The McMaster Faculty of Engineering is a faculty located at
McMaster University
McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
. The faculty was established in 1958 and was the first engineering program to developed
problem-based learning
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy in which students learn about a subject through the experience of solving an open-ended problem found in trigger material. The PBL process does not focus on problem solving with a define ...
curriculum. It currently has seven departments in chemical engineering, civil engineering, computing and software, electrical and computer engineering, engineering physics, material science and engineering and mechanical engineering. The faculty offers
bachelors
A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". ().
Etymo ...
,
masters, and
doctoral degrees
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
.
The faculty is home to 1 Canada Excellence Research Chair, 13
Canada Research Chairs
Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program.
Program goals
The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...
, 4
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada, CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering rese ...
chairs, and 14 Endowed Chairs.
Programs
The
B.Eng. undergraduate programs are accredited through the
Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board
Engineers Canada ( French: ') is the national organization of the 12 provincial and territorial associations that regulate the practice of engineering in Canada. Engineers Canada serves these associations, which are its sole members, by delivering ...
. All undergraduate students take a common first-year program, which outlines the fundamentals of engineering disciplines. At the end of the first year, students choose one of fourteen program disciplines. This includes some five-year programs such as Engineering & Management, Engineering & Society, or streams in Integrated Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences.
Graduate programs in
biomedical engineering
Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...
are offered through the School of Biomedical Engineering, and graduate engineering practice programs through the Walter G. Booth School of Engineering Practice.
The joint McMaster-Mohawk Bachelor of Technology program offers four-year bachelor-degree programs in engineering technology, including process automation technology, biotechnology and automotive and vehicle technology, as well as degree-completion programs in civil engineering infrastructure technology, computing and information technology, energy engineering technology and manufacturing engineering technology.
History
In 1956, McMaster named its first Director of Engineering Studies – Dr.
John W. Hodgins, a Chemical Engineering professor from the
Royal Military College – to develop a full engineering program for the university. The program was approved by the McMaster University Senate in February 1958. The engineering building, now John Hodgins Engineering Building, officially opened a few months later. The first class of 25 students graduated in 1961.
Five departments were established in the first two years – Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical and
Metallurgical Engineering
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
— and, later, Engineering Physics joined them. The first engineering degrees from McMaster were Master of Engineering (
M.Eng.) degrees, with the first ones awarded in 1959. The first doctoral degrees
(Ph.D.) were awarded in 1965.
In 1972 over 100 engineers received their Bachelor of Engineering degrees, with the annual total passing 200 by 1980, and in 2014 this number equaled 588.
1971 marked the start of the Engineering and Management program and later that decade, the Engineering and Society program began. In the early 1980s, the Electrical Engineering started its unique Computer Engineering program, and Mechanical Engineering began its program in Manufacturing Engineering.
The Faculty of Engineering began joint faculty appointments, research associates and collaborative research activities with McMaster's
Faculty of Health Sciences. Courses in Biomedical Engineering were offered as electives in all engineering programs.
In 1997, the Faculty of Engineering began a joint venture with the Department of Engineering Technology at Mohawk College and created the Bachelor of Technology program.
Ranking
The 2017 Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects ranked the Faculty's civil engineering program 29th in the world, and metallurgical engineering, computer science and engineering, and transportation science and technology programs within the top 75 around the globe. Also rated within the top 101-150 programs in the world were the Faculty's water resources and telecommunication engineering disciplines.
Deans of Engineering
Research
Research Institutes
* McMaster Steel Research Centre
*
Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research
* Centre for Emerging Device Technologies (CEDT)
* McMaster Institute for Multi-Hazard Systemic Risk Studies (INTERFACE)
*
McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute
The McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI) is a major manufacturing research facility affiliated with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
The institute opened in 2001, and has an endowe ...
