Nicholas Rahmon, Biz/Tech Reporter
Humber broke into the top 10 on a list of Canada’s 50 research colleges in 2019, leaping over a dozen other schools from last year to crack the eighth spot.
Out of 50 colleges in Canada, Humber ranked eight in research income with $7.56 million in 2018. Humber has the most research partnerships at 506, far ahead of the next college on the list, Algonquin with 362.
The college ranked first in the number of researchers with 357, an impressive 175 more than second-place Centennial College. With the high number of researchers, Humber ranked second-last in money spent per researcher at $21,200 each.
The survey was conducted by Research Infosource Inc. The research and data consulting firm takes an in-depth look into 50 Canadian colleges and evaluates factors including funding, partnerships and the technology students and faculty have access to.
“We ask colleges for various sources of research income and research output, for example, the contracts they have,” said Ron Freedman, CEO of Research Infosource Inc.
According to the survey, it takes into account specific factors such as research income, the number of researchers within the institution, the ratio of the income per researcher which calculates the productivity of colleges, and the prominent location where research is conducted.
According to Freedman, Humber’s ranking on the list could be credited to the building of the Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation and its strengths towards the development in technology and the funding it receives for projects.
Paul Abbugo, a Plumbing student, said the Barrett CTI has helped him in the learning process. He said Humber deserves to be in the top 10.
“It’s only my first semester, but just living near Humber and hearing about the Barrett Centre being open made me want to come here, plus my daughter too,” he said. “I believe the technology is great.”
Abbugo thinks investing in technology could raise Humber’s ranking as a top research college.
Darian Dihal, a first-year Marketing student, said Humber’s reputation has grown from their achievements.
“For instance, they built (the Barrett CTI). Even the design, it’s appealing and inspires people to work harder,” he said.
Minus Kang, a second-year Baking student, doesn’t believe a survey is a good way to evaluate Humber.
“The survey is not a good way to look at it because everyone has their own opinion,” he said.
The top 50 research colleges list has been conducted annually since 2013.
