In 1855, a professor at what was then called King's College used the telegraph to exchange signals with an observatory in Boston. By doing so, Dr. William Brydone Jack determined the exact longitude of Fredericton and proved that what would become the University of New Brunswick was already looking toward a technology-driven future.
While what is now UNB's department of electrical and computer engineering has grown into a leader in biomedical research and smart-grid technology as it marks its 100th anniversary in 2026, its history of instruction dates back further.
UNB began offering electrical engineering in 1893, two years after McGill University became the first in Canada to do so.
By 1925, interest had grown so much that the Senate approved the creation of a separate department of electrical engineering, with students first enrolled in 1926. The following year, UNB established its first chair of electrical engineering, appointing A. Foster Baird.
