Urban Systems: Industry Insights Panel
On Friday November 30th key members of the Urban Planning, Engineering and management community met with UBC Directors to discuss the Master of Engineering Leadership (MEL) in Urban Systems degree.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the opportunities provided by the program for professionals within the industry, course enhancements. As well as feedback on marketing, recruitment and course structure.
Included in the attendance list were members including Carrie Baron and Jason Owen from the City of Surrey, Peter Russell from the City of Richmond, and Paul Kadota from Metro Vancouver. They were also joined by industry leaders from the private sector including; Mike Homenuke from Kerr Wood Leidal and John Steil from Stantec.
Having clear and open communication with industry allows the MEL degree and the courses offered to evolve to meet the needs of the community.
What became evident from the discussions was the value attendees saw in the Urban Systems program. Many of the members of the meeting recognized the degree as a unique combination of planning and engineering. This was highlighted as a significant benefit due to the overlapping nature of these roles, especially within the greater mainland’s municipalities.
Attendees remarked how valuable the graduates of the program were in being able to understand the traditional structures and increase collaboration with cross-functional teams.
It was also highlighted that the Urban Systems model would help organizations move towards the sustainable service delivery goals they were striving to achieve.
Attendees also spoke about the full-time structure of the program, the project based course-work and the involvement of industry in the program. Lastly, it was mentioned that a number of the attendees were investigating the possibility of employing the 2018 graduates.
The meeting was met with great enthusiasm and the continued involvement from dedicated professionals will lead and foster further innovation.
For more information on the UBC Master of Engineering Leadership in Urban Systems learn more from our program pages.