Anybody who was explored all of the engineering buildings know that each building has a very distinct smell. Want to know if you’re in CPH or DWE? Just let go of that nose plug and breathe deep. Let the scent identifiers saturate your nose and you will immediately know where you are. Then again, for those not yet completely familiar with the engineering aromas yet, we have prepared this special smell-guide to direct you around the Engineering building labyrinth.
DWE, being the first building ever built for Waterloo engineers, will be the first building smelled in the expedition. Coming into the staircase, one will notice a slight odour of cement still leftover from construction. Exploring further in, a strong scent of ammonia will fill your nose parts. Despite the unpleasantness of the ammonia, DWE is one of the only buildings where a strong smell of sweat and lack of hygiene won’t overwhelm you.
On the other hand, the sweat smell is strong with the building of E2. The hallways of the E2 smell like a window has not been cracked in over a decade. In addition, having plenty of computer labs for folks pulling long hours, the sweat effect just keeps multiplying over time. Combine this lovely combination of stale sweat smell with over-air conditioning, and we have the perfect mix of the Engineering Smell. It should also be noted that the WEEF lab excels beyond any imagination at producing the Engineering Smell.
E3 has too much masking the Engineering Smell. With all the machine shops, labs, and concrete, all you can smell in E3 is pretty much wood and oil. Honestly, after being in E2, wood and oil might as well be perfume. CPH, being the host of the C&D and Poets, of course, has the nice sections where some food scents could reach. Other than that, it mostly just smells like old people. RCH, finally, just smells like a musky basement. Maybe that’s why engineers feel so at home there.
Overall, it appears that even though every building has its own scent to flood everyone’s olfactory sense, there is an ever-present scent to comfort our noses. That, of course, is the scent of engineering.
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