Industry committee  Dr. Laguë is absolutely right. I'd simply add that between the ages of zero and five, children love mathematics. We manage to kill that love when they get to school.

Industry committee  I will speak for my parish. The generational gap is in universities as well. If a young person has graduated from engineering and has trouble finding a job—or in any area, whether you've graduated from business or anywhere—I'd simply say to get a master's and think about the po

Industry committee  There is a significant demand for nuclear engineers in Ontario, where there will be a sustained presence of nuclear generating capacity for a long time to come. The nuclear power plants need to be maintained. They need to be overhauled to extend their lifespan. The minute you nee

Industry committee  What I would say is that in mining the whole issue of the primary transformation of the resource—getting it off the ground—is a huge area, a huge issue, and it has been for at least a generation. Mining has lost interest among young people for a long time. We're talking 25 to 30

Industry committee  It may be an option today, but it won't be an option for very long. That's what I'm really trying to say. Look at China and the way it's building infrastructure. They're building thermal power plants, major infrastructure power plants, at a rate of one every week, or something

Industry committee  I think the Chinese engineering firms are competing on the world market to bring wealth to China. It's not because they don't have any work in China; it's because they want to create greater wealth for China.

Industry committee  This is a very interesting topic, because there is a way to incent companies to hire engineers. Many small and medium-sized companies are offering products and services that do not have a single engineer. Very often they are very innovative and entrepreneurially oriented. They

Industry committee  When the number of students doesn't match up with the number of placements available, some universities encourage their students to accept unpaid co-op placements. When I was dean of the engineering faculty at Sherbrooke university, I would not allow my students to do unpaid plac

Industry committee  I would like to add that when there is an imbalance between the number of students and the number of placements, what happens is that students will accept co-op placements without pay, and that completely usurps the whole fundamental concept of co-op programs. Co-op programs are

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I mentioned in my brief notes that the notion of greater engineering input into public policy would be helpful. I'll give you an example. There are rapidly changing technologies in a lot of areas, not just in information and communication technologies. I

Industry committee  I fully agree with everything that my colleague has said. I'd simply like to give you a very specific example in the university area in one particular field of engineering, which is electric power engineering. The reality is that there are not enough professors today in Ontario

Industry committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I would like to begin by thanking the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Canadian Academy of Engineering on the state of engineering in Canada today. The Canadian Academy of Engine