Credit: IBI Group Architects and Melloul Blamey Construction
The 56,000-square-foot facility in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences (AHS) will include kinesiology research and teaching labs, as well as a 350-seat lecture theatre, which will provide new space for classes, public lectures and conferences. The building will also house the university’s School of Anatomy, one of only a few anatomy labs outside of medical schools in Ontario.
“Over the last four decades, AHS has grown significantly in terms of enrolments, programs, people, and research intensity,” said Professor James Rush, interim dean of the Faculty. “Our physical expansion is only now catching up with the academic and research expansion.”
When the Faculty—originally called the School of Physical and Health Education—first opened its doors in 1966, it employed just five faculty members, operated with 400-square-feet of lab space and offered one-year programs in physical education.
Jim Rush, Feridun Hamdullahpur and Ian Orchard break ground on the new facility. Credit: Jonathan Bielaski, Light Imaging
Today, AHS offers 20 degree programs and specializations spanning three different departments, and has approximately 25,000 square feet of lab and research space. The Faculty has more than 2,100 undergraduate students and 620 graduate students.
A new program, the Masters of Health Evaluation, will welcome its first students in the fall of 2015. It is the first professional online program of its kind in Canada.
“Today’s academic landscape is changing. While Waterloo has always been a leader in innovative education models, AHS has embraced this approach and it shows in the range of programs we offer our students,” said Professor Rush.
AHS has 93 professors and the second-highest level of per-capita research funding at the University.
“Producing world-class research and providing exceptional training remains a top priority, and our new facilities will help support those initiatives.”
The target completion date for the project is the spring of 2016.
More about the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
- 2 departments, 1 school
- 51 per cent of undergraduate students in co-op
- 2,100 undergraduate students
- 607 graduate students
- $13.8 million research support
- 3 professional master's programs including public health, health informatics and health evaluation
- 10,147 alumni
- 90 staff
- 93 faculty
