Professor Craig Simmons (MIE, BME) has received the 2026 Engineers Canada Medal for Distinction in Engineering Education. This national award recognizes exemplary contributions to the education and development of engineering students and to engineering education in Canada.
Both in the classroom and in his academic leadership roles, Simmons prioritizes experiential learning and provides enhanced opportunities for students to gain the skills they need to achieve their goals. Since joining U of T Engineering 21 years ago, he has been at the forefront in introducing cutting-edge technologies into the classroom, and providing students with hands-on experience in solving open-ended, real-world problems. He is also co-author of a leading textbook on biomechanics — Introductory Biomechanics: From Cells to Organisms — which has been adopted by undergraduate engineering programs worldwide.
Simmons has served as director of U of T’s Translational Biology & Engineering Program for the past 11 years and is also co-director of the NSERC CREATE CaRDM Eq biomedical engineering training program. In these roles, Simmons developed an innovative curriculum in equitable design, established summer programs for undergraduate students to engage in interdisciplinary research and professional skills development, promoted experiential learning through internships, clinical observerships, and entrepreneurship training, and drove initiatives to create healthy research communities for undergraduate and graduate students across various faculties.
As chair of the Biomedical Major in U of T’s Division of Engineering Science, Simmons led a comprehensive critical review of the program, resulting in a reimagined major and a forward-looking curriculum in biomedical systems engineering. The revised program, implemented in 2012, prepares graduates to capitalize on opportunities in systems biology and related emerging fields at the intersection of engineering and biology. It is comparable to benchmark schools like MIT and Johns Hopkins, and remains the gold standard nationally.
Simmons’ outstanding contributions as an educator have been recognized throughout his career. In 2009, he garnered the Early Career Teaching Award from both U of T Engineering and MIE. He went on to receive the MIE Teaching Award in 2015 and the Faculty Teaching Award in 2017. That same year he won the U of T Northrop Frye Award, for distinguished achievements in connecting teaching and research.
“As an educator and academic leader, Craig Simmons has shaped biomedical engineering education at U of T and nationally over the past two decades,” says U of T Engineering Dean Christopher Yip.
“My heartfelt congratulations on this prestigious and well-deserved recognition.”
