Space Technology

The College of Physical and Engineering Sciences was created in 1989 as a result of a number of significant department merges and divisions within the University of Guelph. The Ontario School of Agriculture (later changed to the Ontario Agriculture College and Experimental Farm in 1880. The Macdonald Institute and The Ontario Veterinary College were all created in 1874, 1903 and 1922 respectively and were subsequently merged under the University of Guelph Act of 1964 forming a single institution. Five years later these three departments were divided into three new colleges being the College of Arts, the College of Physical Sciences and the College Social Sciences, but not before the Macdonald Institute formally became the College of Family and Consumer Studies. Then, in 1971, the College of Biological Science was constituted from the College of Physical Education, OAC’s Department of Nutrition and parts of OAC’s departments of Botany, Microbiology and Zoology. Finally in 1989 OAC's school of Engineering was merged with the College of Physical Sciences to become the College of Physical and Engineering Sciences.

Engineering has been taught at the University of Guelph since 1984. The first building constructed was towards agricultural mechanics in 1905 and measured 146& ft by 64& ft. The program was developed in the early twenties through the Farm Power short courses and consultation services offered by the department. The Agricultural Engineering Department was created in 1928 with the incorporation of the Physics, Farm Mechanics and Manual Training departments. After World War I there was an increase in the mechanization of Ontario farms and an agricultural engineering option was planned to meet this development. Thus, in 1946, the first class of twelve enrolled in the new Agricultural Mechanics Option and in 1948 were awarded a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA).

With time, the University expanded its programs and in 1954 students had the option of completing an additional year in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto earning them a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) degree along with their BSA degree. Furthermore, in 1957 University of Guelph students had the option of completing Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto. In addition, 1957 was also the year the Department of Agricultural Engineering changed its name to the Department of Engineering Science.

In 1965, the Senate of the University of Guelph established The School of Agricultural Engineering further adding the B.Sc. (Eng) degree. Students in their final year had the option of choosing Agricultural Engineering, Biological Engineering or Water Resources Engineering as one of their majors. This new undergraduate program began in the fall semester of 1969 and was fully operational in 1972-73 school years, after being certified by the Canadian Accreditation Board of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers. The program later expanded in the 1980s and included optional minors in Food Engineering and Environmental Engineering. Then, in 1984, a cooperative educational program was created for individuals with outstanding rankings.

In 2008, the University of Guelph launched Canada's first full-fledged Nanoscience major, which is provided by CPES. CPES also launched a new Mechanical Engineering program in 2009. The new program allows students to specialize in wind and solar energy, mechatronics, food and beverage engineering, biomechanics and prosthetics manufacturing or to do a combination depending on their interests.

In addition, on May 31, 2010, the University of Guelph Senate approved a proposal to create the faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences which will include the CPES departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics & Statistics. Furthermore, the Department of Computing and Information Science (CIS) will be renamed the School of Computer Science, falling within the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Sciences.

Albert A. Thornbrough Building

The Albert A. Thornbrough building was opened on June 23, 1973. It was named after Albert A. Thornbrough, president of Massey-Ferguson Ltd., and Vice-Chairman of the University Board of Directors and Chairman of the University Finance Committee from 1968 to 1973. Massey-Ferguson Ltd., a major agricultural equipment manufacturer donated $750,000 toward the $2,000,000 building costs.


Adapted from the Wikipedia article College of Physical and Engineering Science (CPES), under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki