Congratulations to Professors Grant Allen (ChemE), Robert Andrews (CivE), Mark Fox (MIE), Doug Hooton (CivE) and Shaker Meguid (MIE), and Professor and Dean Emeritus Gordon Slemon (ECE), who have been honoured by the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) for their achievements in engineering. Robert Andrews received the Julian C. Smith Medal “for achievement in the development of Canada.” Mark Fox garnered the Canadian Pacific Railway Engineering Medal “for years of leadership and service to the Institute.” Gordon Slemon was awarded the Sir John Kennedy Medal, EIC’s highest honour. Grant Allen, Doug Hooton and Shaker Meguid have been named EIC Fellows for their exceptional contributions to engineering in Canada.
Currently serving as Vice-Dean, Undergraduate, Grant Allen is a former Director of the University of Toronto’s Pulp and Paper Centre, where he continues to lead the Environment Group. His research focuses on the performance and design of biological treatment systems for toxicity reduction in pulp and paper production. Professor Allen has played a prominent role in the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, serving as its President in 2008-2009 and as Co-Chair of the 55th annual Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference. He is a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Robert Andrews holds the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Drinking Water Research and founded the Drinking Water Research Group at the University of Toronto. He is internationally recognized as an expert in drinking-water treatment and is a member of numerous 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. Professor Andrews is a past co-recipient of the NSERC Synergy Award and has received multiple awards from the Ontario Water Works Association.
Mark Fox has undertaken groundbreaking work in both the theory and application of artificial intelligence in industrial systems. In 1981 he developed the concept of Constraint-Directed Scheduling, which is still used in all scheduling systems sold today. In 1994 he co-founded Novator Systems Ltd., one of the first companies to provide software and services for the then brand-new field of online retailing. Professor Fox co-designed a new Industrial Engineering Curriculum for MIE and was the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Enterprise Integration from 1991-2001. He is a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and EIC.
Well known in Canada and internationally as an expert on cementitious materials and concrete, Doug Hooton holds the NSERC/CAC Senior Industrial Research Chair in Concrete Durability and Sustainability. He has been active in more than 40 standards, technical, and code committees around the world, and has held a number of leadership positions on these committees. Professor Hooton has championed the development of several new test methods in both Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and American Standards for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards related to concrete durability. He is a Fellow of ASTM and the American Concrete Institute and has received the Award of Merit from ASTM and CSA.
Shaker Meguid’s numerous accomplishments include founding the aerospace engineering division at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the Engineering Mechanics and Design Laboratory at U of T. His research over the past 30 years has contributed significantly to nano-micro-meso mechanics, electro-thermo-mechanically coupled problems, and fracture mechanics of nanoreinforced interfaces. Professor Meguid is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Mechanics and Materials in Design, and has authored more than 430 papers and two books. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers of Great Britain.
Gordon Slemon served as Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1966 to 1976, and as Dean from 1979 to 1986. An internationally recognized authority on the analysis, design and development of electric machines and controlled drive systems, he authored more than 175 technical reports and publications, and served as an engineering consultant to approximately 70 organizations. He was also involved in setting up graduate programs in engineering in Cuba, China, India and Saudi Arabia. Professor Slemon played a major role in the establishment of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and was its President in 1998. In 1995 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
“We are grateful and proud that the Engineering Institute of Canada has honoured six of our faculty members for their exceptional contributions to engineering,” said Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “I congratulate them for this outstanding recognition and for their many achievements.”
The honourees will be recognized at the EIC awards banquet on March 5, 2011, at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa.
MIE Chair Jean Zu is the President-Elect of EIC and will assume the role of President in 2012.