Last fall, the Faculty’s Senior Leadership Team joined together in an all-day retreat to reflect on ways in which we can anticipate and address various challenges and opportunities that we will face in the coming years.

The four key challenges discussed were: globalization of Engineering; cross departmental and Faculty collaborations; improving faculty workload; and increasing the visibility of Engineering.

The discussions were vigorous and lively with many positive suggestions for addressing and planning for these opportunities.

One key outcome concerns the establishment of a Task Force on Engineering Globalization, which will examine how we can better position engineering education at U of T and in Canada for what lies ahead.  Specifically, we wish to ensure that we are providing a globally relevant engineering education for our graduates, many of whom will work on international projects, in global markets, or for multi-national companies. We also wish to strengthen our commitment to fostering international cooperation, not only because of its importance to the engineering profession, but also because of our responsibility to provide leadership on innovative engineering solutions to global challenges, including transportation, energy and water resources, the environment, health and security. 

Yu-Ling Cheng, who agreed to serve as Task Force chair, brought together some members and alumni of the Faculty late last year to identify appropriate terms of reference for this initiative. Additional information on this Task Force can be viewed here.

I would like to express my gratitude to the following who have worked with me to ensure the successful start to this initiative, many of whom will stay on as Task Force members: 

Paul Cadario, Alumnus and Chair, Dean’s Advisory Board
Miranda Cheng, Director, International Student Exchange Office
Yu-Ling Cheng, Professor, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry (Chair)
Bryan Karney, Professor, Civil Engineering, and Director, Division of Environmental Engineering and Energy Systems
Murray Metcalfe, Alumnus
Lisa Romkey, Lecturer, Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, Division of Engineering Science

I look forward to sharing additional information on the progress of this Task Force as well as the other retreat outcomes in the coming months.