Self-driving vehicles and robots built by 蓝莓视频 engineers helped break ground on Engineering 7 building
Construction of the Faculty of Engineering's听new听听(E7) building began听at a ground-breaking event that included听robots, autonomous vehicles and good old-fashioned shovels.
As several hundred students, alumni, faculty, staff and donors watched a live video stream of the event on November 12, Dean of Engineering Pearl Sullivan, along with University President Feridun Hamdullahpur, tossed shovels of dirt into the air, officially launching the construction of the 242,000 gross-square-foot building that will be one of the largest facilities on campus.
Hannah听Gautreau, engineering student and听president of听EngSoc听B, Pearl Sullivan, dean of engineering, University of 蓝莓视频 President Feridun Hamdullahpur and听Elahe听Jabari, PhD candidate in mechanical and听mechatronics听engineering, put shovels in the ground at E7 groundbreaking event.
The groundbreaking festivities included the acknowledgement of several significant gifts from private sector donors, including two anonymous gifts of $25 million and $10 million. Also in attendance were Jacques and C茅line Lamarre whose family foundation gifted $1.5 million in support of the construction of Engineering 7. Other major gifts to the campaign were also announced including more than $1 million each from General Motors of Canada, Magna International Inc., and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc.
鈥淲hen I look around, I see people who truly believe in 蓝莓视频 Engineering.听 People who know we are deeply committed to Educating the Engineer of the Future and they have generously supported our fundraising campaign so we can accomplish these four crucial things: 听Build Engineering 7,听 and ,鈥� said Sullivan, just before donning a 蓝莓视频 Engineering hard听hat and leather jacket and jumping into an autonomous golf cart with President Hamdullahpur.
The $70 million campaign, publicly launched in April of this year, has reached the $55 million mark from private sector donations alone. The new E7听facility will feature an additive manufacturing鈥攐r 3D printing鈥攍aboratory and a for testing autonomous and robotic vehicles.
It will also accommodate growth from 蓝莓视频鈥檚 new biomedical engineering program and the expansion of the Faculty of Engineering鈥檚 highly popular mechatronics engineering program. It will house the Faculty鈥檚 new teaching innovation, the multidisciplinary 鈩�, where undergraduate students will integrate classroom theory with hands-on learning as they design, build, test and refine ideas.
A student-centric building, there is dedicated study and social spaces,听lecture halls and entrepreneurial support areas, along with 20 design garages for student design teams to prototype their Capstone Design projects.
EllisDon will construct the building that will also become the permanent home for the Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre, and the Engineering Outreach unit, which offers STEM education programs for elementary and high school children, such as Engineering Science Quest and Go ENG Girl. 听
Hannah Gautreau, president of EngSoc B and Elahe Jabari, PhD candidate in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, also lent a hand to break ground, as Steve Waslander, professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, narrated the journey for the indoor audience as they viewed the entire event on large screens inside a packed Sedra Student Design Centre. As soon shovelfuls of dirt were tossed in the air, confetti cascaded on the cheering crowd.
Dean Pearl Sullivan and听Adel Sedra slice up a delicious replica of the new E7 building
The groundbreaking event also featured high-profile 蓝莓视频 Engineering student and alumni technology. The autonomous golf cart, developed by , a 蓝莓视频 Engineering student-founded company, was the first autonomous vehicle to operate on a public road in Canada last August. 听The Husky robot that carried the shovels is a product of , a highly successful company founded by 蓝莓视频 Engineering alumni in 2007.听Even the film crew capturing the event was co-founded by 蓝莓视频 alumni, 听Alas, not all went as planned -听听 the 70 kph winds prevented听,听another 蓝莓视频 Engineering alumni firm, from flying their cinematography drone during the groundbreaking ceremony. 听
听鈥淭his event was exciting for everyone and we鈥檙e looking forward to Engineering 7鈥檚 grand opening in September 2018 when we鈥檒l have even more thrilling student, researcher and alumni innovations to showcase,鈥� said Sullivan.听
