I work at DRDC (defence research for Canada). My office area has a window that overlooks the hangar in Downsview Park. I saw the Ornithopter flap its wings. That thing is a total joke (it looks hilarious)....barely took off. You can walk over to the Hangar and actually see it.
The only thing that I have a problem with in Eng programs here in UW is that we are not taught to crtically think. Sure, problem solving is a HUGE part of engineering, but to become a great engineer requires a lot of soft skills. One of my profs said that engineering is 65% communication and 45% technical. I was also told by my prof that a statistics of graduates was done to see what types of jobs they earn after a number of years (I believe +10). Engineers ranked one of the lowest in earning upper management positions such as CEO. The main reason why is because of communication skills.
As someone from high school that is obssessed with math and science, this was a shock. I hated english classes. But now I realize just how important writing, speaking, and LISTENING is. Now I am working hard everyday to improve these skills that I lack. I remember trying to write an essay for a tech./society course and I didn't know how to begin (since it required critical thinking of society and technology). My friend had a similar problem and stated, "Damn, we think too much like engineers." In high school, essay writing was easy. Now it has become so much more difficult.
In university, I found out that soft skills are not taught in the curriculum. This is the largest downside to my education. UW engineering students are bombarded with science and math. But when it comes to communication, there is barely any. Now you can argue that our Co-op positions give us those skills (I agree that they help), but I think they need to be taught formally. It's as if our university just pops out a bunch of machines that output data.
Also, our university barely gives us the time to take electives for more arts related courses. Almost everything is pre-planned for us.
I think there are ways to pop out Engineers and not machines: 1) Teach less (counter-intuitive), learn more 2) integrate soft skills into technical courses 3) diversify optionals for degrees or double degree.
On 1), I recently attended a seminar with one of the teaching resources directors from Oxford Uni. He said that by decreasing the amount of information students learn, students canwill comprehend more. Thus, students will most likely retain and understand the information given to them. I believe the person's name was Keith Trigwell.
On 2), I would like to see more design projects for math and science courses. That means a large assignment or project that is worth a hefty grade. Not only will it improve a student's design skills by allowing them to tackle real life problems(material considerations, design criteria, etc), but it will improve writing skills. If there is a presentation portion, that would be helpful too. Though UW has design courses, they happen in 3rd or 4th year. I believe that there should be constant practice of these soft skills through projects. Now because all programs have pre-planned courses, course co-ordinators can schedule projects so the students are not presured to work on multiple design projects.
On 3), UW currently faces the problem of uniqueness. We currently have the largest co-op system in the world. But the problem is that other universities are starting to either offer co-op programs or double degree options. The uniqueness of UW might not last as long as the administration thinks. If we were to offer degrees that diversify our engineers, we can have extremely powerful generalists graduating. For example, engineers with medical background can work on robotic surgery. Or engieers with arts background can invent new ways of improving hollywood films, etc.
I think what I pointed out is important to ensure that our future engineers can "think out of the box." I really miss all the critical thinking that is practiced during high school, no matter how much I hate it.
Think of it this way. If aliens managed to arrive in the solar system, they must've used faster than speed of light tech (and thus comes to question the very nature of our physics) to get here. Don't you think they would be able to decipher letters properly? I'm sure they would use quantum computers to do every possible frickin' combination of code and on top of that have an AI to make sense of it. C'mon...
Hey, this is my first post ever in Slashdot:P.
Anyways, I am a UofW engineering student and I'd like you to know a bit about my University and Canada.
University of Waterloo is THE top school in Canada according to Maclaens and is THE top University in Canada for Engineering + CS. The University has the largest Co-op education service in the world. All engineering students and CS students have Co-op every other term. I'm on my co-op term right now. The University's main goal as of now is to ready its students for the work force. We gain 2 years work experience by the time we graduate.
The University is very young (I think found in 1957) and has rapidly grown because of its connections with companies like RIM and COM DEV. Our Chancellor is the President of RIM! RIM Headquarters is next door to us. Across the street we have the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Also, UW is the recruiting ground for M$ (maybe we all hate them, but meh). A lot of the top engineers and programmers in Canada come from UW and end up in the states due to nice offers and oppurtunities. We call that the "Brain Drain."
UW DOES NOT have courses or teachings that are directed towards contests. The courses are extemely rigourous with high expectations. All courses force a lot of critical thinking. We take Math and Science seriously here.
UW conducts nationwide math, physics, and chem contests to high schoolers as well. In Engineering you have to write an entrance math test (which most people fail, but its Bell Curved). If your below standards, they offer mandatory math tutorial services to you. We also recently placed 4th in PUTNAM math comepetition.
Also, addressing the jokes about US being beaten by Canada: Canada has played important roles in science and engineering. Especially since the layed off workers from the Arrow project worked on NASA's Mercury and Apollo missions. That's right, it's our engineers and scientists that helped US get to the Moon. The Arrow project in itself is a great feat for Canada. Arrow was for more advanced than any US aircraft for very long time.
Currently, UW is looking towards raising funds and improving our Graduate programs to become top notch like MIT. We are also investing quite a lot of money to bring top professors in. UW is already good enough to be treated like an Ivy League school in my opinion. However, once we do invest in research I can garantee 50 years from now it will be well known and respected Internationally.
