June 23, 2009
Six members of the U of T Engineering community have been selected by The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) and Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) to receive 2009 Ontario Professional Engineers Awards. Professors Greg Evans(ChemE), Nazir Kherani (ECE), Javad Mostaghimi (MIE) and Chul Park (MIE) were all awarded medals in the Research and Development category. Civil Engineering alumnus and adjunct professor Lloyd McCoomb (6T8) was awarded a medal in the Management category, and Ph.D. candidate Dwayne Shirley (MSE) has won a Young Engineers Medal. Presented since 1947, the Ontario Professional Engineers Awards recognize outstanding individuals for engineering excellence and community service.
Greg Evans is the Founding Director of the Southern Ontario Centre for Atmospheric Aerosol Research, an interdisciplinary research centre studying the environmental and health impacts of air pollutants. Among his many contributions in this area is the construction of Canada’s first real-time Laser Ablation Mass Spectrometer for the chemical analysis of individual urban aerosol particles. Professor Evans is also the co-Founder of the Faculty’s Leaders of Tomorrow program. He received the 2008 Joan E. Foley Award from U of T in recognition of his contributions to the student experience.
The focus of Nazir Kherani’s research is photovoltaics, the conversion of solar power to electricity; he and his team are developing technologies that will significantly reduce the cost of this process. Considered a world-leader in this field, he currently leads an initiative called High Efficiency Silicon Photovoltaics, funded by a $5 million grant from the Ontario Ministry for Research and Innovation. Professor Kherani’s research has led to over 100 refereed publications and five patents. He is also the co-author of an undergraduate textbook, Electrical Fundamentals.
Javad Mostaghimi is the University of Toronto Distinguished Professor in Plasma Engineering. He has published over 100 papers in refereed journals and has been cited approximately 1,500 times. In 1998, he founded the Centre for Advanced Coating Technologies (CACT), which is internationally recognized for its fundamental and applied multi-disciplinary research in thermal spray coatings. Professor Mostaghimi is a Fellow of ASME, CSME, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the University of Tokyo’s School of Engineering.
Chul Park is a world leader in the development of innovative technologies for the cost-effective manufacture of microcellular foamed plastics. He holds a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Advanced Polymer Processing Technologies and is the Founder and Director of the Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory. Professor Park holds 20 patents and his patented microcellular technology has been licensed by over 200 companies. He is a Fellow of CSME, ASME, EIC and the Society of Plastics Engineers.
Lloyd McCoomb is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), which manages and operates Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport. He has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Civil Engineering since 1996. Dr. McCoomb was responsible for the planning and implementation of the GTAA’s four billion dollar expansion program, one of the largest Civil Engineering projects in recent Canadian history. In 2008, he created Partners In Project Green, North America’s largest eco-business zone.
Dwayne Shirley will soon be a triple alumnus of the Faculty; he obtained his BASc and MASc in Materials Engineering and will receive his PhD this month. In 1999, Mr. Shirley established the University of Toronto chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and worked with student leaders in other cities to form 10 additional NSBE chapters. In 2000, he founded NSBE Canada. Dwayne Shirley is also Founding President of the Toronto chapter of the Surface Mount Technology Association, which focuses on networking microelectronics students with industrial partners.
“For six members of our community to receive these prestigious awards is both an honour and a testament of our Faculty’s strength,” said Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. “We are deeply grateful to OPSE and PEO for recognizing these outstanding colleagues.”
The recipients of the Ontario Professional Engineers Awards will be honoured at a gala at the Toronto Congress Centre on November 21, 2009.
