MacEngineer Fall 2019 by McMaster Engineering Alumni

MacEngineer FALL 2019

Nobel Laureate and McMaster Engineering alumna Donna Strickland

Why research with impact requires purpose and teamwork Evidence indicates that collaborative research leads to remarkable results, improved productivity and meaningful outcomes. Working in teams, members contribute different disciplinary perspectives. Ben Jones of Northwestern University analyzed 22 million academic publications and patents over five decades. He found that the size of research teams increased by about twenty per cent every decade. Scientific papers by multiple authors received more than twice as many citations as those written by individuals. Isaac Kohane of Harvard Medical School found that when coauthors are clustered closer together, their papers have Ishwar K. Puri, significantly higher citations. The Dean, Faculty of closer the collaborators are located, the Engineering higher the citations to their papers are. Collaborations can be complicated ventures. A diverse mix of collaborators requires more time to discuss, understand and align individual goals with those of the overall project. With their inherent disciplinary diversity, teams often have to reconcile dissimilar work styles and perspectives due to differences in gender, age, culture, focus, knowledge, and status. A structure is required to foster cohesion, communication and coordination before collaborators fully embark on a project and reflect on the learning from their research. Think of it as building a runway before takeoff and successful flight. When it is purposeful, research is also experiential learning since it includes concepts of inquiry and critical thinking.

I’ve been discussing this with Doug Barber for the past six some years. Doug retired as President and CEO of Gennum Corporation in 2000 and is a leading thinker on the subject. He’s also a long-serving Dean’s Advisory Board member. He contends that students must be introduced very early to industry-driven learning, since that early engagement inspires them to become innovators, creative thinkers and leaders. Our response for enhancing team-based integrated research and education is IMPACT: Initiative for Multidisciplinary Projects and Creative Transformation. Through it, we have created research clusters that pursue big ideas to address broad societal challenges, enabling our scholars to learn about complex problems and solve them through an integrated multidisciplinary approach. IMPACT funds big ideas proposed by teams of three faculty members from varying disciplines to solve a grand challenge problem, such as one suggested by the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). The education and training of undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows is an important focus. The Pivot, McMaster Engineering’s new education initiative, is a transformative project that prepares students to be flexible in a rapidly-changing world and to meet challenges not yet imagined. They gain valuable competencies – discovery and creativity, problem solving, innovation, diversity and citizenship. Through IMPACT, the entire project team – students, faculty and research staff members – will learn and obtain the competencies of The Pivot .

The competencies learned through The Pivot 01 Discover + Create Mentored research or project experience.

03 Integrate + Solve Understand and bridge multiple and diverse ways of defining problems and posing solutions.

02 2

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Business + Innovate Understand importance of viable business models in engineering.

05 Global + Diverse Understand that considering cultural issues is mandatory in engineering solutions.

Citizen + Community Deepen social consciousness to address societal problems.

Contents Do you have something to say or news to share? We would like to hear from you. Contact Carm Vespi Tel: (905) 525-9140 ext. 24906 Fax: (905) 546-5492 vespi@mcmaster.ca eng.mcmaster.ca The MacEngineer is published by the Faculty of Engineering for its alumni. Distribution assistance is provided by the Engineering Alumni OfďŹ ce. Editor: Carm Vespi Managing Editor: Monique Beech Art Direction and Design: Steve Janzen Writing: Kim Arnott Monique Beech Tracy Huynh Michelle Presse Photography: Kareem Baassiri Dan Kim Mike Lalich Jin Lee Publications mail agreement No. 40063416 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to circulation department: 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L7 vespi@mcmaster.ca

Message from the dean 2

Introducing IMPACT research 4

Three decades of friendship and success

Giving Back 29

IMPACT Researchers 5

Pivoting from scientist to entrepreneur

Venture engineers excitement and exploration 32

Progress on The Pivot 7 F E AT U R E :

