John Dickinson

Assistant Professor

Ph.D. – Mechanical Engineering, University of Western Ontario (UWO), 1999
M. Mathematics – Computer Science, Scientific Computation, University of Waterloo, 1993
B. Sc. (Honours) – Mathematics & Engineering, Applied Mechanics, Queen’s University, 1991


John Dickinson is the coordinator and an instructor of ES1050, Foundations of Engineering Practice, a core course covering the engineering design process, innovation, teamwork, and other foundational skills necessary for engineers to thrive in their careers. His philosophy and teaching style is based on his industry experiences working with mixed teams of professionals as a consultant in the construction sector to establish integrated practices for architects, engineers, contractors and owner/operators. Before that he worked work for 13 years as a research engineer for the National Research Council with an emphasis on knowledge-based product design processes and life-cycles.

Expertise

  • Building Information Modelling (BIM standards and processes)
    • Canadian representative ISO committee TC59/SC13 Organization of information about construction works
    • Canadian delegate buildingSMART International
    • Co-author and co-editor 4 Volume Canadian Practice Manual for BIM, and others
  • CAD / CAE
  • Application of numerical methods, optimisation, and simulation-based analytics to design
  • Design, analysis and manufacturing process with an emphasis on knowledge capture and decisions making

Developing

  • Pedagogy of engineering design, project-based learning and team skills