Industry Expert Returns to Queen’s University to Head New NSERC Design Engineering Chair

Kingston, Ontario, February 28, 2003 – The Government of Canada today announced funding of the new NSERC Chair in Design Engineering at Queen’s University. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) is providing $1 million over five years, with more than 30 private sector partners contributing a further $750,000. The Chair is expected to have its greatest impact on new product development in the consumer product and high tech industries.

The new chairholder, Professor David Strong, returns to Queen’s after 22 years in industry, ten of which have been with a major Canadian power tools manufacturer. He will set up multidisciplinary teams and ensure that skills learned from industry make their way into the student curricula. “My primary role is to explore new methods and training principles. The graduates will leave here with a full complement of skills that will make them ready to hit the ground running when they go into industry.”

“Design engineering is a complex mix of creative skills that goes beyond our popular understanding of engineering,” said Peter Milliken, Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands, who made today’s announcement on behalf of Allan Rock, Minister of Industry. “This chair is a sterling example of Queen’s University’s commitment to integrated learning. A well-rounded, multidisciplinary culture will generate the innovators that Canada needs in order to be competitive.”

“Wherever design engineering is applied, you see creative intellectual activity at work,” said NSERC president Tom Brzustowski. “It is the central process that determines the quality, safety and success of a product. I congratulate Queen’s University on recruiting David Strong whose intellectual strengths and industrial experience bring so much to the program.”

NSERC created the Chairs in Design Engineering program three years ago in response to industry’s need for home-grown design engineers. Its goal is to raise the quality of design engineering activity in universities across Canada. The main priority of the program is to improve research and training in design engineering at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. It focuses on innovation in learning, and on equipping students with the right skills, knowledge and personal attributes required by the profession and industry.

NSERC is a key federal agency investing in people, discovery, and innovation. The Council supports both basic university research through discovery grants and project research through partnerships among universities, governments and the private sector, as well as the advanced training of highly qualified people.

For further information, contact:

Francis Lionnet
Communications
NSERC
Tel.: (613) 992-9001
Fax: (613) 943-0742
E-mail: fzl@nserc.ca

Lorinda Peterson
News and Media Services
Queen’s University
Tel.: (613) 533-6000, ext. 77559
E-mail: petersn@post.queensu.ca