We have achieved a great deal since the University first opened its doors in 1957. Now, with 2057 clearly in our sights, we must review our mission to stay on track in a rapidly changing and complex world.
This means we need to produce engineers with the critical thinking, social awareness, scientific rigour and innovative design skills to make meaningful differences – fast. This ultimately is the role of universities; to add value to society by helping to develop civic-minded people and engaged citizens who can solve problems.
Studies show that a diverse team is more creative and innovative, producing more appropriate solutions that deliver better outcomes. This is crucial preparation for our students who will step into a workplace of interdisciplinary relationships tasked to address global challenges.
Dr. Mary Wells, dean of Waterloo Engineering.
It is our goal to train engineers who can integrate their knowledge and successfully partner with practitioners in other fields to help redesign our world for the better.
Currently, our female students make up 31 per cent of the total engineering student body, which is good but not good enough.
We need to increase the overall diversity of our engineering student population and, with the support of donors and industry partners, have established scholarships and initiatives to help us achieve this goal.
Our ability to think globally and operate locally is critical to our students’ learning experience, our cooperative education programs, our researchers’ work and the overall quality of education that we deliver now and into the future. Our reputation and relevance in 2057 will be determined by the successes of our students and researchers – just as it is today.
Go to Striving for better for the full story.