BCIT to offer Mechanical Engineering Degree
The Ministry of Advanced Education has approved a new mechanical engineering degree to be offered at the BC Institute of Technology (BCIT) starting in September of 2007. This four-year degree program expands on a two-year diploma in mechanical engineering that is presently being offered. Under the diploma program, graduates of are eligible for registration as an Applied Science Technologist (AScT). With this new program, diploma students currently in their second-year will have the option to start the third year of the engineering degree program in the fall.
A degree program in Electrical Engineering at BCIT is also currently under development. BCIT expects to also start taking in students for this program in the fall of 2007.
Both programs have applied for accreditation with the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), which assesses Canadian undergraduate engineering programs to see if they meet or exceed educational standards acceptable for professional engineering registration in Canada. Accreditation visits for new programs are undertaken in the final year of the first graduating class, and accreditation of a program is granted only after students have graduated from the program. The first graduates of the Mechanical Engineering Degree program as well as the proposed Electrical Engineering Degree Program are expected in 2009, at which time the CEAB would conduct its assessment.
BCIT currently offers a Bachelors of Engineering Degree in Civil Engineering. Accreditation for this degree is being sought through the CEAB, and assessment of this program is set for June 2007.