WATERLOO, Ont. (Friday, Oct. 15, 2010) - The faculty of engineering at the University of Waterloo will next week celebrate the grand opening of its new $55-million Engineering 5 building, which contains a world- leading student design centre and an electromagnetic radiation laboratory.
The six-storey Engineering 5 also provides much-needed space for students, professors and researchers in the departments of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, systems design engineering, and electrical and computer engineering.
DATE: Tuesday, Oct. 19
TIME: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., with tours following
LOCATION: Engineering 5, east campus, University of Waterloo
The 176,000-square-foot (16,000-square-metre) building, designed by Shore Tilbe Perkins+Will of Toronto, is one of the largest on campus. Engineering 5, located on the east side of campus, features fritted glass, a green roof area and native landscaping. An enclosed pedestrian bridge connects the building to Engineering 3.
The focal point of Engineering 5 is the 20,000-square-foot student design centre on the building's first two floors. The student design centre offers the space and tools needed to make it easier for student teams to design and showcase such award-winning vehicles as solar and hydrogen fuel cell cars, along with many other projects. The centre includes multiple bays, sand and paint shops, engine test labs and much more.
"We have built one of the best undergraduate design facilities in the world for our outstanding student projects," said Adel Sedra, dean of the faculty of engineering. "I'm extremely proud of the work that faculty, staff and external contractors have put into building Engineering 5 and I am most grateful for the support received from our many volunteers and donors."
The upper four floors of the building provide office and teaching space for the engineering faculty. The department of mechanical and mechatronics engineering is located on the third floor, while the fourth and fifth floors accommodate the department of electrical and computer engineering. The department of systems design engineering takes up the sixth floor.
At its north end, Engineering 5 contains an electromagnetic radiation laboratory, featuring an anechoic chamber - a shielded room designed to attenuate radio frequency and microwaves. The chamber, which received funding from Research In Motion and other sources, will be used for research in wireless communications.
Supporters who have contributed $1,000 or more since May 1, 2006 to Waterloo Engineering will be recognized on a donor display.
Engineering 5 results from the Vision 2010 strategic plan, which aimed to move Waterloo Engineering to a level of excellence on par with the leading North American schools of engineering. Other achievements during the Vision 2010 plan period (from 2005 to 2010) include significant increases in graduate students, faculty members and research activity. Three new buildings, beginning with Engineering 5, were planned to support this strategic growth.
Significant funding for Engineering 5 has come from the Vision 2010 Campaign, a $120-million fundraising effort targeted at helping achieve the faculty's ambitious strategic goals. With two years remaining, the campaign has raised $76 million to date.
About Waterloo Engineering
Waterloo Engineering is a multi-faceted engineering school with eight academic units, home to about 260 faculty, more than 1,800 graduate students and 5,900 undergraduate students. More than 31,750 alumni have made their mark in industry, academe and the public sector, in Canada and around the world. For further information, go to www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca.
About Waterloo
The University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's Technology Triangle, is one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities. Waterloo is home to 30,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students who are dedicated to making the future better and brighter. Waterloo, known for the largest post-secondary co-operative education program in the world, supports enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. For more information about Waterloo, visit www.uwaterloo.ca.
Contacts:
Carol Truemner, acting communications director, Waterloo Engineering,
519-888-4567 ext. 33470 or ctruemne@uwaterloo.ca
John Morris, Waterloo media relations, 519-888-4435 or jmorris@uwaterloo.ca
Waterloo release no. 78