Donna Strickland

Students making an impact 21

Welcome Week 33

News 34

Kudos

Alumni profiles

Alumni events 41

Facing up to the Challenge 27 Fall 2019

Introducing IMPACT research McMaster Engineering is introducing a bold and ambitious plan that rewards researchers for working together to create solutions to global grand challenges. Called the Initiative for Multidisciplinary Projects and Creative Transformation (IMPACT), the new multidisciplinary strategy offers resources to professors who opt to work collaboratively and form research clusters. The Faculty intends to partner with the private sector, philanthropists and entrepreneurs to support a $1 million investment annually in IMPACT, which will be used to fund multiple doctoral and undergraduate scholar grants, and travel and supply awards. The idea is to embed the educational experience within the research experience, says Ishwar K. Puri, Dean of Engineering. “A large body of evidence indicates that collaborative research leads to remarkable results, improved productivity and meaningful outcomes,” Puri says. “We want to encourage our professors to work together and with our students outside of silos to create more meaningful, impactful research.” Academic teamwork leads to more patents and more highly-cited research papers, according to many studies. “The IMPACT initiative provides resources for teams to establish cohesion, communication and coordination before fully launching a promising project with external funding. Think of it as a runway that must be traversed before takeoff and successful flight.” Canada needs more innovation and ideas that can be commercialized, says Doug Barber, retired President and CEO of Gennum Corporation and past chair of the

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McMaster Engineering Dean’s Advisory Board. “I am encouraged to see McMaster chart a new course for research that promises to spark more creative solutions to problems facing society, which could in turn benefit the nation’s economy,” Barber says. “Introducing students early to industry-driven learning will inspire the next generation to be true innovators, creative thinkers and future leaders.” The IMPACT research grants program will consider big ideas proposed by teams of faculty members. Associate Dean of Research & External Relations, John Preston, hopes the new initiative encourages more communication between researchers. “The best ideas emerge when people with different interests and research backgrounds come together to work on problems,” Preston says. “By adding more undergraduate student researchers, those solutions and new innovations will be particularly rich.” Successful proposals will focus on a grand challenge problem, such as those suggested by the UN sustainable development goals, to create an engineering solution.

IMPACT Researchers Engineering and electrifying the next generation of cars Ali Emadi’s research focuses on pioneering sustainable energy-efficient solutions from advanced power electronic converters and electric motor drives to electric, hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric. He says engineering the next generation of cars requires autonomy, capability, and most importantly, high efficiency with lower or zero emissions. “Energy and sustainability are of critical importance to the planet,” says Emadi, Canada Research Chair in Transportation Electrification and Smart Mobility. “If we want to make the transportation system more

sustainable, we need to electrify transportation. That way, we can improve sustainability, reduce emissions and come up with cleaner cars and cleaner environments.” So how exactly does one go about developing one of North America’s best transportation electrification programs? Emadi says the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre’s (MARC) multidisciplinary approach within the Faculty of Engineering, and beyond, is instrumental. MARC, one of North America’s leading research facilities in electric and hybrid vehicles, allows researchers like Emadi, as well as students and industry leaders — not just in engineering, but in science and social sciences — to work towards resolving the issues facing the automotive industry. Some of these resolutions include the development of hybrid and electric powertrains, building highly efficient and cost-effective powertrain components and identifying light materials to make cars more fuel efficient. “If we want to address climate change, we need to tackle the issues for the auto industry,” says Emadi. “I believe the best, most practical long-term solution for transportation is electrification.”

Measuring water and climate risk in an uncertain world Water is the ultimate Goldilocks product – too little and the land shrivels into desert, too much and we’re paddling. Still, managing water flow has always been an uncertain business, and never more so than in a world with a changing climate. Simulation models can offer predictions for water quantity and quality, but sometimes the most important thing to know is how much we don’t know. Calculating and quantifying those unknowns is at the heart of assistant Civil Engineering professor Zoe Li’s work. Known as probabilistic forecasting, Li’s models can analyze circumstances to predict, for example, that the likelihood of a specific river flow rate occurring is 80 per cent. Naturally, forecasting the amount of water in a river demands good data on precipitation and temperature. So Li has also turned her attention to climate modeling. Her team has developed an Ontario-wide project that gathers all collected climate and weather data from various sources and then

uses a machine learning process to offer customized climate projections for a specific area. The model offers crucial data for anyone needing climate information. Farmers can use temperature and precipitation predictions for the coming years to decide what crops to plant. Design standards for water infrastructure can be based on the predicted frequency of peak flows over the next 50 or 100 years.

