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The big 5-0!

Celebrating 50 years of engineering with Canada’s first woman astronaut

Campus and Community

By Jackey Locke

The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is celebrating its golden anniversary this weekend with more than 200 alumni and friends, including Canadian space legend Dr. Roberta Bondar.

Alumni, retired and current faculty, staff members and friends from across the province, the country and around the world are coming together for the faculty’s 50th anniversary celebrations from Aug. 9-10.

Two-day celebration

On Friday, Aug. 9, Dr. Bondar will speak at an evening anniversary event at Signal Hill Campus.

A commemorative video will be unveiled and the 2019 Distinguished Alumni award recipient will be announced.

Roberta Bondar
Dr. Roberta Bondar was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree at Memorial in 1993.
Photo: Submitted

On Saturday, Aug. 10, a special 50th anniversary open house is taking place at the Engineering building on the St. John’s campus. From tours of working laboratories to a family interaction zone, demonstrations, engineering themed games to coding stations, there will be something for everyone.

“On this special occasion of the faculty’s 50th anniversary, it’s a privilege to reflect back on and celebrate the remarkable successes and contributions of Memorial’s engineering program to Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Dr. Greg Naterer, dean, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.

“While some areas have changed dramatically since 1969, such as enrolments, faculty complement, research and diversity of faculty and students, others such as our commitment to excellence and a high quality student experience through co-operative education have not changed.”

Premier program

Engineering graduates
An archival image of engineering graduates
Photo: Submitted

From its humble beginning in 1930 – with just 13 students and one professor – the faculty has grown to 19 degree programs across nine disciplines and produced numerous leaders who have made major contributions to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Today, with more than 1,300 undergraduate and 700 graduate students and more than $16 million annually in research funding, Memorial’s engineering faculty is recognized nationally as one of the premier engineering programs in Canada.

Tickets to the reunion events are available online. Note that tickets are on sale until Thursday, Aug. 8, at 5 p.m. Tickets will not be sold at the events.


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