It’s time to start planning your involvement in another fun-filled year of Faculty of Engineering alumni events. First up is the annual alumni ski day being held Friday, January 20 at Osler Bluff Ski Club in Collingwood, Ontario. For those of you in the Washington D.C. area on Tuesday, January 24, plan to attend the Alumni and Friends Reception at the 2012 TRB Annual Meeting.
Engineering faculty, staff and students will have three opportunities the week of January 9 to hear from Pearl Sullivan, candidate for dean of Waterloo Engineering. Sullivan, currently chair of Waterloo’s mechanical and mechatronics engineering department, has been unanimously recommended by the dean of engineering nominating committee as the next dean of engineering for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2012. If successfully appointed, Sullivan will succeed current dean of engineering Adel Sedra whose second term as dean ends June 30, 2012.
Two electrical and computer engineering professors have been appointed as associate directors of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE). Claudio Canizares is the new associate director, external partnerships, and Kankar Bhattacharya is the new associate director, advanced training. Both were appointed to two-year terms effective January 1, 2012. In announcing the appointments Adel Sedra, dean of engineering, and Jatin Nathwani, executive director of WISE, said the positions further enhance the university’s commitment to be a leader in energy research.
Tom Jenkins, chair of Open Text and a member of Waterloo Engineering’s Dean’s Advisory Council (DAC), has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada for his work in industry, commerce and business. DAC’s members, leaders from industry, academia and the public sector, advise Waterloo Engineering on many matters, including research and educational partnerships, philanthropic partnerships, academic programs, and advocacy and government. Jenkins and other inductees will be presented with their awards by Governor General David Johnston, past president of the University of Waterloo.
Waterloo School of Architecture professor John McMinn and graduate Melana Janzen of McMinn + Janzen Studio located in Toronto have won a 2011 North American Wood Design Citation for their CP Harbour House project. CP Harbour House is a vacation home shared by two families on the shores of Georgian Bay. McMinn and Janzen’s project was one of 16 honoured by the North American Wood Design Awards Program out of over 100 entries.
Pearl Sullivan, chair of Waterloo’s mechanical and mechatronics engineering department, will become Waterloo’s eighth dean of engineering on July 1, 2012. Sullivan, an award-winning professor and accomplished researcher, joined the university as a professor of mechanical engineering in 2004. She will succeed Adel Sedra whose second term as dean ends June 30, 2012. “The exemplary reputation of Waterloo Engineering fueled a lot of international interest in this position,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president of the University of Waterloo.
School of Architecture professor John McMinn and his partner architect Melana Janzen of McMinn + Janzen Studio have pulled it off for a professional couple living in south Mississauga — they designed an urban loft on a quiet street lined with 1970s suburban ranch houses. The home, with radiant concrete floors inside and custom stainless steel wire mesh screens, provides a downtown urban feel while meeting the needs of a growing family leaning towards a suburban lifestyle. But success didn’t come easy, says McMinn. The first contractor couldn’t mix oil and water and was let go.