Electrical engineering: Health of the discipline

This report was prepared by the NSERC Communications, Computer and Components Engineering and Electromagnetics and Electrical Systems Engineering Grant Selection Committees as part of their mandate to inform the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of the “health of the discipline.” The report highlights the major contribution which the electrical engineering discipline makes to research and development activities in Canada. The character of research in the discipline is fundamentally changing due to the rapid developments in software and microelectronics. Increasingly, research methodology is influenced by advances in other disciplines. This has resulted in an increasing emphasis on supporting research through cooperative multi-disciplinary initiatives whose objectives are driven by the potential for application of the resulting technology.