By Carolyn Farrell
Professors Frank Kschischang (ECE) and Andreas Mandelis (MIE) are among only eight recipients nationwide of Killam Research Fellowships, one of Canada’s most prestigious research awards. Administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Fellowships provide support to scholars of exceptional ability who are engaged in research projects of broad significance and widespread interest. They honour the memory and exceptional achievements of Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam’s husband, Izaak Walton Killam. With a value of $70,000 per year, Killam Research Fellowships allow recipients to pursue research full-time for two years.
Frank Kschischang is a Tier One Canada Research Chair in Communication Algorithms. His research interests are in the area of digital communications, particularly coding theory. He is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a recipient of the Premier’s Research Excellence Award. He was recently elected President of the IEEE Information Theory Society. A popular and accomplished teacher, he has received several departmental and Faculty teaching awards since joining the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering in 1991. Professor Kschischang will use the Fellowship to develop approaches to improve the transmission rate and reliability of communications through wireless relay networks and fiber-optic communications channels.
A Tier One Canada Research Chair in Diffusion-Wave Sciences and Technologies, Andreas Mandelis has authored over 260 refereed papers, as well as the acclaimed textbook Diffusion-Wave Fields: Mathematical Methods and Green Functions. Professor Mandelis is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and was the inaugural recipient of the Premier’s Discovery Award in Natural Sciences and Engineering in 2007. In 2009 he received the Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Industrial and Applied Physics from the Canadian Association of Physicists and the Senior Prize from the International Photoacoustic and Photothermal Association. Professor Mandelis will use the Fellowship for research that is expected to lead to the development of a portable laser-radar-based instrument that can be used for early detection and monitoring of osteoporosis.
“We are honoured and grateful that the Canada Council for the Arts has recognized two of our faculty members with these prestigious Fellowships”, said Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. “Professors Kschischang and Mandelis are world-leaders in their respective fields and I have no doubt that these Fellowships will result in further groundbreaking discoveries and technological innovations”.