Fall 2019

Pivot Update

Last spring, McMaster Engineering announced its biggest educational change yet: The Pivot. We’re not just prepping students to prepare for the future — we’re preparing students to help shape it through a new initiative dubbed The Pivot. This new approach to education represents an upcoming change to our curriculum, a reimagining of the classroom and ongoing efforts to amplify experiential learning. Since our announcement, we’ve been hard at work bringing the three pillars of The Pivot to life.

Transforming the Curriculum – Fall 2020 As announced, our general first-year program is transitioning to a full-year project-based learning experience, ENGINEER 1P13, where students are introduced to engineering fundamentals in computing, graphics, materials, and design. This summer, a team of undergraduate students, under the guidance of Colin McDonald, Director of our first-year engineering program, worked diligently towards developing these projects as well as the associated course materials. One project will pertain to sustainability in society, where students will be challenged to design a sort-and-recycle system. Students will learn how to use sensors to identify and sort recycled containers based on their material, identify and discard contaminated containers, and design and build a mechanism for transferring non-contaminated containers into their respective bins. Plans are also underway for a new faculty-wide capstone expo to showcase the projects of all final year engineering students during one mega event on campus on April 7. Mark your calendars.

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Transforming the Classroom â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2022 Architectural renderings are in progress to visualize the new space that will house McMaster Engineeringâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative project-based learning courses, particularly our new first year engineering program (1P13) and final year capstone projects. Teaching and learning will no longer occur in traditional lecture halls but will engage students though a more innovative and design-focused studio space for this specialized, hands-on, minds-on programming. The permanent spaces to be developed for the new curriculum will include design spaces, makerspaces, computation and physical design environments as well as test facilities. These new facilities will allow students to conceptualize solutions to real world problems, realize prototypes and to quantify their performance. Construction of a temporary space for the first-year engineering program, to open in Fall 2020, is already underway on the fourth floor of the new Arthur Bourns Building extension, and the permanent space is slated to open in Fall 2022.

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Amplifying Experiential Learning – Ongoing Launched in the Fall 2019, McMaster Grand Challenges Scholars Program, is an initiative aiming to enhance graduates’ ability to drive real, sustainable change in the face of 21st century challenges. The Grand Challenges program builds on the strengths of MacChangers, a co-curricular program led by the Faculty of Engineering and the MacPherson Institute, which brings together teams of students from across campus to seek local solutions to challenging societal issues. (Read more about Grand Challenges on page 27) ENGINEER 3CX3 - Experiential Learning in Complementary Studies is a new course being offered to students in second year or beyond starting September 2019. The course allows students to earn course credit for being involved in non-technical clubs and teams, or for those in non-technical roles on technical teams (i.e. team managers, administrative leads). The course is structured to maximize the skills students learn through extracurriculars to develop and better articulate additional professional skills, such as: leadership and

management, self-directed learning, teamwork and conflict management, communication, budgeting and sponsorship. More than 940 undergraduate engineering, Bachelor of Technology and computer science students received the institution’s first-ever digital diplomas the week following the faculty’s June 14 convocation ceremonies. The pilot project marked a first for any Canadian university and followed in the footsteps of a handful of notable American universities, such as the Massachusetts Stay up to date Institute of Technology (MIT). Digital diplomas mark the second on the Pivot time the faculty has used digital eng.mcmaster. credentials. In April, students in ca/about/pivot its co-curricular student program, MacChangers, which is run in concert with the MacPherson Institute, received the university’s first digital certificate for participating in an activity outside of class.

