History of Engineering at Guelph
Engineering at the University of Guelph
A Brief History
The School of Engineering at Guelph has a history as long as any other school in Canada. Since the government of Ontario started a campus in Guelph in 1874, engineering has been taught here in some form. As the Ontario Agricultural College celebrates its 125th anniversary, the Engineering Alumni Association is delighted to showcase some of this rich history.
In 1874, the Ontario School of Agriculture and Experimental Farm was established. The directive of the school was “to teach the pupils how to perform farm work in the best manner, to give them, in the class room, the scientific instruction necessary to their own thorough understanding of the scientific facts and principles on which such operations are based.”
William Brown was hired to teach agriculture, livestock and arboriculture in 1875. He had received an honorary “Civial Engineer” designation from the University of Toronto. Brown stayed on for 13 years, together with Alexander McTavish, teaching the courses we now associate with engineering. He was followed by agriculturalist Thomas Shaw, Esq.
At the turn of the century, three types of courses were offered. A two year course was intended for work and life on the farm; graduates received an Associate Diploma. Students completing a three year course received a Specialist Certificate in Agriculture or Horticulture. A Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree was granted on completion of a four year course.
In 1901, William C. Macdonald of Montreal donated $175,000 to Ontario for the establishment of a Department of Domestic Science, Nature Study and Manual Training in connection with the Ontario Agricultural College. The aim of the courses was to teach public school teachers and to provide practical education for women, especially farmer’s daughters.
In the spring of 1903, the contractor commenced work on the Macdonald Institute. It was completed in April for the Winter term of 1904. Classes started in January 1903 and were held in a portion of the Biological Building later used as a museum. These classes marked the first other than the Dairy Short courses, which were available to women.
The first course in Manual Training for rural public school teachers began with 13 in attendance. Soon though, it was found that accommodation at the Macdonald Institute was inadequate for the three branches of instruction.
In 1905, construction began on the first building devoted to agricultural mechanics. The building was completed in April 1905 and measured 146 ft by 64 ft. The new building allowed for the addition of farm mechanics as a subject. The name was then changed to the Department of Manual Training and Farm Mechanics.
1909 saw the addition of a three month course in Elementary Industrial Arts for Normal School teachers. The department of manual training offered courses in manual training, woodworking and drawing, metalworking and farm mechanics, plain carpentry and colour and home decorating.
The Manual Training course for teachers was discontinued in 1921. In that same year, an extension to the Mechanics Building was proposed to allow for the teaching of motor mechanics and power and for the storage of machinery.
Lectures on subjects such as harness mending, elementary building construction and principles of gasoline engines and tractors were being given by the Farm Mechanics department. Agricultural Engineering as it is now recognized was developed greatly through the Farm Power short courses and consultation services offered by the department in the early twenties.
Meanwhile, the physics department began operation in 1893 with the arrival of J.B. Reynolds. A physics course covering hydrostatics, mechanics and electricity was taught in 1895 and by 1906, physics was taught each year to students. Calculus was not added to the teaching program until 1925. During the early years of the Physics department, research dealt with many topics including lightning rods, concrete drain tile, drainage and septic tanks.
The Drainage Division of the Physics department created a partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture in 1905. The department would take topography levels and provide al specifications for tile drainage installation to farmers. Professor Reynolds announced this assistance program to darmers during a speech at the Canadian National Exhibition.
A drainage trenching machine was purchased by the department in 1912. Thirty-eight demonstration plots were established throughout the province and were used to explain how the machine worked. The benefit of drainage for wetland was also shown.
The Agricultural Engineering Department was created in 1928 with the amalgamation of the Physics, Farm Mechanics and Manual Training departments. This allowed for the development of teaching, extension and research.
With little wonder, World War II interrupted the growth of the department. Every student was enrolled in the OAC Contingent of the Canadian Officer Training Corps. Short courses in ambulance driving took place in 1940 and buildings were annexed by the Department of National Defense.
Following the war, there was an increase in the mechanization of Ontario farms. An agricultural engineering option was planned to meet this development, and in 1946, the first class of twelve enrolled in the new Agricultural Mechanics Option. They were awarded a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA) in 1948.
In 1946 the students created the Agricultural Engineering Club which became a student branch of the American Society for Agricultural Engineers. The Club was also heavily involved in the first Canadian Contour Plowing Match in 1948.
The end of the war also saw the revitalization of research in agricultural engineering in Guelph. Although research activities focused on machine design, dairy barn ventilation, seed harvesting and watersheds, it was Professor F.H. Theakston who became world renowned for his studies relating to snow and wind.
A new program was established in 1954 that allowed graduates of Agricultural Mechanics to take a fifth year of studies in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto. Upon completion of this extra year, the graduates would receive a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) degree along with their BSA degree. Between 1954 and 1956, courses in differential equations, farm electrification, dynamics, power and machinery and principles of engineering were added to the Guelph curriculum to make this new program successful.