(MMRI)
* McMaster Centre for Software Certification (McSCert)
*
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
Centre for Automotive Materials & Corrosion (CAMC)
* McMaster Advanced Control Consortium (MACC)
* Centre for Research in Macro- and Nano-Systems
* Centre for Mechatronics and Hybrid Technologies
* Centre for Advanced Polymer Process & Design
* McMaster Institute for Energy Studies (MIES)
* McMaster University Centre for Effective Design of Structures
Research Chairs
Student life
The Faculty of Engineering at McMaster is known for its active student life. The McMaster Engineering Society (MES) is the student-run organization dedicated to fostering "the development of well-rounded undergraduate engineering students through accessible support of academics, athletics, and recreational and professional activities while maintaining the integrity and unique traditions of our faculty society." The MES offers an Engineering Co-op and Career Services (ECCS), which is a joint venture with the Faculty of Engineering. Engineering Co-op & Career Services connects students with employers, provides career-planning tools and resources, and provides opportunities for students to gain employment experience.
Some student-led groups within the faculty include: McMaster Ecocar 3, McMaster Formula Electric, Engineers Without Borders, McMaster Engineering Musical, McMaster Baja Racing and the McMaster Solar Car Team.
Traditions
Engineering students at McMaster University can purchase leather jackets with their faculty and graduation date embroidered on the arms and back of the coat. Since this tradition was established, these jackets have become a distinctive characteristic of McMaster Engineering on campus.
Student representatives to the faculty are chosen each year to lead the upcoming first years and represent the faculty of engineering at events. They typically dress in a red jumpsuit which they often personalize throughout their stay at McMaster Engineering. These representatives, nicknamed "Redsuits" or "Reds" are a fixture on campus and are known for their spirited behaviors'. The Redsuits have become synonymous with McMaster Engineering as well as McMaster University.
Undergraduate students produce an annual Engineering Musical every March that is written and directed by engineering students, with all of the 20-30 member cast and 10-15 member crew consisting of engineers. The musical takes a well known play, theme, or story and uses it as inspiration, but with a new script that includes jokes about professors, courses, faculty, and "arties".
The fireball
The fireball is the official symbol of McMaster Engineering. It historically comes from the coat of arms of Hamilton College. McMaster's Faculty of Engineering emerged from Hamilton College in 1958 and hence adopted a red fireball as its own emblem in 1960. The fireball symbol is used widely by both the faculty and students to represent everything from culture, to excellence in research and innovation, as well as the energy that cuts across science and engineering. In 2016, the Engineering Student Society of
Conestoga College
Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a public college located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1967, Conestoga serves approximately 23,000 registered students through campuses and training centres in ...
in
Kitchener, Ontario
)
, image_flag = Flag of Kitchener, Ontario.svg
, image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg
, image_shield=Coat of arms of Kitchener, Canada.svg
, image_blank_emblem = Logo of Kitchener, Ontario.svg
, blank_emblem_type = ...
applied to make the fireball a registered trademark.
Facilities
The faculty's facilities include:
*John Hodgins Engineering Building, which with 240,677 sq/ft (22,360 sq/m) is the major teaching, research, outreach and administrative hub on campus for the
McMaster University
McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
Faculty of Engineering.
*Information Technology Building – building, home to the Department of Computing and Software and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
*Communications Research Laboratory
*Applied Dynamics Laboratory – research lab for Department of Civil Engineering
*Thode Library of Science and Engineering
*Nuclear Research Building,
McMaster Nuclear Reactor
The McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR) is a 5 MWth open pool reactor located on the campus of McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Description
MNR began operating in April 1959, as the first university-based research reactor in th ...
*
McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute
The McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI) is a major manufacturing research facility affiliated with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
The institute opened in 2001, and has an endowe ...
– addition to the Engineering Building
*Engineering Technology Building - building houses the Walter G. Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology and School of Biomedical Engineering
*Gerald Hatch Centre for Engineering Experiential Learning (Anticipated Occupancy – Start 2017)
Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy
The Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy at McMaster is home to the world's most advanced microscope. The titan 80-300 cubed microscope has a magnification of 14 million and is used for material, medical and nano-research.
