$25-million donation to go towards new engineering school building
Josh Rider
Contributor
The Faculty of Science and Engineering became a little broader this year with the addition of a new Software Engineering stream, and with a generous $25-million contribution from Pierre Lassonde, a business partner of Seymour Schulich at the Nevada Corporation, the program may soon see a building to house the program.
The program’s first class began September 2011, and its students will be spending the year taking the same first-year core courses before moving into their specialties.
The new stream contributes to what Vassilios Tzerpos, one of the two coordinators for the Software Engineering program, calls “diversified engineering”, a reference to York’s expansion of its engineering department which also offers computer, geomatics, and space engineering programs.
“There are new courses in the higher levels [of software engineering], though no students [are] yet at those levels,” said Tzerpos.
The faculty plans to bring on an additional instructor next year to help manage the increased teaching load and demand.
The program’s focus is on the development of mission critical systems and structures where failure can potentially mean a catastrophe.
“If you’re building software for a pacemaker, you cannot crash in the middle of the operation,” explains Tzerpos. “We still talk about writing business software, but the mission-critical thing requires you to be a bit more formal.”
In his view, it is this focus that differentiates York’s software engineering program from others in Ontario.
In addition, York’s engineering program is set for a major expansion over the next few years.
At the ceremony, Lassonde helped unveil a sign for what will now be known as the Lassonde Building, currently known as the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) building.
“This transformative donation will allow us to create a truly unique engineering program that will redefine engineering for the 21st century,” said York president Mamdouh Shoukri in a press release.
The school plans to erect a new building to house the Lassonde School of Engineering.