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He announced info about his book on our class forums (tron09.com). Not bad for a 2nd year Eng student :P. Congrats!
I work at DRDC (defence research for Canada). My office area has a window that overlooks the hangar in Downsview Park. I saw the Ornithopter flap its wings. That thing is a total joke (it looks hilarious)....barely took off. You can walk over to the Hangar and actually see it.
Eclipses trigger a bug in the eye's auto-aperture system So how do I put it to manual?
The only thing that I have a problem with in Eng programs here in UW is that we are not taught to crtically think. Sure, problem solving is a HUGE part of engineering, but to become a great engineer requires a lot of soft skills. One of my profs said that engineering is 65% communication and 45% technical. I was also told by my prof that a statistics of graduates was done to see what types of jobs they earn after a number of years (I believe +10). Engineers ranked one of the lowest in earning upper management positions such as CEO. The main reason why is because of communication skills.
As someone from high school that is obssessed with math and science, this was a shock. I hated english classes. But now I realize just how important writing, speaking, and LISTENING is. Now I am working hard everyday to improve these skills that I lack. I remember trying to write an essay for a tech./society course and I didn't know how to begin (since it required critical thinking of society and technology). My friend had a similar problem and stated, "Damn, we think too much like engineers." In high school, essay writing was easy. Now it has become so much more difficult.
In university, I found out that soft skills are not taught in the curriculum. This is the largest downside to my education. UW engineering students are bombarded with science and math. But when it comes to communication, there is barely any. Now you can argue that our Co-op positions give us those skills (I agree that they help), but I think they need to be taught formally. It's as if our university just pops out a bunch of machines that output data.
Also, our university barely gives us the time to take electives for more arts related courses. Almost everything is pre-planned for us.
I think there are ways to pop out Engineers and not machines: 1) Teach less (counter-intuitive), learn more 2) integrate soft skills into technical courses 3) diversify optionals for degrees or double degree.
On 1), I recently attended a seminar with one of the teaching resources directors from Oxford Uni. He said that by decreasing the amount of information students learn, students canwill comprehend more. Thus, students will most likely retain and understand the information given to them. I believe the person's name was Keith Trigwell.
On 2), I would like to see more design projects for math and science courses. That means a large assignment or project that is worth a hefty grade. Not only will it improve a student's design skills by allowing them to tackle real life problems(material considerations, design criteria, etc), but it will improve writing skills. If there is a presentation portion, that would be helpful too. Though UW has design courses, they happen in 3rd or 4th year. I believe that there should be constant practice of these soft skills through projects. Now because all programs have pre-planned courses, course co-ordinators can schedule projects so the students are not presured to work on multiple design projects.
On 3), UW currently faces the problem of uniqueness. We currently have the largest co-op system in the world. But the problem is that other universities are starting to either offer co-op programs or double degree options. The uniqueness of UW might not last as long as the administration thinks. If we were to offer degrees that diversify our engineers, we can have extremely powerful generalists graduating. For example, engineers with medical background can work on robotic surgery. Or engieers with arts background can invent new ways of improving hollywood films, etc.
I think what I pointed out is important to ensure that our future engineers can "think out of the box." I really miss all the critical thinking that is practiced during high school, no matter how much I hate it.
Think of it this way. If aliens managed to arrive in the solar system, they must've used faster than speed of light tech (and thus comes to question the very nature of our physics) to get here. Don't you think they would be able to decipher letters properly? I'm sure they would use quantum computers to do every possible frickin' combination of code and on top of that have an AI to make sense of it. C'mon...
University of Waterloo is THE top school in Canada according to Maclaens and is THE top University in Canada for Engineering + CS. The University has the largest Co-op education service in the world. All engineering students and CS students have Co-op every other term. I'm on my co-op term right now. The University's main goal as of now is to ready its students for the work force. We gain 2 years work experience by the time we graduate.
The University is very young (I think found in 1957) and has rapidly grown because of its connections with companies like RIM and COM DEV. Our Chancellor is the President of RIM! RIM Headquarters is next door to us. Across the street we have the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Also, UW is the recruiting ground for M$ (maybe we all hate them, but meh). A lot of the top engineers and programmers in Canada come from UW and end up in the states due to nice offers and oppurtunities. We call that the "Brain Drain."
UW DOES NOT have courses or teachings that are directed towards contests. The courses are extemely rigourous with high expectations. All courses force a lot of critical thinking. We take Math and Science seriously here.
UW conducts nationwide math, physics, and chem contests to high schoolers as well. In Engineering you have to write an entrance math test (which most people fail, but its Bell Curved). If your below standards, they offer mandatory math tutorial services to you. We also recently placed 4th in PUTNAM math comepetition.
Also, addressing the jokes about US being beaten by Canada: Canada has played important roles in science and engineering. Especially since the layed off workers from the Arrow project worked on NASA's Mercury and Apollo missions. That's right, it's our engineers and scientists that helped US get to the Moon. The Arrow project in itself is a great feat for Canada. Arrow was for more advanced than any US aircraft for very long time.
Currently, UW is looking towards raising funds and improving our Graduate programs to become top notch like MIT. We are also investing quite a lot of money to bring top professors in. UW is already good enough to be treated like an Ivy League school in my opinion. However, once we do invest in research I can garantee 50 years from now it will be well known and respected Internationally.
O, by the way...I'm an American :P.