In an increasingly complex world, engineering is a crucial component in solving our greatest global challenges. The engineering mandate is not only technological excellence, but problem-solving at the highest level; bringing analysis, evaluation, and innovation to bear in ways that elevate entire communities. 

Engineering for Humanity is the gateway to forging connections that allow engineers to understand and address issues from a global perspective. As the Stephen J.R. Smith Faculty of Engineering reimagines engineering education, this approach ensures Queen’s University is equipping tomorrow's engineers to embrace complexity, innovate, and tackle challenges for the benefit of all.
 

Meet the Chair for Engineering for Humanity

Dr. Myra Hird is the inaugural Chair for Engineering for Humanity at Smith Engineering. Her role is to provide vision, guidance, and connections both inside and outside the engineering sphere. Her work will help researchers, educators, and students integrate a broad vision of engineering as something that benefits all of humankind.

Dr. Hird views her role, in essence, as "connecting with Canadians and different groups to show how engineering can make their lives better."

"We live in times where people are feeling very uncertain about what their future is; what their children's futures will look like, whether they are in small communities or big cities," she says. "Engineering has a huge leadership role to play in determining that future." 

Dr. Hird holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford, an MSW from McGill University, a BSW from the University of Windsor, and a BA from Western University. Her work with engineering research, focusing on integrating social contexts into civil and chemical engineering, spans nearly 20 years. She is the recipient of the Prize for Excellence in Research at Queen’s, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Prior to this appointment at Smith Engineering, she was a Professor in the School of Environmental Studies at Queen’s.
 

Engineering for Humanity enhances and complements traditional skills

"The notion of 'Engineering for Humanity' surrounds and embraces the principles of Reimagining Engineering Education," says Kevin Mumford, Associate Dean, Interdisciplinary Programs and a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. "To solve complex problems in a modern world, our graduates need a set of competencies that enhances and complements their traditional skills. They need an ability to understand and to listen to others, including other disciplines, which will allow them to ask the right questions to find the right answers."

"The idea of Engineering for Humanity is that blend of the deep technical expertise at the core of an engineer’s training, within a human context," says Dean Kevin Deluzio. "It's about understanding the consequences of our actions and speaking to the values that we have. It's not just answering 'what is the best equation and model for this solution?' but ‘should we be doing this work at all: who is involved, and what are the social implications?’"
 

What's next for this important position at Smith Engineering?

"I'm going to be working, among other things, on curriculum development," says Dr. Hird. "The emphasis I'll be able to bring to that is interdisciplinarity — how do we bring other ideas and perspectives to bear on what we are approaching as an engineering problem?"

Connecting beyond the university is also vital: while Smith Engineering is a leading champion of the idea of re-examining what engineering education is and can do, it is not alone in this mission. 

"Other institutions call it other things, but we're not alone in Canada or in the world in looking at this," says Dr. Hird. "I've connected with other institutions and will continue to reach out with the goal of finding other existing best practices with a view on what we can adapt to Queen's and Smith Engineering and ensuring that we remain a leader in this area." 

The Chair is funded under the broader Reimagining Engineering Education initiative, which has been made possible by a generous gift by Stephen Smith, BSc’72, LLD’17, for whom the faculty is named.