York University to expand engineering

York University in the north of Toronto is preparing for a major expansion to its engineering programs. In June the university and Ontario government announced a $50-million capital investment in a new engineering building which will be “one of the largest expansions in the university’s history.”

At present York University’s engineering department is relatively small compared to those of other Canadian universities, agrees Janusz Kozinksi, dean of the Faculty of Science & Engineering. The faculty currently runs just three engineering programs: computer engineering, geomatics, and the high-profile space engineering program This fall, however, the faculty will also offer software engineering for the first time.

Currently the engineering department consists of around 40 professors and around 400 students, both graduates and undergraduates. The goal is to expand these numbers “substantially” Kozinski says, beginning in 2013-2014. They hope eventually to have around 2,000 students in various new programs. Task forces are currently looking at potential programs, including mechanical, electrical, civil, environmental, chemical and biological engineering.

The York Faculty of Science and Engineering occupies seven buildings on the Keele campus, and is currently in the process of moving into an eighth: the  $70-million, 160,000 sq. ft. Life Sciences Building. The June capital funding announcement is for a ninth building, specifically for engineering.