FA C U LT Y S P O T L I G H T ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
CIADI: THE NEXT G E N E R AT I O N THE CONCORDIA INSTITUTE OF AEROSPACE DESIGN AND INNOVATION REINVENTS ITSELF B Y
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s one of the few places on the planet where an aircraft can be built from start to finish, Montreal represents the ideal locus for advanced aerospace research and teaching. The city is home to every manufacturing component— including aerostructures, engines, landing gear, avionics and systems—necessary to put an airplane together. What’s more, the aerospace industry employs about 41,000 people locally. Concordia’s Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science has long recognized the importance of its existence within Montreal and has come to provide a strong educational and research presence in the aerospace industry. In order to support this important relationship between the industrial and university sectors, the faculty established the Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation (CIADI) in 2001. CIADI’s original focus was to recruit students with a keen interest in aerospace and place them in industrial internships, where they would work on real-world research projects. Over the past decade, this program has helped many of its students go on to promising careers. As CIADI celebrates its tenth anniversary, the faculty is aiming to turn Concordia into Canada’s preeminent provider of aerospace education and research. To achieve this goal, CIADI is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. Under the leadership of
20 | winter 2011/12 concordia university magazine
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its new director, Robert Fews, supported by associate director Nadia Bhuiyan and CIADI administrator Jayne Claassen, and with the full backing of the faculty, CIADI is expanding to become what will truly be a full-fledged aerospace institute. The next three years are set to be CIADI’s busiest ever, with plans to offer a Bachelor of Aerospace, an Executive Master of Aerospace (targeted mainly to new recruits within industry who would spend three weeks on the job for every one week in class during the two-year program), and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering. Key cross-institutional partnerships are also being established and dual degrees could eventually be offered jointly through Concordia, in partnership with prominent international aerospace universities in Europe, India and Australia. Throughout its rebirth, CIADI will continue to operate as it always has, working to promote awareness and provide leading-edge know-how to students in aerospace design and innovation. To enhance and complement the education of undergraduate students, CIADI will continue to conduct collaborative, industry-driven design and research internships. With the crop of 2011 students already selected and internships underway, the future is certainly bright for CIADI—and for the aerospace industry itself.