Greetings alumni and friends.

As a new year begins for a new cohort of engineering students, I’m happy to be able to communicate with you, our UNB Engineering alumni family, in a new and exciting way. We’ve been paying attention to how you are changing the face of organizations, of industries, of communities, and indeed, of the world.  And we’re proud to demonstrate to our new students the amazing things UNB Engineers are doing across the globe. We can all be part of a growing network that enables support, encouragement and collaboration with each other, and so we’re enhancing our efforts to connect you with one another and with us - the faculty members, researchers, students and the university. We’ve created a newsletter and blog to share the work that our UNB engineering network is undertaking. We’re opening our doors and also traveling to you to hold events specifically for our engineering alumni. And we’re helping to build connections through LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook – so please be sure to follow and communicate on those platforms – they’re a fantastic way to advocate for each other and uncover opportunities for mutual benefit.

No one understands the need for and value of innovation more than engineers. Our work is based on it. And so the Faculty of Engineering is seeking to embed innovative ideas in research, teaching, and industry partnerships.  We’re paving a road of collaboration and innovation that we believe will inspire a wave of investment and talent migration to New Brunswick. We are working with industry on both research-based innovation and professional mentorship of our students. We are investing in the growth of our graduate student population by 77% together with growth in the number of faculty members. We’re revitalizing our curriculum to be forward-facing and teach skill-sets for innovation. We’re developing expertise in areas of future need including AI, Big Data, Biomaterials, Additive Manufacturing, 3D, Renewable Energy, Smart Grid and more. And we plan to double our research revenue to upwards of $20M or more annually.

In fact, we’ve been doing a lot of great collaborative work already. Take, for example, the newly formed Emera and NB Power Research Centre for Smart Grid Technologies that is working with utilities and technology providers to modernize electric power systems here in the Maritimes and in the Caribbean.  The research is a bold attempt to develop an energy operating system of the future for the generation and distribution of clean electric energy.  Some of the best researchers and energy industry innovators have amassed around this initiative to design transformative technology that will have a global impact. And the Marine Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence at UNB, the first in Canada to explore 3D metal printing as a method for manufacturing certified parts for the marine industry. The Centre is funded by industrial partners Lockheed Martin and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. and already there are economic benefits to the province.  In the near future, we will be announcing the formation of additional research clusters and linkages to industrial partners.

As you might gather, we are proud of what’s been happening here at UNB and excited to help roll out a future of innovation.  I’ll be holding gatherings for engineering alumni throughout the year at various locations in Canada, and I hope many of you will come out and talk with me further about our plans and about the innovative work you’re doing as well. Who knows, maybe we’ll uncover an opportunity to work together, or share ideas we may build on.

If you aren’t in an area where we could meet in person, please feel free to reach out to me at deaneng@unb.ca with ideas or questions.  I truly appreciate your input, and I thank you for being an active part of the UNB Engineering family.

Sincerely,

Chris Diduch, Dean, Engineering

Class of ’79, ’81, ‘87