Fall 2019

FEATURE

Nobel Prize winner and McMaster Engineering alumna Donna Strickland doesn’t consider herself an inspiration. Matter-of-fact and modest, Strickland thinks of herself as just one example of a success story. Good thing she likes success stories, with a side of luck. It’s a story that started with a gut instinct to pursue an Engineering Physics degree at McMaster University based on its laser program and, most recently, earned her headlines around the world last October for sharing the Nobel Prize in Physics with her former PhD advisor, Gerard Mourou. Strickland’s win marked the third time a woman has received the award. Her story continued at at the University of Rochester’s Institute for Optics with Mourou where she would co-develop a laser technique called chirped pulse amplification, which would lead to groundbreaking and far-ranging applications from scientific, military, energy and medical, including laser eye surgery. Stretching, then amplifying and recompressing beams enabled the intensity of light to be boosted dramatically, leading to lasers that could cut with precision. Last spring, her PhD alma matter also honoured her with an honorary degree.

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But calling her an inspiration? “I do believe in giving back. I do believe in acknowledging that I got a leg up from (McMaster and Rochester). If I can help in any way, I want to. I don’t do the inspired thing. I get people using the word inspiring a lot, right? But for me, it’s more about being an example of a success story for both universities,” Strickland says during a phone interview before receiving an honorary doctoral degree from McMaster University on June 14. It was her undergraduate days at McMaster that inspired her love of lasers and where she became better acquainted by working in an optics lab during her summers, and where she took courses on lasers and electro-optics in her upper years. Engineering physics and Strickland were the right fit. “I thought it was the perfect program for me so I wouldn’t have to choose between physics and engineering,” she

told the crowd during her convocation speech at FirstOntario Concert Hall in Hamilton. “Then I read that part of the program was about lasers. I thought ‘How cool does that sound?’ and somehow I just knew that was the program for me. So, I would say I started down my career path in laser science here at McMaster University in the Engineering Physics program. I absolutely loved the program.” After her time at McMaster, Strickland went on to work as a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and as a member of technical staff at Princeton University. In 1997, she joined the University of Waterloo, where she remains today, and started her ultrafast laser group, which develops high intensity laser systems for nonlinear optics investigations. But it started at McMaster. It is here that Strickland danced during her first week at the institution while staying at Moulton Hall, a residence on campus, and found her lab partner in the process. She remembers being marched into the quad and meeting a guy from Matthews Hall. They were told to dance by upper year students. “It was funny. We started talking and we both say we’re in engineering and we both say that we’re probably going to do Engineering Physics. He became my lab partner for all four years. He was pretty much the top student in engineering, so it worked out well for me,” Strickland said with a laugh. In class, she learned about lasers and electro-optics in her labs, leading her to become a self-described ‘laser jock’ — a title that is now inscribed on the back of a hockey jersey gifted to her by her Guelph elementary school after her Nobel win. Lasers brought together her intelligence with the chance to build something, she says. She’s devoted her entire academic life to it. “I think light is one of those things that you actually get to see happen. A lot of research, you’re either just looking at what’s

on the screen, or data, or what have you. But when you look at lasers they’re colorful, and they create new colours right in front of your eyes. I was a kid who liked to play with Legos. I’ve never gone the route of building huge lasers. I like small lasers that I can still put my hands on and play with like a toy.” She did try to make a diode to emit laser light during her time at McMaster, but it didn’t work. What did she learn? “Things don’t always work,” Strickland said wryly. Luckily for Strickland, her career has been full of success stories since. “I believe in enjoying every step of the path. I try to make the most of every step.” But did she see a Nobel Prize on that path? “No,” Strickland says full stop, and offers a throaty laugh. The ride of winning such a prestigious award has been amazing, rewarding and exhausting, she says. “My sister describes it to friends and family as ‘She’s somewhere between totally exhausted and being in total awe of her situation.’ And that pretty much sums it up.” Since winning, Strickland has found herself spending more time giving talks around the world than conducting research. But the prize has awarded her a unique platform. “Science is important to society. I don’t (think) that we in North America give enough credit to how important science is to build a strong economy in this high-tech world. The parts of the world that are investing heavily in science are the ones moving the fastest forward. I’m a little afraid North America will be left behind if we don’t start understanding that.”

