ENGINEERING SCHOOL

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 41, 17 February 1920, Page 5

ENGINEERING SCHOOL

DEVELOPMENT NEEDED. THE SENATE'S STONEWAL-L. DEPUTATION TO COUNCIL. A new protest against the University Senate's non-recognition of the engineer- j ing classes at the Auckland University j College in regard to the engineering de- i gree was made at the College Council*! meeting yesterday afternoon by Messrs. S. I. Crookes and A. J. Walker, who waited on the Coouncil as a deputation from the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Institute of Civil Engineers. j Mr. Walker said that the branch, which comprised about fifty engineers j j residing in the Auckland province, had j i appointed them a? a deputation to i the Council to obtain fuller recognition for the work done by the students at jthe School of Engineering in the con-j |ferring o*f degrees. He had studied' at I i the Auckland school, and found the work done there ample to qualify him for passing the examination for membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Cireat Britain, and yet, in order to obtain the degree of Bachelor of Engineering of New Zealand, students had to | attend Canterbury College for four j years. The cost was quite beyond the | means of many students. The Auckland j branch of the Institute believed that if i the College created a Chair of Engineer- | ing it would raise the standard of the j certificates now issued in connection with the school. Mr. Crookes hore out Mr. Walker's remarks about the high standard of the jivork done at the school. He had not jonly advised the parents to send their j sons to the Auckland School of Engineering, rather than to Canterbury, but had also followed that course in the case of his own son, "with entirely satisfactory results. The time would surely come, he said, when the whole engineering j course would be takeji at Auckland. ! Ultimately the four college*, following jthe example of Manchester, Leeds. Shef- ] field and Liverpool, would discard the federal system, and become independent universities. TESTING PLANT REQUIRED. The deputation also strongly advojeated the establishment at the school of lan up-to-date laboratory for the testing of materials used in engineering work. in private practice had to send materials to Canterbury College fnr testing, and this entailed delay. If a laboratory were established under a professor of engi- I neering it was certain that public and ! private engineers would make full use of it. Apart from this, the present engineering equipment needed considerable additions. The chairman (Mr. T. W. Leys) said that the Senate would not recognise the School of Engineering, and refused to j confer the power to grant degrees. He I agreed with what had been said about j the probable future development of the ! New Zealand University. The Auckland j University College must ultimately extend it* work to include full courses in dentistry and engineering. The people of Auckland would not put up much I longer with the denial of complete engi- i neering instruction at the College. The [ Council was fully awake to the nee Is of the case, 'but all its efforts in the i Senate had been unavailing. The Council agreed to consider the mattars brought forward by the depu- | tation.