Objectives of Engineering Faculties in Universities

• The research role of engineering faculties in our Canadian universities can best be seen in the context of their overall objectives. A primary objective is education:
  • to prepare students for entry into the engineering profession

  • to provide advanced levels of education for those in the engineering profession who plan to focus on research, development, teaching and the management of technological enterprise.

  • to provide a source for the continual upgrading of aspects of the education of members of the engineering profession.

• A major objective is to contribute to the body of useful engineering knowledge and understanding through research and development, with a view to enabling the creation of improved products, processes and systems to serve the needs of society.

• In universities, the processes of engineering education and of engineering research are closely linked and interdependent. Most fields of engineering are in rapid evolution and change. A sensitivity to what is happening at the frontiers of both the sciences and the marketplace is necessary to the evolution of relevant educational curricula and programs. Involvement in research and development projects is therefore an indispensable aspect of the formation of competent engineers.

• Members of engineering faculties in universities are in an advantageous position to link simultaneously to the sources of new knowledge in the basic sciences and to the needs of the user community in industry, government and society, with a view to creating new concepts and innovating new processes and products.

• Engineering faculties in Canadian universities have a distinctive role in research and development because Canada is an advanced, technologically-dependent society with very few, large, high-technology companies doing their product development in Canada. In the past, Canadian industry has been dominated by branch plants which typically manufactured products but did little or no research. Many of these are now moving to regions of lower costs. There is a need in Canada to develop more new ventures with special niches in the world marketplace. Engineering research can contribute substantially to the development and success of such ventures.

• A close linkage of engineering professors and students to industry can provide a valuable resource to such companies during product and process development, particularly for companies with few research and development personnel. This linkage can also provide a flow to the company of new engineering talent who, in addition to being educated in an environment close to industry, provide the best means of technology transfer from the university to industry. This linkage is of value not only to the so-called advanced technology companies but also to the broad array of companies involved, for example, in construction, forestry, agriculture, and mining.