Audio Transcript: Dr. Jagmohan Humar’s Story (The ENVE Program)

Dr. Jagmohan Humar: The Senate had a hearing and I was the Chair [of the Department] at that time, so I presented the Department, along with Deniz Karman, I think. Deniz Karman was one of the senior professors at the time [and] he joined me on that.

So we presented a case that [this isn’t just an up and down position, something that just goes and comes back] Civil Engineering is a root science, a root science beginning engineering. It will never go away. You don’t ever think of cutting that Department because this is the basics. Civil Engineering will never go away, there will be new things coming up but also at the same time, I started an initiative to include Environmental Engineering. And, at that time, with the help of [Dr.] Patrick Selvadurai, who drafted the whole program outline for Environmental Engineering.

Few universities at that time were offering Environmental Engineering as a separate entity- one or two, and that also, not very strong. And our case was very strong, so the Environmental Engineering program, it went through accreditation and Ontario Council of Graduate Studies immediately approved it very soon, I think. So that was the beginning of Environmental Engineering program.

Along with our presentation that Civil Engineering is basically a root science which will always be there, and the fact that we have established Environmental Engineering program along with five professors in the start, approved and the program started- and accredited very soon after that. So, that was a big milestone, and I’m so happy to see that that has [been] nurtured and grown and become a strong part of the department now- unquestionably- and the leading department in Environmental Engineering in the whole of Canada. So, that was a big achievement during my period as Chair of the Department.

We thought we were going through a crisis but we came out [with] flying colours. Not only the department was reinforced, but also we have this beautiful new program, Environmental Engineering. So, that was a big thing that happened during my tenure with the help of my colleagues.