I'm ready. Thank you very much. Sorry for running a bit late.
I want to talk about three things. I want to tell you a little bit about where I'm speaking from, the background, the challenges that we see from an academic setting at the university level, and then talk about some recommendations relative to the academic perspective. Our take might be somewhat different from some of the others you've heard.
I am, as was mentioned, the dean of engineering and applied science at the new University of Ontario Institute of Technology, only open since 2003, in Oshawa. We have 4,300 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. We're market-driven. We're trying to make sure that we address real needs when we open programs. It's an opportunity we have and we're looking to address the major challenges facing the country. Some examples of how we've done that is focusing on manufacturing, the automotive sector, and energy.
Some of our unique features include the following. For instance, we have Ontario's only manufacturing engineering program, one of three in Canada at the undergraduate level--the other two are out west--despite the fact that manufacturing, of course, is so important to Ontario's economy. We have planned a $70 million or so automotive centre of excellence in conjunction with the Ontario government and General Motors of Canada. That's a very interesting venture. We are trying to bring together industrial problems and put academic research and educational needs together so as to help solve problems, particularly down the road. We have a chair in innovative engineering design aimed at the design aspects--how you create new things that are so important to advancing manufacturing.
On some of the challenges that we face, we have trouble getting students entering manufacturing engineering--plain and simple. It has a bad reputation, and that really threatens the future workforce. It's viewed image-wise as either dirty, dull, depressing, or in decline--the Ds you often hear mentioned. And that's a really severe problem, because if students don't want to enter the field, there's going to be no one to work down the road. Certainly competitiveness factors are one of the things that scare students away. The problems you hear of in the automotive sector scare students from manufacturing. The plastics sector is really not spoken of well in Canada at all, as another example. We also have trouble retaining students. They hear things about off-shoring of jobs and that there will be no jobs left, and they scoot to another program very quickly.
Lack of competitiveness and productivity due to inadequate investment in the higher technologies, the advanced technologies, is another area I want to mention that's a challenge. We're in trouble if we try to compete with countries that have low wages. The one advantage we have is a very strong advanced technology sector. We need research to always keep us at the leading edge. If we fall behind, we're fighting a losing battle. The advanced technology is what keeps us in the game, from my perspective. There's a bit of a problem with a lack of holistic thinking. We're dealing with automotive sector, manufacturing, and energy. Those really come together in some ways. Energy problems hurt manufacturing. Manufacturing drives the automotive sector. Energy feeds into the automotive sector. Some of the problems we face actually aren't as isolated as just manufacturing.
On the recommendation side, we need help overcoming the poor image. If we're to attract students, both industry and government have to do it. There has to be a message that it's more important to the economy than is presently felt. Some support for educational programs focused on manufacturing would be very important, both provincial and federal, because some incentives to get students into these programs can attract.
With respect to investment in R and D, we need more research in the advanced manufacturing technologies. It's critical, as I mentioned earlier, in my view for us to stay competitive. We can't compete with technology. One example I put forward is to create university-industry partnership centres like what we're doing with General Motors, where we have an automotive centre of excellence that's intended to have two views. If the academics look in, they see a research centre beyond compare, beyond their wildest dreams, where they can really create new ideas and technologies. When industry looks in from the other view, they see a world-class industrial test and development facility right up to the standards they seek. It's something that we're developing now. It will be open in a couple of years. It's meant to be a different way of academic and industry sectors working together.
That ends my opening statement. Thank you.