Kankar Bhattacharya - 2019/2020

Kankar Bhattacharya – Electrical & Computer Engineering

Dr. Kankar Bhattacharya is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has made exceptional contributions to teaching and supervising graduate students, research, and administration. Over the past 20 years, he has supervised over 25 PhD students and an equal number of master’s students; currently, he is supervising/co-supervising 10 graduate students. Dr. Bhattacharya’s contributions to scholarship are exemplary - he has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal publications and about 120 conference papers, with his students as co-authors in most.  His former students hold highly respectable positions both in academia and industry, which attests to his excellent mentorship. He was also one of the founding pillars of the Master of Engineering (MEng) program in the ECE department and has held several administrative positions such as Director and Program Coordinator of the MEng Power program, and is currently serving as Associate Chair Graduate Studies in the department.

Dr. Bhattacharya’s commitment to graduate education is truly admirable. He sets the standards high and tirelessly works to make sure every one of his students succeeds. His passion for training and guiding graduate students often extends beyond the classroom and research settings and this has been fondly remembered by many of his former students. In fact, many current and former students as well as colleagues from Canada and abroad have enthusiastically supported Dr. Bhattacharya for this prestigious recognition. Summing it up with a quote from a former student – “Professor Bhattacharya is the type of professor that we need more of in all universities”.