FEBRUARY 2005 ISSUE
projects & research
Portugal Project Earns Award
The two-and-a-half-year-old Alta de Lisboa Project in Portugal is the largest
of its kind in Europe. Now, the undergraduates designing the urban renewal project
in Lisbon have earned the University of Calgary Civil Engineering Department
a major award.
The project of 63 civil engineering students recently received the U of C President's
Internationalization Achievement Award — Academic Program. It's the first
time the Faculty of Engineering has received a PIAA.
“The department has been committed to internationalization projects for
a long time,” said Dr. Tom Brown, P.Eng., department head. “While
the academic program award acknowledges the Alta de Lisboa project, I feel it
is really recognition of our long-term commitment to internationalization activities.”
The faculty said in a news release that this is the first time anywhere in the
world that students have designed, before graduating, a real and international
project with as many challenges and successes.
“This project is a prime example of bringing innovation to design engineering
education, and it has increased the profile of the University of Calgary Faculty
of Engineering,” said Dr. Janaka Ruwanpura, project course coordinator
and Associate Chair in Design Engineering. This will lead to future initiatives
for our department and faculty for international activities.”
He added that “all credit goes to the civil engineering students who graduated
in 2003 for their excellent efforts in bringing this recognition to the department.”
The PIAA for an academic program acknowledges the impact that Civil Engineering's
Alta de Lisboa Project makes on the internationalization of the institution,
the faculty, the department, students, scholars and research.
The Department of Civil Engineering is currently developing relationships with
two universities in Portugal for future collaborations and to continue working
on a sub-component of the Alta de Lisboa Project.