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Alumni profiles The science of failure

“My job is to solve puzzles to determine the reason why everyday components fail or malfunction.”

Engineers are typically pretty good at understanding why things work. But for forensic engineers, the more compelling question is why they don’t. Does failure start with a cracked pipe or a frayed wire? A missing component or substandard material? Has weather, or human error or poor maintenance played a role? Those questions keep Natasha McQuaid busy as she manages the materials and metallurgical department at Roar Engineering. “I lead a team that undertakes forensic engineering and failure analysis on a variety of different products to determine their failure modes and mechanisms,” she explains. “My job is to solve puzzles to determine the reason why everyday components fail or malfunction.”

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The company works primarily for insurance firms, providing comprehensive investigations and engineering opinions that are used in legal action. McQuaid, a 2011 grad, says she loves what she does, but had originally dreamed of being an architect. She discovered engineering through a high school competition aimed at introducing women to the profession. She won the competition and received a scholarship, so turned her attention to engineering. “I figured Civil Engineering was basically the science behind architecture,” she says. “But during first year, I discovered materials and realized I loved chemistry more than physics. So long story short, I ended up in Materials Engineering and Management, and loved learning that everything is made of something and the science behind that.” With Roar since 2015, McQuaid says she’s enjoyed the diversity of forensic work, and the satisfaction of helping the company grow. Her advice to today’s students: “Find the thing you are passionate about and follow that. It may take some time to get there, there will be twists and turns, but once you figure it out, every day will be enjoyable.”

Alumni profiles

Making life-changing connections

“Work hard, never stop learning, maintain your personal integrity at all times and keep your ego in check.”

Earning engineering and MBA degrees at McMaster launched David Charron into a career that has taken him from Nortel to Redknee Solutions and into the CFO position at TeraGo Networks. But the impressive resume doesn’t represent the biggest impact McMaster had on his life. During the Shinerama fundraiser in frosh week in 1981, Charron was randomly teamed up with Kathy Connor. That chance pairing resulted in the two of them dating, and then eventually marrying in 1986. Now married for 33 years, they have three children, with two daughters currently studying at McMaster. “We are both so very grateful for everything that Mac has given us in terms of great memories, personal relationships and successful careers,” says Charron.

On the professional front, Charron transitioned into finance and accounting after completing his Electrical Engineering degree in 1985. He earned a McMaster MBA in 1995, followed by his CMA (now CPA) accounting designation. He worked in finance at Nortel for over eight years, then spent about 10 years with Redknee Solutions Inc. as CFO. Since 2017, he has served as CFO of TeraGo Networks (ticker symbol TGO on the Toronto Stock Exchange), a mid-sized, publicly-traded telecom company based in Thornhill with operations across Canada. “I’m responsible for all financial and investor matters, but my expertise is in raising money in the capital markets and growth through mergers and acquisitions,” explains Charron. “TGO stock has increased from $4.30 when I started, to a high of $13.13 earlier this year.” “My engineering education and background has helped me tremendously in the transition to finance leadership in a telecom and IT setting, where the business context can be quite technical,” he says. “Being able to add value by speaking the language and explaining the business model to investors has given me instant credibility both internally and externally.” For today’s students: “The best advice I can give is to work hard, never stop learning, maintain your personal integrity at all times and keep your ego in check.”

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Alumni profiles

Leading the way to success

“Study and build a career around what you enjoy, whatever gets you out of bed and keeps you going day in and day out. Do what you enjoy and you will succeed at it. Work smart and work hard at the same time.”

Whether fixing his car, building a deck or managing software projects, to this day Rodney Chau relies on things he learned at McMaster.

