Why Join the School of EECS
Here are ten good reasons why you should join the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science now...
- The job market in our sector is very strong! [more...]
- Our graduates have jobs that are exciting, of high quality, and well paid! [more...]
- We offer a wide variety of programs! [more...]
- We offer programs of excellent quality! [more...]
- Our programs all offer a popular co-op option! [more...]
- We offer among the most generous scholarships in Ontario! [more...]
- Our courses are offered in both official languages, French and English! [more...]
- We offer cutting-edge infrastructures! [more...]
- Our teaching/research/support staff is great! [more...]
- The quality of life on campus and in the city is just amazing! [more...]
The job market in our sector is very strong!
Yes, the market is booming again!
According to the experts, Canada's tech industries will be facing a shortage of up to 90,000 workers, as explained for example in
this Financial Post article. Other evidences include:
- OCRI explains that "according to the Conference Board of Canada, a "perfect storm" of socio-demographic factors, negative perceptions of the tech sector following the bubble burst of 2002, and a significant drop in university enrolment in IT programs across Canada have combined to create a situation where more than 90,000 jobs in the information technology sector will need to be filled in the next two to four years..." ( source).
- Despite the current recession, many IT posts are still difficult to fill. In fact, recently Canada overtook the UK to become the third largest development community!
- The Globe and Mail explains that Industry feels pinch as numbers of IT grads plummet.
- IT Business points out that Ottawa's record hi-tech employment are "comparable" to Silicon Valley.
- A recent CareerBuilder Canada survey of 239 Canadian hiring managers and human resource professionals found that 30% are currently looking to fill IT positions.
Our graduates have jobs that are exciting, of high quality, and well paid!
In recent surveys, our alumni have declared their satisfaction with the quality of the education received at the School of EECS, have found positions in their field soon after graduation, and have recognized the contributions of the programs in the strengthening of their analytic abilities. This is not surprising given the quality of the jobs in our area across North-America:- Six of the top twenty "Best Jobs in America" are in the information and communication technology (ICT). One of these jobs, software engineer, is even known as one of the five "high-paying, low stress jobs!
- CNN Money magazine identifies a software company, SAS, as the number one best companies to work for in 2010. But again, this is not surprising since ICT companies make 50% of the top 10 in the list!
- In this other study, Software Engineer and Computer Systems analyst are respectively number two and number three of "the 10 best jobs in 2010".
- The Frequently Asked Questions of the Association for Computing Machinery presents many other evidences that the careers in our area are of very high quality.
- Who has been ranked the richest man in the world almost every year since 1995?
A well-known computer
science entrepreneur...
We offer a wide variety of programs!
The School of EECS offers many types of undergraduate and graduate programs in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Software Engineering. All offer a coop option.Our programs are very flexible too as various options and specializations in many domains can be selected, from telecommunications to biomedical engineering to bioinformatics to entrepreneurship and management, to name a few. The computer science program offers additional flexibility with many optional courses and also a minor and a major that can be combined to other minors/majors at the University!
You are not sure of your choice? Our undergraduate programs have a first year that is fairly common, so you can always reassess your career path at that time!
We offer programs of excellent quality!
In Canada, engineering is a regulated profession that requires certification from provincial governments. Our Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Software Engineering programs are all accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board, which is very important for graduates to become a Professional Engineers (P.Eng., or ing. in Québec).In addition, our Computer Science and Software Engineering programs are both accredited by the Canadian Information Processing Society so our graduates can more easily the Information Systems Professional (I.S.P.) certification.
All our programs are regularly and rigorously evaluated internally and externally to ensure their relevance and overall quality. Our innovations have also influenced many other programs in North America and elsewhere in the world. For instance, we have introduced the first Software Engineering program in Canada and the leading associations in our domain (ACM and IEEE) have standardized guidelines for curricula that are strongly influenced by our program!
Our programs all offer a popular co-op option!
All four programs offer a popular co-op option that consists of four 16-week semesters in industry. This brings huge benefits for the student including:- 16 months of relevant work experience by graduation time (some of which being eligible to get a Professional Engineering certification faster)
- Better appreciation of the concepts covered in class as they can
be related to real work challenges and contexts faced in previous co-op
terms
- Great salaries!
Coop students make up to $60,000 during their 16 months of
work experience.
We offer among the most generous scholarships in Ontario!
Undergraduate Students
New undergraduate students can benefit from very generous admission scholarships offered by the University and by the Faculty of Engineering:- Renewable Admission Scholarship Program (automatic)
- $1,000-$4,000 per year
- Minimum: 80% in best 6 courses in high school
- Admission Scholarship - Faculty of Engineering (automatic)
- $500-$1,000 (in addition for the one above, but for one year
only)
- Minimum: 80% in best 6 courses in high school
- Faculty of Engineering Memorial Scholarships: $2,000
- President's Scholarship: $30,000 ($7,500 per year)
- Chancellor's Scholarship: $26,000 ($6,500 per year)
Graduate Students
Generous financial support is awarded to full-time graduate students. See here for details!
Our courses are offered in both official languages, French and English!
The vast majority of the School of EECS' courses are offered in both official languages, French and English! This represents a great opportunity for improving your mastering of a second (or third!) language. In fact, you can often take a course in one language and do your work or write exams in the other. This also provides more flexibility in setting up your schedule. In addition, French classes are usually smaller, leading to a more personalized and enjoyable professor-student relationship!We offer cutting-edge infrastructures!
 |
The School of EECS occupies a shining
building, inaugurated
in 2002,
with great computer facilities, wireless Internet, class rooms,
teaching labs, study space, and a food court. It is located between the
new sports complex
and the Rideau Canal. The School of EECS' building is also home to advanced research laboratories in multimedia, robotics, photonics, networking, text analysis, software engineering, and many other disciplines. A second building (Colonel By, for all engineering disciplines) includes many other class rooms and research laboratories. We do not equip just our labs. Free software (including Vista and other versions of Windows, Visual Studio, Visio, Access and Project) is also available to our students via the MSDN Academic Alliance! |
Our teaching/research/support staff is great!
- The School of EECS has about 70 faculty
members who are world-class researchers and teachers recognized by
many awards at
Faculty, University, Canadian, and international levels.
- The undergraduate student/professor ratio is 9/1!
- Our professors supervise over 400 graduate students and lead
prestigious and well-funded research projects in over 35 research
groups and laboratories. Together, these projects involve myriads
of industrial collaborators and other academic participants.
- We have friendly, efficient, and bilingual administration
and system
staff, who have won numerous awards for their
excellent work at the university.
The quality of life on campus and in town is just amazing!
- Ottawa is the capital city of Canada, with approximately one million habitants. Placed at the confluence of three rivers, this cosmopolitan city has attractive view, great outdoors, beautiful museums and many other exciting attractions.
- The School of EECS and Colonel By buildings are located between new sports facilities and the famous Rideau Canal, where you can take beautiful walks in the summer and enjoy 8 km of ice skating in the winter!
- The campus is home to many great sports teams and clubs.
- Housing
close to the School of EECS is usually easy
- Students at EECS have energetic
associations
and offer many activities (such as competitions, social events and study groups),
contributing to an overall great student experience!
- According to Mercer, Ottawa is steadily in the top 15 cities in the world for quality of living, second only to vancouver in Canada, and ranked first as the least expensive Canadian city surveyed for cost of living.
- There are obviously many economic and academic reasons to live in Ottawa, but do not underestimate the quality of the tourist attractions and of the many services this wonderful city has to offer!