Keith Hipel - 2007/2008

Keith Hipel - Systems Design Engineering

Dr. Hipel is the founder of the Waterloo-Tottori student exchange program which began in November 1987. One of his first Japanese students describes his Canadian experience and the fact that Dr. Hipel was so supportive to him and the other 90 Japanese students that participated in this program. “Dr. Hipel’s support was not limited to academic and research; he took the students to his home and on outings on the weekend.” This support helped the students “overcome their frustrations due to the language barrier and cultural differences. Many of these Japanese students became international engineers”.

Other students describe Dr. Hipel’s supervisory qualities as always scheduling weekly meetings, setting goals in a timely manner, and encouraging students to attend conferences. He pays attention to the overall welfare of his graduate students. He has supervised 21 PhD and 40 master’s students.

Dr. Hipel is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC)(1998) and received a Canada Council Killam Research Fellowship (2001). His list of awards and honours is impressive.

“All of Dr. Hipel’s students now hold responsible positions in industry, universities or government organizations.”