Attracting and empowering the finest faculty, staff and students depends on our ability to provide an environment that fosters creativity and inspires 21st-century learning and innovation at the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.

The Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a much-needed response to the sweeping changes taking place in engineering. Through new commitments, we can help build this iconic new building.

Located next to Simcoe Hall and facing onto St. George Street, the Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship is destined to become a landmark at U of T. Dynamic, flexible environments will break down artificial barriers between people, foster collaboration, encourage active learning and accelerate innovation.

Many innovative areas are planned for learning, group work and research in the new building. Each of these components will help set a new standard for engineering education in Canada and position the Faculty among the elite in North America.

These areas include:

An auditorium: A 500-seat auditorium on the ground floor of the Centre will be a marquee facility, completely unique in the world for its design focused on audience engagement.

Learning areas: These proposed areas go beyond the traditional lecture hall or classroom to allow for dynamic group work in addition to formal teacher-student presentation.

Design workshops and light fabrication facility: These are the spaces where ideas take concrete shape. Tables for planning and execution of group projects surround a light fabrication facility that allows students to move easily from light machinery back to their work tables.

The Entrepreneurship Hatchery: This incubator space will be specifically dedicated to undergraduates working on co-curricular design projects with commercialization potential. This space will be an excellent venue for mentorship opportunities with business owners, venture capitalists and other professionals who can help students navigate the process of taking their great ideas from concept and into the marketplace.

Research tenants: The Centre will house a number of the Faculty’s most cutting-edge research centres and institutes, helping promote a culture of discovery and entrepreneurship throughout the building:

Centre for Global Engineering, Centre for Sustainable Energy, Centre for Water Innovation,The Entrepreneurship Hatchery, Institute for Robotics and Mechatronics, and Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering.

The Toronto firm of Montgomery Sisam Architects (MSA), in joint venture with the British firm of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, has been selected to be the architect for the preliminary design of the new building. The team was selected due to its outstanding experience in creating dynamic teaching and research buildings which are energy efficient and sensitive to surrounding heritage structures.