“My engineering degree gave me an understanding of the science, math and engineering principles that are the foundation of how things work,” he says. “That’s helped me make calculated decisions in every area of my life.” The 2004 Electrical Engineering grad was always drawn to electronics, computer software and hardware, and what he describes as “the magic of electricity.” “Some of my passion came from my dad, who is a mechanic

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and very much a DIY guy,” he says. “He brought home a computer back in the mid ‘80s and was showing me AutoCAD on it. That computer allowed me to explore, and from there I was hooked.” While he knew he was headed for a career in a technical field, his journey taught him that he also has a passion for people and leadership, validated by a Leader of the Year award in 2016. “Being recognized and appreciated by people I’ve led in the past, watching them succeed and grow into leaders themselves is most rewarding for me,” he says. Chau is currently the Senior Manager of the Implementation PMO at SPS Commerce’s Analytics division, an American company providing cloud-based supply chain management solutions. He leads a team of project managers across multiple North America locations, where they are responsible for delivering all customer implementations. “Study and build a career around what you enjoy, whatever gets you out of bed and keeps you going day in and day out. Do what you enjoy and you will succeed at it. Work smart and work hard at the same time,” is the advice he most frequently offers.

Alumni profiles

A merger of engineering, business and the law

What do you get when you earn an engineering undergraduate degree, add on an MBA, then top it all off with a law degree?

“To this day, my ability to analyze problems and solve problems stems from my engineering training.”

Along with a pretty well-rounded education, you have the chance to select from a variety of interesting career opportunities. The choice Gordon Raman opted for was a law career, and he’s now a partner in the national law firm Fasken, practicing in the areas of the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and corporate finance. “I advise senior management and boards of public and private companies in M&A transactions and on corporate governance matters,” he explains. “I also help companies raise money in the capital markets through the issuance of equity and debt securities, and work closely with private equity clients to help them form funds and buy portfolio companies.” Although he spent only a brief stint working in engineering

with Northern Telecom after graduating from Engineering Physics in 1991, Raman says his degree provided a solid foundation for his success. “To this day, my ability to analyze problems and solve problems stems from my engineering training,” he says. Through the years, Raman has taught several law school courses and authored numerous articles, along with working with clients in industries ranging from technology and automation to construction and engineering. “I’ve helped clients raise billions of dollars in capital and helped them buy and sell companies and businesses to achieve their strategic objectives,” he says. “But through it all, what I’ve appreciated most is the personal client relationships I have built. “As rewarding as my professional career has been, I’m also thrilled to have contributed to the community around me as the current chair of the board of directors of the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, and as a current director with Royal St. George’s College and as a Past-President of the Canadian Club of Toronto.” He urges today’s students to aim high. “Try to be a perfectionist in everything that you do,” says Raman. “As humans, we will always fall short of perfection, but when we strive for it, it is amazing what we can do.”

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Alumni profiles

Thriving in the world of tech

The tech job market offers a world of opportunities that women should be eager to explore, says Juan Musleh.

“I chose something out of interest, worked hard and things worked out better than expected.”

And she should know. The 2009 Software Engineering grad has succeeded at companies both large and small over the last decade, before settling into her current position as director of engineering at Tucows. Tucows provides a range of Internet-related services for businesses and individuals, and Musleh says her technical education and experience give her credibility in her role managing engineering operations across North America and Europe. “I work on setting technology direction and pushing the adoption of new engineering tools and processes. A lot of my time is spent growing the team, recruiting and hiring and finding ways to upskill the team,” she says. Her decision to specialize in the world of technology was “a lucky leap of faith” resulting from her curiosity about programming. “I chose something out of interest, worked hard and things

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worked out better than expected,” says Musleh, who has benefitted from a decade of demand for engineers with strong digital skills. She encourages young women to consider the tech world, and says research and networking can help them find companies with supportive cultures. “I look at the executive team and if there are not many women in senior management roles, I would usually find that discouraging,” she says. Co-op experience with Evertz helped Musleh land her first software engineering job with the company. She then worked as a developer and led an engineering team at FreshBooks, a company offering cloud-based accounting software to small and medium-sized businesses. As development manager for Toronto-based Bitstrips, Musleh says she enjoyed the experience of “working with a small team to build interesting products for millions of users.” After the company was purchased by Snapchat for $100 million in 2016, she was inspired to co-found Upspark.ca, to help technology firms scale their engineering capacity. She encourages students to invest in themselves by keeping up with trends and attending industry events. “Also, build a strong network of people that inspire and challenge you,” says Musleh. “I think that opens up a lot of opportunities and broadens your perspective.”

