. By yourself. In under seven minutes. (Practical avalanche beacon search – 20 points)