Keith
Hipel
has
some
simple
words
of
advice
for
anyone
pursuing
an
education
or
career:
always
surround
yourself
with
good
people.
And
that’s
exactly
what
Hipel
has
done
during
his
over
40
years
in
Waterloo
Engineering
as
a
student,
systems
design
engineering
faculty
member
and
researcher.
He
has
taught
thousands
of
students
and
has
supervised
46
master’s
and
25
doctoral
candidates
who
have
successfully
completed
their
degrees.
His
teaching
and
research
have
been
recognized
with
almost
three
dozen
awards,
including
four
in
the
past
year
alone.
His
latest
honour,
the
Royal
Society
of
Canada’s
2011
Sir
John
William
Dawson
Medal,
will
be
presented
to
him
in
Ottawa
on
November
26.
He
became
a
fellow
of
the
society
in
1998.
The
medal
honours
his
interdisciplinary
research
in
systems
engineering
on
the
development
of
conflict
resolution,
multiple
criteria
decision
analysis,
time
series
analysis
and
other
decision-making
methodologies
for
addressing
systems
problems
in
society,
science,
technology
and
the
environment.
Hipel
says
he
enjoys
working
with
his
students
and
colleagues
to
solve
challenging
problems
related
to
conflict
resolution
in
engineering.
One
of
his
graduate
students,
doctoral
candidate
Sean
Bernath
Walker,
says
Hipel’s
teaching
style
is
very
engaging.
“He’s
extremely
good
at
getting
the
very
best
out
of
his
students,”
says
Bernath
Walker.
He
adds
after
taking
Hipel’s
graduate
course
in
conflict
resolution
he
switched
his
major
from
chemical
engineering
to
systems
design
engineering.
Hipel
founded
and
directs
exchange
programs
between
the
university
and
Tottori
University,
Kyoto
University
and
the
Tokyo
Institute
of
Technology
in
Japan,
in
which
more
than
200
students
have
gained
a
new
cultural
perspective
on
life
through
their
participation.
When
it
comes
to
his
own
engineering
education
Hipel
has
a
Waterloo
“hat
trick”
—
he
graduated
with
a
BASc
in
civil
engineering
in
1970,
a
MASc
in
systems
design
engineering
in
1972
and
a
PhD
in
civil
engineering
in
1975.
One
of
just
a
couple
of
engineering
professors
who
have
been
recognized
with
the
University
Professor
designation,
the
University
of
Waterloo’s
highest
academic
honour,
he
says
that
two
of
his
most
meaningful
awards
are
the
University
of
Waterloo’s
Distinguished
Teacher
Award
and
the
university’s
Award
of
Excellence
in
Graduate
Supervision.
“I
work
so
closely
with
my
graduate
students,
especially
my
doctoral
students,
that
I
become
like
a
father
to
them,”
he
says.
“After
graduation
they
become
a
colleague
of
mine
and
we
stay
in
touch,
often
publishing
work
together.”
Professor, Systems Design Engineering