NSERC in Design Engineering
"One of the major gaps in Canada's innovation system is the shortage of people with the skills and knowledge to make innovation happen. Specifically we lack design engineers. Design engineers are the enablers of innovation, and if we want to become more successful in innovation, we have to educate and train more of them" (NSERC, Design Chair prospectus)
There are many challenges facing our future Canadian Engineering graduates. Technical competency alone is no longer sufficient, as in many cases, these basic engineering skills can now be outsourced at a fraction of the cost. Successful engineering graduates must combine technical excellence with a broad range of complementary skills and professional behavior. At Queen's, we are making every effort to evolve our curricula and our facilities to ensure that our students meet this challenge.
The Design chairs program has four main objectives:
- Training - to produce increased numbers of high-quality design engineers who have the skills required by future employers
- Design and Development - to emphasize increased productivity and innovation in design research, design practices, and design education
- Collaboration - to establish productive and effective collaborations between the chair holders, industry, and other design faculty and experts across Canada
- Promotion - to increase the awareness and appreciation in the community for all aspects of design engineering
Queen's-NSERC Chair in Design Engineering
David S. Strong, P.Eng.
Senior Chairholder since 2003
A Queen's graduate in mechanical engineering, David has spent over two decades in industry as a design engineer and engineering manager. His experience in design and development spans three different areas: the primary aluminum industry, biomedical and biotechnology instrumentation, and high volume consumer products.
The Design Engineering Chair is central to the vision and anticipated evolution of design engineering at Queen's University; the belief in the need to educate all engineering students in the multidisciplinary nature of design, in parallel with the need to provide all engineering students with the skills required to become effective team members given the challenges of the shared workplace upon graduation. The faculty of Applied Science at Queen's University has a long and rich history of excellence in engineering and research. In order to remain a forefront engineering school, Queen's in is the midst of a major curriculum reform, known as Integrated Learning
The Design Chair plays a crucial role in the overall Integrated Learning Program, particularly in developing a core of design subjects available in all ten programs, and in strengthening the introductory courses in design taken by all students. A primary goal of the Chair is to administer a multidisciplinary design engineering stream open to students from all of the engineering disciplines. The multidisciplinary design stream, in conjunction with the Integrated Learning Centre, will generate innovative products and processes in response to needs identified by industrial partners. The Chair develops and strengthens industrial relationships, and partners with industry and business to provide meaningful and appropriate design and development projects involving teams of students from all years and all disciplines, engineers from industry, and faculty.
Combining NSERC's vision for innovative design engineers with the breadth of educational initiatives offered through Integrated Learning, Queen's engineering students have the opportunity to build real world engineering experience while still in their undergraduate program.
Contact Information:
Integrated Learning Centre
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
Beamish-Munro Hall, Rm 301
Queen's University
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
Phone: (613) 533-2606
Fax: (613) 533-2721
Email: strongd@queensu.ca