The mission of the University of British Columbia, as articulated in its strategic plan Trek 2010 – A Vision for the 21st Century, includes the commitment that it will “create new knowledge, prepare its students for fulfilling careers, and improve the quality of life through leading edge research.” It also includes the requirement that its graduates “will have developed strong analytical, problem solving and critical thinking abilities; will have excellent research and communication skills; and will be knowledgeable, flexible and innovative.” In keeping with this mission, the University recognizes the importance of design across a range of disciplines in contributing to innovation and improving the quality of life. A particular example of this recognition is the new Bachelor of Environmental Design degree (which is a non-engineering program) that is offered by the Faculty of Applied Science.
The importance of design for the University is seen in the high profile of design in engineering, both in the education of undergraduate and graduate students and in contributions to research and professional practice. UBC carries out its various engineering activities through the Faculty of Applied Science, which graduates approximately 75% of engineering graduates in British Columbia, and is the only engineering school in the Province that provides a comprehensive range of engineering programs and research activities across a broad range of engineering disciplines. The Faculty currently offers the following accredited engineering degree programs at the baccalaureate level: Chemical Engineering, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Geological Engineering, Environmental Engineering (jointly offered with the University of Northern British Columbia), Integrated Engineering, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Mining Engineering. These programs have an overall enrollment of 3,000 students. As well, the Faculty has an enrollment of over 1,000 graduate students in its various Masters and Doctoral programs.
The primary purpose of the proposed Chair, therefore, is to develop a cross-departmental design community in the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC in order to allow students to function effectively in the kind of multidisciplinary design teams that they will practice in their professional lives, which are crucial to creating new technology-based entrepreneurial ventures in the future. To build this cross-department design community, it is necessary to ensure that professors in more than one department are committed to the proposed curriculum and organizational initiatives. We are therefore proposing a dual chair structure consisting of a Senior Chairholder and an Associate Chairholder drawn from the two largest engineering departments: Dr. Philippe Kruchten from Electrical and Computer Engineering and Dr. Antony Hodgson from Mechanical Engineering. A dedicated Instructor in Design Engineering and a Designer-in-Residence, as described in the Training section below, will further support these two Chairholders in achieving specific program goals.
The area of medical and assistive devices and technology is a fertile source of multidisciplinary project possibilities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels that can offer opportunities suited to students in at least four major departments: mechanical engineering, electrical and computing engineering, chemical and biological engineering and materials engineering. Many such projects are possible in areas ranging from assistive and rehabilitation devices to diagnostic and therapeutic devices. In addition, there is a strong medical device industry in Vancouver and a wide range of non-profit societies, hospitals and research institutes involved in this area.
Moreover, this theme has numerous other strengths:
- It has a definite appeal to undergraduate students as it will engage them in solving concrete problems related to people, not just abstract technological issues (which is more the realm of long term research at the doctoral level).
- It spans multiple disciplines, and is strongly related to, though not solely focused on, the Chairholders’ own specialties. These projects will require a system design approach involving the smart integration of technologies in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, software engineering and materials engineering.
- It aligns well with the recent education initiatives of the Faculty of Applied Science in creating two biomedical engineering options, one in Mechanical Engineering and one in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
- It aligns well with UBC’s mission defined in the Trek 2010 documents: “to improve the quality of life through leading-edge research. The graduates of UBC will have developed strong analytical, problem-solving and critical thinking abilities” (www.trek2010.ubc.ca)
- It links to two of the four key sectors mentioned in British Columbia’s Research and Innovation Framework: Life Sciences (health and biotechnology) and Technology (information and communication, new media and wireless), so will be able to tap into external sources of support.
- It allows the Chair to tap into available resources to support development of new equipment coming from various non-profit organizations such as the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Society, and similar societies supporting assistance and research in Parkinson disease, spinal cord injuries, etc.
- It attracts support and active project involvement from the many company members of the BC’s Medical Devices Industry Association (now part of the wider BC Life Sciences Cluster), the Medical Device Development Centre and BC Biotech, as well as the various rehab hospitals and foundations, such as the Neil Squire Society, GF Strong Rehab Centre, and the Tong Louie Living Lab at Simon Fraser University.
