Science and engineering applications have seen 30 per cent increase: Shoukri
Ernest Reid
Science & Technology Editor
York students in 2014 can expect a new engineering building at Keele campus.
Mario Sergio, MPP for York West, formally announced a $50-million taxpayer investment in York University for building a new engineering and science facility. Future students can expect advanced labs, classrooms, and tutorial space for education and research. This is the single largest investment from the Ontario government for a new York building. Construction will begin this summer and finish by September 2014.
John Milloy, minister of training, colleges, and universities, spoke at today’s press conference for the announcement, saying “students have to be at the centre of any post-secondary education strategy…We want to support the needs of students in areas undergoing extraordinary growth”, referring to both the university and the wider York community.
The McGuinty government’s 2011 budget plan will hopefully create 60,000 more student spaces in post-secondary education by 2016. The new York facility is just one infrastructure solution to finding places for them all.
“We often talk about what goes on within the classroom, but sometimes you have to talk about the classroom itself,” Milloy pointed out in his speech. Funding for the facility will continue even if the October provincial election reshuffles Queen’s Park.
Presenters argued science and engineering are crucial to York becoming a more comprehensive university. Over the last five years, there has been a 30 per cent increase in science and engineering applications, “the largest increase in any particular area in post-secondary education,” York President Mamdouh Shoukri said.
Building designs and construction logistics for the new facility were not mentioned at today’s press conference. They will be announced later this year.
With York’s foundations in the humanities and social sciences, President Shoukri hopes York will produce a unique type of engineer in the future – engineers that are extremely competent but who also benefit from the thought processes of the liberal arts.
Janusz Kozinski, the dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, said their goal is to create engineering graduates who are not only fluent in technology “but also knowledgeable of the great cultures of the world.” Hopeful, Dr. Kozinski considers today’s $50-million announcement “as a stepping stone to York’s leadership in 21st century engineering.”
How this compares to previous provincial government investments:
TEL Building – $47 million
Schulich School of Business building — $30 million (provincial and federal contributions)
Osgoode Hall Law School – $25 million (provincial and federal contributions)
Life Sciences building — $72 million (provincial and federal contributions)
