Engineering the talent pipeline: The ever-evolving facilities of one of UCalgary’s oldest faculties

His memory of walking into the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Engineering is as vivid as if it happened only yesterday.

Yet, Chris Lenzin shakes his head as he thinks back 25 years and remembers being “a bit overwhelmed” as an undergraduate civil engineering student.

Now a partner and structural engineer at DIALOG — an architectural, engineering, interior design and planning firm — Lenzin proudly walks through the halls of his alma mater, reminiscing about the experiences he had and the lessons he learned as he worked towards graduation in 2006.

“As you get deeper into it, you get far more freedom to learn and experience and explore different things, which I think is a huge part of what’s beneficial about going through the program,” Lenzin says. “The hands-on experience, the ability to test boundaries and be freer in the way you’re learning things.”

Like the thousands of other engineering alumni, the faculty has changed, even in the relatively short time since Lenzin graduated, and he’s looking forward to seeing what’s next in the evolution of what is now the Schulich School of Engineering.

Building blocks

Lenzin’s journey to his hometown post-secondary institution began 35 years after UCalgary gained autonomy.

One of the main pillars of what was in the beginning the University of Alberta in Calgary (UAC) was its engineering faculty, which had spent the previous few years gaining its own freedoms.

When UAC’s current campus opened in 1960, engineering was housed in the Science and Engineering building (now Science A), and construction began on the current engineering complex in 1963.

Built in sections known as “blocks,” E-Block was the first to open in 1964, with the A, B, C and D blocks being completed over the next four years, while F-Block was the final addition in 1982.

As interest in engineering exploded over the years, renovations were made in several areas, culminating with the highly anticipated Canadian Natural Resources Limited Engineering Complex officially opening in 2016.

The award-winning, $174-million project breathed new life into the faculty, bringing together several blocks, and creating new space for teaching, learning and research.

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Room to explore

UCalgary’s commitment to smart growth over the years has paid dividends for Lenzin and the many other Schulich alumni as they launched their own careers.

The commitment to improving facilities and technology has facilitated a mindset of “always be curious” for students, a mindset that provides experiential opportunities that bring textbooks and lecture hall learnings to life. 

While he might have felt overwhelmed in his first few days of university, Lenzin says getting further into the program and choosing his major (civil engineering) led to getting into smaller groups and labs, where he was able to find a core group of friends and his calling.

“I loved spending time in the concrete lab and playing around with different mixes and experiments,” he says. “That is the cool part about UCalgary… they give you lots of room to explore and teaches you that being curious tends to lead to learning faster than if you’re just trying to follow along in a textbook.”

In particular, Lenzin says F-Block became almost like a second home for him, as he started many days in the homeroom area getting the day’s first coffee and ending it there at night in the labs working on new experiments and ideas.

An investment in the future

As it approaches 45 years since completion, F-Block is now the oldest part of Schulich’s series of buildings that hasn’t undergone a major upgrade in recent years.

Over the past several years, the university has developed a complete renovation plan that would address deferred maintenance, obsolete configuration and underutilized space.

The redevelopment would cost $53.9 million (2025 estimate) and would include updated technology while making the block more accessible.

It would also help create teaching space for the additional undergraduate and graduate students being welcomed as part of the Alberta government’s major investment announced in September, adding new seats over the next several years with the Targeted Enrolment Expansion (TEE) initiative.

“With new major provincial and national projects on the horizon — particularly in energy and transportation infrastructure — we have an opportunity to address a potential shortfall of engineers in Alberta,” says Schulich Dean Anders Nygren. “This project is shovel-ready and will help address surging demand and increase innovation and commercialization opportunities.”

Lenzin is among many who have signed letters of support for the F-Block modernization and, as someone who spent his formative engineering years in it, believes it will be a win-win for everyone involved, including industry who are continually raising the bar on what they want to see from graduates and researchers.

“Everything continues to increase in complexity in the world of design, as you look for new ways to improve building performance while using less material,” he says. 

“Helping to create more teaching and research spaces that can explore these complexities will allow UCalgary to continue attracting the best and brightest researchers and students — and set them up for long-term success in the community.”