Réal "Ray" Tanguay received an honorary Doctor of Engineering (DEng). Tanguay was the first Canadian to be named as a managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan in 2005, and has been a strong supporter of the University of Waterloo for many years, introducing Waterloo's co-operative education program to Toyota and helping to establish the NSERC/Toyota/Maplesoft industrial research chair in mathematics-based modelling and design.
William M. Tatham also received an honorary Doctor of Engineering (DEng). A graduate of Waterloo's systems design engineering program, Tatham founded Janna Systems in 1990, which became a world leader in providing software for financial services. He is currently CEO of NexJ Systems. A champion of Waterloo Engineering and its co-op system, Tatham made a significant contribution towards the building of the William M. Tatham Centre for Co-operative Education, which was named in his honour.
Garry Rempel, a chemical engineering professor, was the recipient of the award of excellence in graduate supervision. Arash Shahi of civil engineering received the Amit and Meena Chakma Award for Exceptional Teaching by a Graduate Student.
Matthew Daly of mechanical and mechatronics engineering received the Governor General's gold medal for highest standing in a master's program. Rongxing Lu of electrical and computer engineering was the winner of the Governor General's gold medal for highest standing in a doctoral program. Mohit Verma of nanotechnology engineering, with a management sciences option, received the Governor General's silver medal. Isaac Victor Roes, a chemical engineering student, received the Alumni Gold Medal.
It was the final engineering convocation with Adel Sedra as dean. Sedra is stepping down on June 30 after nine years at the helm of the faculty. [DB article including all convocation honours]