Mechanical Engineering Program Receives Formal Accreditation
July 03, 2013 - News Release
Formal accreditation of the University of Guelph’s mechanical engineering program in June now allows members of the program’s first graduating class to be licensed as engineers.
The Guelph program began in September 2009 and had its first graduating class this summer. The program has been accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB).
The CEAB appointed a team of senior engineers to visit campus in February to review the program. The board reviews new programs during the final semester of studies by the first graduating class.
“A detailed questionnaire is completed by the institution and sent to the team prior to the visit,” said Bob Dony, associate director of undergraduate studies in the School of Engineering. “During the visit, the team examines the academic and professional quality of faculty, adequacy of laboratories, equipment and computer facilities, and the quality of the students' work.”
The CEAB team interviewed students in all four years of the program. This year, 15 mechanical engineering students graduated. The remaining students in that 2009 cohort are in the co-op education stream and will graduate in 2014.
“These students who started with us in 2009 were very important to the growth of the program,” said Jason Tyszka, recruitment officer in the School of Engineering. “They came to Guelph as part of a new program that was still years away from being accredited, so they were the trailblazers for our program. Now they graduated from an accredited program and can work toward their professional engineering designation.”
He said the mechanical engineering program was popular from the beginning, with 450 students applying in the first year. This year, more than 850 applicants applied for mechanical engineering, which has the most incoming students in any program in the School of Engineering.
Both Dony and Tyszka credit the mechanical engineering faculty, led by program co-ordinator Marwan Hassan, with developing a curriculum that exceeds industry needs and prepares graduates for the workforce.
Said Hassan, “The curriculum is closely integrated across all programs, ensuring our graduates have a fundamental breadth of knowledge across the engineering disciplines in a truly interdisciplinary environment.
“Plus, Guelph offers a strong focus on design throughout our entire curriculum. Engineering at Guelph has been a pioneer in incorporating a sequence of four common design courses, one in each year. This includes the senior capstone design course, as well as program-specific senior design courses, all of which prepare graduates to begin working immediately upon graduation.”
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt, 519-824-4120, Ext. 53338, or lhunt@uoguelph.ca; or Kevin Gonsalves, Ext. 56982, or kgonsalves@uoguelph.ca.
