Too racy? University suspends engineering students after bikini-clad girl poses for saucy photos next to car they built



A Canadian university has suspended a team of students who built a race car after a female member was photographed posing next to the car in a skimpy bikini and high heels.

Thirty engineering students were reprimanded by the university after they organised the sexy after-hours photoshoot in a classroom.

In the saucy photos, a scantily-clad brunette student is pictured sporting just a neon-patterned bikini next to the racing car.

Inappropriate? University bosses suspended the students after the photo of the female student posing next to their car was posted online

The University of Waterloo suspended the students when one of the ‘inappropriate and denigrating’ photographs appeared online.

The engineering students, who designed and made the car, said they will now be unable to enter it in an international competition to be held in Michigan next month.

In a memo sent to all students, Adel Sedra, dean of engineering, said the team members were suspended until June because of the ‘misuse of the student design centre space for an unauthorized photoshoot’.

But Mr Sedra went on to praise the ‘remarkable work’ of student teams and assured students they would still receive credit for their work.

The students’ teacher, Steve Lambert, told a local newspaper that ‘one of the bitter ironies of the present situation is that the photoshoot was intended to promote women’.

He said the bikini-clad girl in the photo was a key member of the car-building team.

‘I knew that particular student and she had been thinking about whether she could be feminine and an engineer at the same time,’ Mr Lambert told the Waterloo Region Record.

He added that the students are ‘obviously very disappointed’. He said the female student who posed in front of the car had ‘apologised and accepted responsibility’ for her actions.

Mike Seliske, the engineering student who took the photograph, said: ‘The biggest thing to take from this is that sometimes life isn’t fair and if people in positions of authority want to make decisions, there isn’t much you can do about it no matter what you or other people think.’

University spokesman Michael Strickland said: ‘The decision considered the guidelines in place to ensure the safety of students.

‘The university's engineering design centre, where the photo was taken, has rules covering the type of equipment that can be brought in as well as the manner in which it can be used.

‘Engineering remains committed to creating experiential learning opportunities where all members of the community can achieve academic success and personal growth.’