Ontario Tech University continues to receive recognition for its engineering programs.
In the latest survey by the U.S. News and World Report, Ontario Tech was ranked as the ninth-best engineering school in Canada and the third-best in Ontario, only trailing the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo. The American media organization takes things like class sizes, number of full-time faculty, and the degrees faculty members possess into consideration before ranking schools around the world.
Hossam Gaber is a professor at Ontario Tech with expertise in Engineering and Nuclear Science.
Gaber, 54, thinks the recognition for the school is well-deserved.
“This is great news, and this is not accidental. This is a huge effort from every person including the research team, students, graduate students, professors, and admin as well,” says Gaber. “We have a very good collection of professors so; this is not something sudden. It is based on a huge effort since 2002.”
Ontario Tech features many engineering programs like electrical, nuclear and automotive engineering. According to Gaber, each of these programs have started to implement some impressive technology.
In Electrical Engineering, students have started using smart grid technology – a computer system designed to power things like nuclear power plants, while using efficient amounts of energy.
In Nuclear Engineering, students have created an artificial intelligence (AI) that can monitor the activity of a nuclear power plant. The program is also one of the few in the world to design drones that can also monitor a power plant.
Automotive Engineering is also a very innovative program at Ontario Tech. Students have developed Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) technology, which can be used to charge electric vehicles. Earlier this year in October, the program helped build the first all-Canadian electric vehicle, Project Arrow.
Another program that Gaber says he’s been impressed with is Mechatronics. This program focuses mainly on robotics and one of the students in that program is Andre Sivakumar.
Sivakumar, 18, is in his second year and even though his program has been exclusively online, he says his professors have handled teaching very well.
“They are very helpful, and they explain things very well in class, they have office hours where you can come in and ask them questions. Most professors are good and on-time with marking,” says Sivakumar.
One of the things he enjoyed about Ontario Tech during his first year was the after school help the university offered for students. According to Sivakumar, students are still able to get help on subjects like math or physics, but now it’s available online.
He says Ontario Tech has handled online teaching so well, that Sivakumar is torn on whether he wants online school to end.
“Currently, it’s really easy to just roll out of bed and go into a lecture, versus a 20-minute walk or a 25-minute walk to campus in the winter. I don’t know if I want to go back to campus, things are just too convenient right now,” he says.
While Sivakumar has enjoyed online learning, he would still recommend Ontario Tech’s engineering programs to any interested students.
“I know for a fact that a lot of the professors are good. That’s the main thing with university, getting good professors and people who know what they’re doing,” says Sivakumar.
As for the next steps, Gaber says Ontario Tech is constantly looking for ways to make its engineering programs bigger and better.
“We plan to develop new programs to expand on existing programs. So, we have very strong potential to expand our engineering program to be recognized worldwide,” says Gaber.