Chairs in design engineering - a new program created by the natural sciences and engineering research council of Canada

摘要

Studies have shown that Canada's economy lags most G-7 countries in innovation, as measured by factors such as high technology manufacturing, low R&D spending as a function of Gross Domestic Product, weak technology diffusion and adoption by business and lack of skilled people in key areas [1]. In a knowledge based global economy, a productive economy is an innovative economy. Innovation involves the implementation of a new discovery or invention: the application or use in the market place of a new technology, product or process. Design engineering is seen as one of the enablers of innovation. But Canada is struggling with a serious shortage of engineers with the skills and knowledge to make innovation happen. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is the federal funding agency for university research in the areas of science and engineering. In 1998, its mandate to foster discovery and people was broadened to include innovation. NSERC already supported a number of programs aimed at increasing the collaboration between universities and industry and enhancing the transfer of technology, including a successful industrial research chair program. NSFRC tacked however, a direct mechanism to support the design activities of engineering faculty and the means to alleviate the current shortage of high quality design engineers needed by industry. In order to address these issues, a new program, Chairs in Design Engineering, was developed in 1999 [2] by Leo Derikx, a former Director General of the Research Partnerships Program at NSERC.