Pioneering Canadian astronaut and former Carleton chancellor Marc Garneau returned for Carleton’s homecoming celebration on Oct. 16 to discuss how his time at Carleton helped lead to his success in engineering as well as the vital role engineers play in society.
The second floor residence commons room—where the event was held—was half full with students from the Faculty of Engineering and Design, alumni, and professors.
“I owe a lot to engineering,” Garneau said. “You are in a profession that gives you lots of options and you will probably exercise some of those options as you go through your life.”
Garneau said his love for the ocean at a young age led him to become a navy officer and a combat systems engineer.
Years later, after taking a chance and applying to become one of the first Canadian astronauts, Garneau was one of six people chosen to join the Canadian Astronaut Program in 1983.
He highlighted Canada’s contributions in space, especially in terms of quality robotic arms, which was established by engineers.
“Even though we are a smaller partner, we have a lot to be proud of,” he said. “We are a world leader in space and I hope we will continue to be.”
After decades of service in distinguishing Canada’s role in space, Garneau retired and became president of the Canadian Space Agency, where he helped build the space industry.
More recently, Garneau’s has become a prominent member of the Liberal Party of Canada.
“A lot of what we legislate in the House of Commons requires a good understanding of science, technology, the importance of research, and the importance of Canada being competitive in our ability to innovate,” he said.
Garneau said he thinks Canada is currently a resource-based economy and hasn’t reached the potential it should reach in areas like innovation. He added that he hopes to see Canada become a knowledge-based economy, and his goal is to initiate federal policy to help Canada achieve that goal.
“Our biggest resource is you—our brains—and we are not fully using that to our advantage,” he said.
Garneau said the role of engineers will become crucially important for the next many years to come.
“It will be a blinding roller coaster ride,” he said.
Rafik Goubran, the dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design, said Garneau is an inspiring figure for engineering students.
“I think his life journey would be very interesting for students to see how you can manage to go from an engineer, to the navy, to an astronaut and to a politician,” he said.
Mohamed Abdelazez, a master student in biomedical engineering, said Garneau’s contributions in space interested him to attend the event, and served as an inspiring story for engineers.
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