Faculty of Engineering | |
---|---|
Established | 1957 |
Type | Faculty |
Academic affiliation | University of Waterloo |
Location | Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
Dean | Pearl Sullivan |
Academic staff | 295 |
Undergraduates | 6,840 |
Postgraduates | 1,945 |
Alumni | 36,140 |
Symbol | Wrench (The TOOL) |
Website | uwaterloo |
Cooperative education program is compulsory. |
The Faculty of Engineering is one of six faculties at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. As of 2012, it has 6,840 undergraduate students, 1,945 graduate students, and 295 faculty. It had 36,140 alumni in 2012, making it one of Canada's largest engineering faculties. The Faculty of Engineering houses 8 academic units and offers different degrees in a wide variety of engineering disciplines.
The Faculty of Engineering is unique in the way that all undergraduate students are automatically enrolled in the co-operative education program, in which they alternate between academic and work terms throughout their five years of undergraduate career.
The faculty was originally conceived in 1957 as an extension of the then Waterloo College (now known as Wilfrid Laurier University). It was originally named the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the Waterloo College Associate Faculties, and was created to satisfy local businesses who claimed the university needed a technical school.
The "associate faculties" grew rapidly and were eventually separated from the college in 1959, becoming the University of Waterloo, and the faculty became the Faculty of Engineering.
The first year of students to attend the school was a group of 75 men who wanted to learn engineering. It was with this class of engineers that the co-operative education program that the University of Waterloo is so famous for was developed. These students would alternate being in school and working in industry every three months. Since then, the program has changed to a four-month term system, and has been adopted by all other faculties in their co-op programs. The first engineering graduates were awarded the Master of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering on Saturday, May 27, 1961. The first four graduates, William Cousins Miller, John Shewchun, Ferenc Takacs, and William Jacob Vetter were presented by Professor R. G. Stanton, Chairman, Faculty of Graduate Studies.
The faculty itself has expanded dramatically since that first graduating class into one of the largest and most reputable engineering faculties in North America. The Dean of the Faculty is Dr. Pearl Sullivan; a professor with the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering.
Currently, there are a total of 14 undergraduate programs available through the faculty. These include Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Environmental, Geological, Management, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Nanotechnology, Software and Systems Design Engineering as well as Architecture. Each of Waterloo Engineering's eight academic units (schools and departments) also offers graduate degrees.