Alumni profiles

Mastering the building blocks of law

Building things isn’t what first comes to mind when you think of Bay Street law firms.

“The client, an ethanol cooperative, brought so much business to a struggling community and it’s been intensely satisfying to see what that has meant to the community.”

But for Scott Stoll, a law degree combined with civil engineering education has been his path to bringing large-scale projects to life. Stoll, a 1990 Civil Engineering & Management grad, is a partner at the Toronto law firm of Aird & Berlis, with a practice focusing on environmental and regulatory issues. “Generally, I work with owners and operators of real property and large infrastructure – utilities, governments, and industrial or mining companies,” he says. “I help them navigate the government permitting process, ensure compliance with applicable laws, and work with regulatory bodies when things don’t go as planned.” Originally attracted to engineering by a desire to build things, Stoll says it’s a career path that’s allowed him to work on many fascinating large infrastructure projects including pipelines, transmission lines, highways and power plants.

He says two projects particularly stand out as career highlights. “The Soave Hydroponics project involved helping a client build the first facility of its kind in North America. Not only does it generate electricity and thermal energy, but the carbon dioxide is used to augment plant growth,” he says. “This is a beautifully elegant engineering solution that we helped enable in a highly competitive industry.” The other project, the completion of an ethanol facility in Aylmer, Ontario, connected him with his farming roots, says Stoll. “The client, an ethanol co-operative, brought so much business to a struggling community and it’s been intensely satisfying to see what that has meant to the community.” After graduating from McMaster, Stoll joined the engineering group at Union Gas (now part of Enbridge) for a few years before opting for law school. Combining legal knowledge with his engineering and management background has been a successful combination, he says. “I can speak on a technical level with my clients and understand their business problems, while also translating the legal principles in a simple, understandable way.”

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Three decades of friendship and success Like countless other students through the decades, Craig Smith’s first memories of McMaster involve unloading boxes from his parents’ minivan. Those boxes made their way to the “submarine room” – a long, skinny room directly across from the elevator on the fourth floor of Woodstock Hall, and the friendship between Smith and roommate Stacy Joseph was born. A co-ed residence and a roommate named Stacy led to some confusion for Smith’s parents -- “they actually thought I was a woman because of my name,” recalls Joseph – but after they departed, the pair headed to the quad. “We decided we needed to rent a fridge as soon as possible, so we could get the beer cold,” says Smith, who still remembers the two of them lugging the mini-fridge up to the fourth floor. More than three decades later, the friendship that started in the oddly-shaped residence room is still going strong. Built on the shared experience of a gruelling first year in the

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Electrical Engineering and Management program and three years as roommates, the relationship has lasted through marriages, out-of-country work assignments and the pressure of careers in leadership roles. “He’s always been the friend that I can count on – a steady constant and a good sounding board, both personally and professionally,” says Joseph. Today Joseph, who graduated in 1993 (a year after Smith as a result of an internship program), is president and CEO of Beam Semiconductor Ltd., a Toronto-based company focused on developing high performance wireless transceivers. Also in the Toronto area, Smith is now president of SICK Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary of global sensor manufacturer SICK headquartered in Germany. He also serves on the board of directors for SICK Brazil. “I am responsible for all sales, marketing and operations within SICK’s factory, logistics and process automation business segments in Canada,” says Smith. “I started in the role in 2011 with 16 employees. We are now over 50 employees and have more than quadrupled our revenues.” Despite a joint passion for electronics that helped the two quickly bond – “we were typical computer geeks,” laughs Joseph – both men have built their careers around the management side of their degrees.

