The Faculty of Engineering of McMaster University was established in 1958 and was modeled after some of the leading institutions in the world. The high quality of its innovative and comprehensive programs and the faculty’s strengths in education and research, has made it one of the foremost engineering schools in North America. In 1956, McMaster named its first Director of Engineering Studies – Dr. John W. Hodgins, a Chemical Engineering professor from the Royal Military College to develop a full engineering program for the university. The program was approved by the McMaster University Senate on February 1958. The engineering building, now (John Hodgins Engineering Building) officially opened a few months later. The first class of 25 students graduated in 1961. Five departments established in the first two years – Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering and later, Engineering Physics. The first engineering degrees from McMaster were (Master of Engineering) M.Eng. degrees, with the first ones awarded in 1959 and first doctoral degrees Ph.D. were awarded in 1965.