By Dr. Chris Diduch, Dean of Engineering 

Year-end is a time for reflection and planning for the future. When I reflect on the Engineering faculty and our work here, I think about how UNB delivered the first program in Engineering in Canada beginning in 1854 in Civil Engineering driven by a sociotechnical need – the trans-Maritime railway.

I also consider our growth in the past number of years - we now have competitive undergraduate admissions into Engineering and competitive admission into our disciplinary programs of study. And I proudly celebrate our recent innovation achievements, including, among others:

The Emera & NB Power Research Centre for Smart Grid Technologies was created with support from Emera, NB Power, Siemens, ACOA and NSERC. The Centre is led Dr. Liuchen Chang and other researchers who are playing a pivotal role in advancing technologies for the transformation of electric power systems around the world.

The Marine Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence is led by Dr. Moshen Mohammadi and other researchers who have partnered with Lockheed Martin, Irving Shipbuilding Inc. and Custom Fabricators & Machinists to develop 3D metal printing technologies and standards that will transform marine manufacturing in Canada and beyond.

The 3D online mapping and virtual reality research lab led by (Canada Research Chair) Dr. Yun Zhang and his team has produced the next generation of mapping systems called Earthview 3D. Earthview advances their earlier work that was embedded into Google Maps and Google Earth.  The new technology is positioned to become the dominant technology in mapping and virtual reality apps.

We are not only focused on being more strategic in our research but also in teaching students to learn to be innovative.  One of the more recent enhancements to our undergraduate programs is the requirement for a stream of engineering design courses that culminates in the senior capstone design experience – where students, working within design teams, are paired with professional mentors and clients to engage in real-world open-ended design projects.  Students (across the entire Faculty) present their designs at the annual Engineering Design Symposium. This is a significant experiential learning opportunity that prepares students well for entry into the profession.

Now, as we look into 2018 and beyond, we are considering inevitable trends, both technological and societal, that will inform our plans and a vision for the future of engineering education and research at UNB. In fact, the Faculty of Engineering has developed a bold new vision for the future that we are now unveiling.  At its core, the vision addresses the need for innovation to drive social and economic growth in New Brunswick and beyond. We plan to:

• increase the undergraduate enrolment by close to 200 students;
• effectively double our research output by increasing the number of (research-based) graduate students by over 80%;
• construct a new state-of-the-art engineering building creating both a collision space and an environment that enables innovation and clustering of cross-disciplinary research.

We’ll be looking to recruit new top researchers and more students.  We’ll be reaching out to industry, government and alumni to build and strengthen the partnerships necessary to innovate and build for the future.  And we’ll look to you, our alumni, for advocacy and support to make it happen.  It is a bold vision, but one that we see as both feasible and realizable.

So, I’d like to hear from you – I welcome any questions or comments on where we’re headed, and any ideas or suggestions to help us succeed.  We’re excited about what’s coming in 2018, and I invite you to be a part of it. Email me anytime.

Chris Diduch, PEng

Dean, Faculty of Engineering