WATERLOO, Ont. (Friday, Jan. 28, 2011) - The University of Waterloo and its Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology (CPATT) today officially launched the new $1.5 million endowed Norman W. McLeod Chair in Sustainable Pavement Engineering, which will focus on advanced pavement research, collaborative projects with industry, and graduate student teaching and supervision.
The main goal of the new chair is to develop roads and highways that are safer for drivers and better for the environment, using green pavement technology.
At the launch ceremony, Susan Tighe, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Waterloo, was announced as the Norman W. McLeod Chair in Sustainable Pavement Engineering.
"Dr. Tighe's new appointment cements the University of Waterloo's long and successful history of expertise in transportation engineering, and in particular roads and pavements research and education," said Adel Sedra, dean of Waterloo Engineering. "The Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology has been at the forefront of exceptional research, training and professional activities. This success is rooted in the experienced and highly skilled faculty members, as well as the state-of-the-art facilities."
CPATT's facilities include a central lab at the University of Waterloo, a main field lab, a test site at Waterloo Region's waste management facility and several satellite test sites.
Established in 2005, CPATT is closely partnered with industry, government and other universities, and has a strong track record of achievements. The Norman W. McLeod Chair in Sustainable Pavement Engineering in support of CPATT is one of Waterloo Engineering's key fundraising priorities in its Vision 2010 Campaign.
The chair's endowment received donations from industry, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and the University of Waterloo. The endowment will support the research of the senior researcher, along with hiring a junior researcher in the pavement engineering area.
The new chair will focus on advanced pavement engineering, new materials evaluation, innovative concrete pavements and implementation of Superpave technology, which reduces asphalt pavement rutting and thermal cracking.
Tighe's research areas cover sustainable pavement engineering and management; designing and building safer roads and airfields; and developing and evaluating infrastructure management system components.
The chair's partners, with their considerable expertise and resources, will play an important role as the chair pursues research initiatives. They include: Capital Paving Limited, DBA Engineering Ltd., Golder Associates Ltd, Holcim Canada Inc., LVM-Jegel, McAsphalt Industries Ltd., Miller Paving Ltd., Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Ontario Good Roads Association, Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Ontario, Roto-Mill Inc., Shiloh CanConstruct, Stantec Consulting Ltd. and Steed and Evans Ltd.
About Waterloo Engineering
The University of Waterloo's faculty of engineering is a multi-faceted engineering school with eight academic units, home to about 260 faculty members, more than 1,800 graduate students and 5,900 undergraduate students. More than 31,750 alumni have made their mark in industry, academe and the public sector, in Canada and around the world. For further information, go to www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca.
