Four U of T Engineering professors and three alumni have been recognized by the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) for their distinguished engineering achievements. Professor Heather MacLean (CivMin) received the Julian C. Smith Medal “for achievement in the development of Canada,” while Professors Robert Andrews (CivMin), Andrew Jardine (MIE), and Jeffrey Packer (CivMin), along with alumni Alagan Anpalagan (ElecE BASc 9T5, MASc 9T7, PhD 0T1), Bill Gentles (EngSci BASc 6T7, BME MASc 6T9, PhD 7T4), and Halim Yanikomeroglu (ECE MASc 9T2, PhD 9T8), have been named EIC fellows.
“I am grateful and proud that the Engineering Institute of Canada has recognized these outstanding alumni and faculty for their exemplary contributions to engineering,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “These prestigious honours highlight the impact of their accomplishments as engineering innovators, researchers, educators and leaders.”
Heather MacLean is a leader in the development and application of life cycle-based approaches for the techno-economic and environmental evaluation of conventional and alternative energy and transportation systems. She has worked closely with the automotive, oil, electricity, biofuel and construction industries, as well as governments in Canada and internationally. Her research has informed the development of energy and environmental policy throughout North America, as well as industrial practice for leading companies such as General Motors and Exxon Mobil. MacLean is also a leader in sustainability education, having developed first-of-their-kind graduate and undergraduate courses in life cycle assessment and sustainable energy systems at U of T. MacLean is a fellow of the EIC and the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and a recipient of the CSCE Albert E. Berry Medal.
Robert Andrews holds an NSERC Senior Industrial Research Chair in Drinking Water Research and founded the Drinking Water Research Group at U of T in 1998. Recognized as an expert in drinking water treatment, he is a member of decision-making committees and advisory councils in Canada and the United States. His involvement of municipalities as research partners has allowed him to solve real-world problems and have a direct impact on the safety of Canada’s drinking water supply. Andrews is a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) and the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and has received the CSCE Albert E. Berry Medal and the EIC’s Julian C. Smith Medal. He is a recipient of the George Warren Fuller and Norman Howard Awards from the Ontario Water Works Association, as well as the Alan Blizzard Award for contributions in collaborative teaching.
Andrew Jardine is an expert in engineering asset management whose research and teaching have impacted reliability engineering and industry best practices globally. As Chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering from 1986-1995, he spearheaded its development into a world leader in academic/industrial collaborations through his creation of the Chair’s Advisory Board. Jardine is founding director of the Centre for Maintenance Optimization and Reliability Engineering (C-MORE), where, with support from a worldwide network of companies, his group developed and commercialized software packages. In his efforts to make academic research accessible to industry practitioners, Jardine has regularly offered training in physical asset management. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.
Jeffrey Packer is a leading scholar in the field of tubular steel structures; he has published books on this topic spanning five languages. Packer currently serves on technical committees for the American Institute of Steel Construction, American Welding Society, Canadian Standards Association, International Institute of Welding, Steel Tube Institute, and the International Committee for the Development and Study of Tubular Construction. His research on cast steel connections led to the co-founding of the spin-off company Cast Connex Corporation®. Packer is a Fellow of CSCE, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Institution of Civil Engineers UK, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Canadian Academy of Engineering. Other awards include the CSCE Gzowski Medal and the ASCE Shortridge Hardesty Award.
Alagan Anpalagan is a professor in Ryerson University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He directs a research group working on radio resource management and radio access & networking, specifically energy harvesting technologies, cognitive radio resource management, wireless cross layer design and optimization, small cell networks, and green communication technologies. Anpalagan has served as IEEE Canada Central Area Chair, IEEE Toronto Section Chair, IEEE Canada Professional Activities Committee Chair, and editor for IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials and IEEE Communications Letters. He is a fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and a recipient of the IEEE Canada M. B. Broughton Central Canada Merit Medal and the IEEE Canada Outstanding Engineering Educator Medal.
Bill Gentles is vice-president of BT Medical Technology Consulting. Previously, he served as Director of Biomedical Engineering at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre from 1972-2001. He is the current president of the Clinical Engineering Society of Ontario and a past president of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society (CMBES). Gentles is also a member of the American College of Clinical Engineering International Committee and chair of the International Outreach Committee for CMBES. He has travelled to many developing countries to teach clinical engineering topics on a volunteer basis, delivering lectures and seminars in Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Kosovo, Ghana and Mongolia.
Halim Yanikomeroglu is a professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University. His research covers many aspects of wireless technologies, with a special emphasis on cellular networks. It has been funded by Huawei, Telus, Allen Vanguard, Blackberry, Samsung, Communications Research Centre of Canada, and DragonWave, and has resulted in about 25 patents. Yanikomeroglu has been a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Communications Society and the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society. He has been involved in the organization of the IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference from its inception, and has twice served as General Co-Chair of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference. Yanikomeroglu is a Fellow of the IEEE and recipient of the IEEE Ottawa Section Outstanding Educator Award.
