UNB Faculty of Computer Science to honour students
Author: Communications
Posted on Nov 1, 2010
Category: UNB Fredericton
UNB Fredericton's Faculty of Computer Science is pleased to honour Dean’s List students, along with winners of student prizes, scholarships, bursaries and other awards during its upcoming 2010 awards ceremony.
The ceremony takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 3, at the Delta Fredericton Hotel. The evening starts with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards ceremony at 7 p.m. Close to 200 students, parents, industry leaders, government officials, and friends of the faculty will be in attendance at this celebration of excellence.
As the first faculty of computer science in Canada and a pioneer in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Atlantic Canada since 1968, and with the oldest and most successful co-op program in Atlantic Canada, the Faculty of Computer Science in Fredericton is pushing the boundaries to become one of the finest computing science faculties in Canada.
The country is currently facing a major shortage of ICT workers. Not enough Canadians are entering the field of ICT, which has resulted in a shortage of qualified workers. In the next seven years, ICT professionals believe that Canadian businesses will need to employ more than 60,000 new workers. That number increases to more than 150,000 when retirement is factored in. Where will the new ICT workers come from?
On the positive side, according to a report released by the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), the ICT labour force in Canada experienced a 4.5 per cent unemployment rate, relative to the 8.5 per cent national unemployment rate in December 2009. According to this report, the ICT labour market grew most significantly in the Atlantic region, Prairies and Quebec. Atlantic Canada experienced the highest ICT labour market growth (+16.1%) compared to the Prairies (+13.8%) and Quebec (+10.6%).
With more than 300 students, 38 of which are PhD students, the Faculty of Computer Science is doing everything it can to train highly qualified personnel in the area of Information and Communication Technology. More collaboration with the industry and government is needed in order to successfully overcome the current shortage of qualified ICT professionals.
For more information on the awards ceremony, or UNB’s Computer Science program, contact:
Dr. Ali Ghorbani, Professor and Dean
Faculty of Computer Science
(506) 458-7265
ghorbani@unb.ca
www.unb.ca/fredericton/cs/