[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/MacEng50Logo.jpg” caption=”The Faculty of Engineering will kick off its 50th anniversary with a cake-cutting ceremony on Friday, Jan. 11.”]The McMaster community is invited to join the Faculty of Engineering on Friday, Jan. 11 as it kicks off a year-long 50th anniversary celebration.

A giant anniversary cake-cutting ceremony is being organized in the McMaster University Student Centre Marketplace from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Events will get underway with musical entertainment followed by remarks, the official cake cutting and serving of the 500-piece cake.

Event host Peter Smith, acting dean of Engineering, will be joined by a variety of special guests, including past deans of Engineering, senior University officials and professor emeriti.

The Faculty of Engineering was officially established in February 1958. It has grown from four departments and a small but enthusiastic group of faculty members and students to seven departments, 145 faculty members, 123 staff, more than 3,700 undergraduate and graduate students, and over 12,500 alumni. It is the ninth largest faculty by enrolment of the 46 universities offering engineering programs in Canada.

Other 50th anniversary activities being planned during the year include a variety of special celebration events, 50th anniversary banners hung from the John Hodgins Engineering Building and a diamond Fireball anniversary keepsake pin.

Thoughts on what the Faculty of Engineering's most notable achievements and contributions have been over the past 50 years are also being welcomed by e-mailing eng50@mcmaster.ca or joining a discussion on Facebook called “McMaster Engineering Celebrates its 50th.”