Iron ring clock
![Clockread](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Clockread.jpg)
The Iron Ring Clock is a
clock
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the ...
of unusual design created by four
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
students at
McMaster University
McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
. The clock was designed and built as a thesis project by Patrick Burton, Braden Kurczak, Michael Paddags, and Peter Whitred. It won the 2nd prize for Manufacturing at the 2003 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering Student Design Competition.
The clock was donated to McMaster University in September 2003, at which time it was also put into commission. The design is based on the
Iron Ring received by Canadian
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
s during the
Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer
The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is a private ritual, authored by Rudyard Kipling, in which students about to graduate from an engineering program at a university in Canada are permitted to participate. Participation may also be permit ...
.
The clock was designed in large part in a four-month period at the end of 2002, with some features that were originally intended for an outdoor installation. The clock keeps time through the use of a synchronous
alternating current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
motor
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
, which regulates its speed based on the
frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...
of the
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
that it is fed. The top and bottom halves of the ring rotate independently, with the top half of the ring displaying the hours, and the bottom half the minutes. The minute ring moves constantly, while the hour ring increments once an hour through the use of a
Geneva drive
The Geneva drive or Maltese cross is a gear mechanism that translates a continuous rotation movement into intermittent rotary motion.
The ''rotating drive'' wheel is usually equipped with a pin that reaches into a slot located in the other wh ...
mechanism. The rings are driven through a
gearbox
Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...
that was designed and partly manufactured by the group. The two ring sections are made of forged
stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
,
with machined surfaces, and facets cut using a robotic six-axis
water jet cutter. The central shield, which is the university coat of arms,
is made of hand-crafted stained glass. The design of the clock was completed entirely with
computer-aided design
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...
software, and
CNC
Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a ...
tools were used for components where the most precision was required. Although the clock was donated to McMaster University on completion, it is maintained by members of the team that built it.
To minimise costs, the team with help from technicians manufactured as many components as possible in an on-campus
machine shop
A machine shop or engineering workshop (UK) is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tools to make parts, usually of metal or plast ...
. The total cost of the clock was approximately $20,000
CAD
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...
, which was raised through donations, with donors listed on a nearby plaque.
Issues and lifetime wear
![Geneva_mechanism_6spoke_animation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Geneva_mechanism_6spoke_animation.gif)
While it is quite well known on campus,
the Iron Ring Clock is not always recognized as a clock. The most common criticism of the clock is that it is counterintuitive to read. (It must be read straight on, with the number on the top ring denoting the hour and the number on the bottom ring denoting the minute. If there is no number directly under the hour indicator, the minute must be inferred from the nearest two numbers.) As the rings move slowly, the clock has been mistaken for a static display. It has shown the wrong time in the past, due to events such as power outages or breakdowns; in 2006/2007, the clock stopped for three months due to motor bearing failure. In 2007, an
uninterruptible power supply
An uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power system ...
was installed to eliminate the problem with power outages. However, in the absence of such events the motor and mechanism have shown themselves to be quite accurate.
The clock has also had issues with mechanical
wear
Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology.
Wear in m ...
; the use of steel
ball bearing
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.
The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...
s to support and position the rings has led to grooves being worn into the rings themselves, as the bearings are
hardened steel and the rings are not. Some of these bearings have been replaced, as it becomes necessary; the group is considering future solutions to this problem. Other portions of the gear train are mounted on
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
bearings; these are expected to have a shorter wear life and will likely have to be replaced sooner than other gearbox components.
The
Geneva wheel, made of
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
for ease of manufacture, has also experienced some wear and will eventually need to be remade (the mechanism used in the clock differs slightly from the one shown in the graphic as it has only four spokes) .
References
;Bibliography
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External links
About the Faculty of EngineeringThe McMaster Engineering Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcmaster Faculty of Engineering
McMaster University
Engineering universities and colleges in Canada