In 2013, Sheridan College became a member of the CDIO Initiative – a worldwide movement to restore the balance between teaching ‘practice’ skills and the fundamentals of math and science to engineering students. What started as a partnership between MIT and a few Swedish universities in 2001 has gained significant international momentum with 103 institutions adopting the model. Sheridan is the fifth Canadian institution and the first college to be accepted.
The new Bachelor of Engineering degrees (Mechanical and Electrical) have been developed and designed based on the CDIO framework (conceive, design, implement, operate) with innovation, design thinking, interdisciplinary learning, applied research and creative activities in mind. Sheridan and the CDIO methodology embed both theoretical and applied learning into the learning experience. This creates opportunities for multidisciplinary collaboration with projects that connect students to industry and the community, starting in the first year ‘Exploring Engineering’ course to the final Capstone Project course. The school of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Technology is proud to have its first physical space for CDIO for degree students to pursue integrated block projects with the CDIO principles.