This article reports research into the didactic processes of a creative gamified learning process for hydraulics in an undergraduate technical university curriculum, enhanced by industry collaboration. It is based on the use of educational theories of didactic transposition, competency building, learning gamification and emotional intelligence. It is shown that improvement in a student’s motivation with regard to the creative learning of hydraulics in an undergraduate curriculum can be achieved through the competitive writing of original stories, tales, poems and songs that illustrate the basic concepts of hydraulics, fluid mechanics and hydraulic drive machinery. This simple humanized and student-centred study, focused on creativity, is significant for the international community of educators in view of the increasing need to provide undergraduates in university communities with both strong creative and sustainable technical abilities.