In 1928, a new engineering laboratory, the Machinery Building, was constructed. MacDonnell, returned the course to its original length of four years.įor much of the 1920s and 1930s, RMC cadets who graduated with good marks would be allowed into the fourth and final year of an engineering programme at various degree-granting civilian universities. In 1919 the Commandant, Major General Sir A.C. After the Armistice in 1918 a three year programme was implemented. World War Iĭuring WW I the College programme was shortened to as little as one year in order allow cadets to join the fighting in Europe. As the first decades of the Twentieth Century progressed, more Mechanical Engineering subjects, including thermodynamics and strength of materials, appeared as core elements in the programme. The program included mathematics, engineering drawing and mechanics, as well as other engineering-oriented topics that formed part of the Chemistry and Physics curriculum. There were very few billets available for new officers in the Army, so it was intended that most College graduates would join civilian industry and thereby contribute directly to the growth of the burgeoning Canadian economy. Consequently, it was a land-oriented institution, and the military and academic programmes reflected the Army needs of the time. However, at that time, there was no Canadian Navy and powered flight was still a dream for the future. The new military college was aimed at providing a rigorous four year programme attuned to the rapid technological evolution that was under way. Nicholas Otto produced the first 4 stroke internal combustion engine the year RMC opened, and Canada itself was just nine years old. Only recently had kerosene replaced whale oil as the primary fuel for lamps and the lubricant for industry. During the preceding 20 years, breech-loading guns, brass cartridges, Gatling guns and iron hulled warships had first appeared. When RMC opened its doors to its first students (referred to as the Old Eighteen), military technology, engineering practice, and the education of engineers were undergoing major changes and evolving rapidly. The first Engineering degrees in Canada were awarded by McGill University two years after the college opened in 1876. Even the broader category of Civil Engineering was only beginning to be offered under its own name. Thus, topics that we would now consider to be within the practice of Mechanical Engineering were originally part of Civil Engineering.Ī small number of US universities were beginning to offer degree programmes specifically in Mechanical Engineering at that time, but they were the exception. The distinction was primarily based on the operational environment rather than the technology itself. When the College opened, Engineering was divided into only two subsets: Military Engineering and Civil Engineering. The Engineering Context When RMC Opened in 1876
The following material is based on draft sections of a book on the history of Mechanical Engineering at RMC, currently being written under the sponsorship of the Cordite Foundation.
Mechanical Engineering after World War II.The Engineering Context when RMC opened in 1876.
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