Visiting the campus on 3 April 2012, Dr. Pierre G. Lafleur, Chief
Academic and International Officer, and Ms. Line Dubé, Director,
International Relations Office, indicated keen interest in engaging AIT
in “win-win” opportunities for both institutes.
Meeting with Dr. Nitin Afzulpurkar, Dean, School of Engineering and
Technology (SET); Mr. Olivier Drean, Interim Head-ERCO; and Dr. Mousa M. Mohamad Nazhad, Pulp and Paper field of
study, SET, the visitors learned about AIT’s academic programs, its
research profile, and suggested specific ways to instigate partnership,
by starting small.
Dr. Lafleur elaborated on all aspects of École Polythechnique de Montréal, a
science, technology and engineering-focused institution ranked number
one for the number of Canada Research Chairs in Engineering. Ms. Dubé
outlined details of its research internships for international visiting
students.
“Student research internships for AIT undergraduate and graduate
students at Polythechnique Montréal would be a very attractive way to
begin our partnership,” suggested Dean Nitin, explaining that the only
inhibiting factor for the AIT students was the availability of funding.
Comparing each school’s programs and research strengths, and then
connecting particular researchers and professors was considered a
suitable starting place for initiating joint work.
Polythechnique Montréal’s sector hubs for learning and research
include aerospace and transportation; multimedia, IT and
communications; and life sciences and engineering. Its thematic hubs
include advanced materials and nanotechnologies; systems sciences and
engineering; and energy, environment and sustainable development.
Dr. Nitin explained that the School of Engineering and technology was
particularly strong in Water Engineering and Structural Engineering,
and SET would be open to partnership with Polythechnique Montréal in
these fields of study. Learning about the Canadian university’s
strength in multimedia, IT and communications, he added the SET also
had similar research and education strengths.
Mr. Olivier Drean suggested there could be good scope for
collaboration within Polythechnique Montréal’s thematic hub of energy,
environment and sustainable development, as these were also areas of
focus at AIT, which cut across many of its fields of study.
While primarily a French-language university, École Polythechnique de
Montréal also conducts its numerous courses and programs in English at
the Master and PhD levels, Dr. Lafleur explained.
Twenty-two percent of its more 7000 engineering students are from
outside Canada, and hail from 123 countries. Together with the
University of Montréal and HEC Montréal, École Polythechnique de
Montréal forms what is the world’s largest single French-language
university complex, Dr. Lafleur said.
