Grant boosts engineering and computing science at UVic

As part of its “double the opportunity” commitment to B.C. universities, the provincial government is providing UVic with $22 million for a new engineering building.

It’s part of the province’s plan to provide $95 million in capital expansion funding for B.C.’s public universities. The goal is to increase access for students in computer science and electrical and computer engineering and double the number of annual graduates in these program areas.

“This capital funding will go a long way toward providing enhanced learning and teaching opportunities at UVic,” says UVic President Dr. David Turpin. “It will give our students a state-of-the-art facility in which to prepare for the challenges presented by a constantly advancing high-tech world.”

The money will go toward a new 7,800-square-metre building, scheduled to open in the fall of 2005. It will allow UVic to increase the number of students who graduate from its computer science, and electrical and computer engineering departments by 100 per cent. That’s an additional 118 undergraduate and 23 graduate FTEs by the year 2006.

The building will have classrooms, undergrad and graduate labs, offices, and student study space for the computer science and engineering co-op programs. A location for the building on campus has not yet been determined.