Student wishing to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering at U of T were given that opportunity in 1957. In that same year, the Department of Agricultural Engineering changed its name to the Department of Engineering Science.
The early 1960s were a busy time for the Guelph campus. New courses in reinforced concrete, soil mechanics, highway engineering and sanitary engineering were added. More importantly, giant steps towards the creation of the University of Guelph were taken with the federation of the Ontario Agricultural College, the Ontario Veterinary College and the Macdonald Institute.
Source: unknown
Since the 1960’s…
The University of Guelph was created in 1964. The School of Agricultural Engineering was established in September 1965 as a division of OAC, to develop a broad program to support the agricultural industry and natural resources associated with it.
The Senate of the University approved an academic program leading to the B.Sc. (Eng) degree. The student concentrated in the final year in one of three majors: mechanical and power, structural, or water resources. This single program was accredited by the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario.
Upon creation of the University in 1964 the Department of Engineering Science offered graduate programs for the Degree of Master of Science in most fields of agricultural engineering and hydrology. The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy was offered in hydrology and in some areas of fluid and thermodynamic processes and design, as related to agricultural engineering. The School also participated in Interdepartmental Groups on Biophysics, and Hydrology, and in the work of the School of Rural Planning and Development, and the Centre of International Programs.
In May 1966, the Board of Governors received an academic brief on Agricultural Engineering and appointed a building committee which had evolved final construction plans by June, 1967. The plan forecast a student enrollment of 690 by 1975. The Agricultural Engineering Complex was planned for construction in 1970. For various reasons and circumstances, the planning was discontinued.
In 1968, the department obtained office laboratory space in the newly renovated Seed Research Laboratory in partnership with the new School of Landscape Architecture. A soil mechanics laboratory, hydrology laboratory and photogrammetric laboratory was created in the space. The office space was used by graduate students.
Prof. C.G.E. Downing resigned in August, 1967. Prof. F.H. Theakston was appointed Acting Director of the School. H.D. Ayers was appointed Director from July 1, 1968.
In July 1968 a review was initiated on the educational, research, extension and service programs. An academic brief was prepared and presented in March 1969 setting forth a new program in all areas.
The academic brief accepted by the Board also recommended new facilities for the School. The new proposal was essentially a replacement for unsatisfactory existing spaces occupied by the School in three buildings. There was no expansion in space as envisioned by the previous brief.
The Senate of the University approved the new undergraduate program to be initiated in the fall semester 1969 and to be fully operational in 1972-73. The proposal was an eight semester program to fill the need for a liberal engineering education to solve problems of the biological world and its associated environment of soil, water and atmosphere. Titles assigned to the major areas of specialization were Agricultural Engineering, Biological Engineering and Water Resources Engineering.
From 1970: School of Engineering
The title of the School was changed to reflect the broader spectrum of professional concern as of July 1, 1970. However, it still continued as a division of OAC.
A site for a new building had been selected as early as 1958 and planning continued. Plans for a new building were approved by the Board of Governors in 1971 and construction began in September of that year. The School held its Christmas Party in the nearly completed building in 1972 and classes began in January 1973.
The official opening of the new building took place on Alumni Day, June 23, 1973. Invited guests and a special seminar was part of the program.
Massey-Ferguson Ltd. donated $750,000 toward the $2,000,000 building costs. It was named the Albert A. Thornbrough Building in honour of Albert A. Thornbrough, President of Massey-Ferguson Ltd., and Vice-Chairman of the University Board of Directors and Chairman of the University Finance Committee from 1968 to 1973. An airphoto laboratory was established in the School in 1974 under the direction of Prof. S.C. Collins. It pioneered the application of orthophoto and stereomate pairs.
The School maintains a soil and water field storage near the Arboretum. At Arkell are several structures – a methane research building, underground farm scale digester, models of six scale building types for energy conservation and a major research building.
In 1970 the “Ring of Iron: A Study of Engineering Education in Ontario” (Lapp Report) recommended “that Guelph pursue its new engineering core program, with options in the life and earth sciences”. In the light of this report the three programs were named Agricultural, Biological and Water Resources, with the opportunity to take some specialist design courses. The undergraduate program was accredited in 1973 by the Canadian Accreditation Board of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers. The first graduates of this program were in 1973.
The undergraduate course in the 1970s and 80s underwent a period of evolution – there was no drastic change to the concept, just a reinforcing of the primary goals. Minors in Food Engineering and Environmental Engineering were developed.
The core content was reorganized in 1982 and a cooperative education program was added in 1984 to those with excellent standing.
In 1972, the School consisted of 40 faculty and staff, with 155 undergraduate and 18 graduate students. By 1984 the faculty had dropped to 18 established positions and 2 contractual positions. There were 265 undergraduate students and 26 graduate students. Teaching consisted of 45 degree courses, 19 post-graduate courses, and 7 diploma courses.
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