Chairholders
Profile
Philippe Kruchten
Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of British Columbia
Chair title
NSERC Chair in Design Engineering
Chair program
Chairs in Design Engineering Program
Role
Senior Chairholder since 2009
Related Chair
Summary
The primary focus of the Chair is to break down barriers between the various engineering disciplines and between engineering and other fields,particularly medicine and commerce. The Chair will initially focus on interdisciplinary design of innovative intelligent equipment to enhance treatment of, and quality of life for, people with debilitating diseases or disabilities, and will then expand to address other interdisciplinary problems in areas such as energy and sustainability.The Chair will also endeavour to enhance the design elements of the graduate biomedical engineering program; foster relationships between local industry and junior engineering faculty members through student capstone projects and simplifying industry-university collaboration procedures; and lead and manage the newly created Centre for Design Engineering.
During the term of this Chair, it expects to significantly increase the number of students who have a truly interdisciplinary design experience and who are trained in the skills needed to move ideas from conception to product.
In addition to the interdisciplinary design experience the students will receive, the Chair will play a significant role in enhancing the profile of design activities at UBC and in the broader community. The industrial partners will be involved in sponsoring student design projects and mentoring the senior students in their critical final year, and will benefit in the future from being able to hire students trained with an interdisciplinary perspective.
Dr. Kruchten is a mechanical engineer and computer scientist. Before joining the University of British Columbia in 2004, he had spent 33 years in industry developing systems, telecommunications, defence, transportation, software tools and methods.
Partners
- Jeppesen
- Western Clinical
- Westmar
Contact information
Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of British Columbia
2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6T 1Z4
Tel.: 604-827-5654
Fax: 604-822-5949
Email: pbk@ece.ubc.ca
Website:
http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~pbk