Joseph says the 16-month internship position he took with IBM after third year encouraged him to move away from technical work. “I didn’t want to be one of those guys who sat in the corner and wrote code or designed hardware,” he says. “Software people have great jobs today, but back then it really wasn’t glamorous at all.” His current role sees him raising capital and working with investors and customers around the world, but his career has also included responsibilities in the areas of product design, sales, marketing and strategic business development. In a previous position with Silicon Optix, Joseph managed product development and planning for the Emmy Award-winning Realta video processor architecture, the first fully software programmable video array processor capable of performing over 1 trillion operations per second. While their careers have diverged, Smith says the friends have continued to support one another professionally. “I don’t believe there are any ‘new’ business problems in the world,” he says. “We share the challenges we’re facing in our leadership roles, and can offer each other advice from our own experiences.” His role as a leader is something Smith takes very seriously, so it was a career highlight for him to see SICK Ltd. recently certified as a Great Place to Work. The third-party certification, based on anonymous employee surveys, identifies the company as one of Canada’s best employers. “This was one of my objectives, and I think it really validates our organization’s leadership style and the success we’ve achieved over the last eight years,” he says. “While some leaders attract followers based on their

knowledge and competency, I think leaders can also have success by creating vision and energy for those around them.” While the pair have helped each other pass tough university courses and solve professional problems, Joseph even takes credit for helping Smith find true love. “Craig would never have met his wife Jessica, if it weren’t for me,” he says. “My decision to take the IBM position after third year opened the door for him to get new roommates at our off-campus house. And guess who showed up – Jessica!” Joseph served as best man at the wedding 24 years ago, and Smith says his teenage daughters love to linger at the dinner table when his university roommate is over for a visit. “We often share funny stories from our past, and my daughters laugh. I think it lets them see me in a different, non-parent light,” he says. “And Jessica also went to Mac and graduated the same day as I did, so the bond of McMaster in our life is constant.”

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Pivoting from scientist to entrepreneur There is cleaner water all over the world, thanks to Andrew Benedek’s research. Now a global authority on water technology, Benedek traces his career focus to his first job out of university in the 1960s. Hired by a petrochemical company to measure pollution flowing from its plants, he faced the shocking realization that toxic chemicals were flowing untreated into waterways. Determined to help fix the world’s water pollution crisis, he left the company and headed to graduate studies. After earning his his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Washington, he joined McMaster as a Chemical Engineering professor and researcher with the Civil Engineering department’s Water Research Group. “This group was way ahead of its time in trying to find technologies to solve the water pollution issues that the world was just starting to understand,” says Benedek. “Its mission was exactly what I needed when I graduated with my PhD.” While researching activated carbon adsorption, Benedek came to recognize that low-pressure membranes could offer a more direct answer to solving water pollution. As an easier, cheaper and more energy-efficient way to purify and desalinate water, the membranes revolutionized water treatment methods, and brought the promise of clean drinking water to poor and rural communities around the globe. Pivoting from academic to entrepreneur, Benedek developed the membrane technology and brought it to market through the launch of his Burlington-based company Zenon Environmental Inc. in 1980. He grew the company to annual sales of about $250 million CDN and a global workforce of about 1,500 people before selling it to General Electric in 2006. In 2003, Zenon won the Stockholm Water Industry award, and in 2008, Benedek was awarded the inaugural Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize. The prestigious accolade recognized the pioneering nature of his work and the “huge benefit for mankind” as a result of his research. A decade ago, Benedek founded Anaergia, a company based on the idea that valuable resources, including energy and fertilizer, can be extracted from wastewater and other waste streams.

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“I continue to be amazed by the genius of human beings who are driven to improve the world, therefore, I am optimistic that today’s bright engineering graduates who have a passion for planetary sustainability, can and will solve the existential threats faced by humanity in the 21st century”

Students making an impact On the Job: Students share co-op work experiences at Engineering Co-op & Career Services event Surveying the room crammed with about 400 eager students looking to find out what co-op can offer them, the Faculty of Engineering’s Dean Ishwar K. Puri summed it up in a few words: “The hashtag is #coopisonfire.” Enthusiasm for the co-op experience can be seen in the numbers. More students are involved – up nearly 20 per cent last year – and more work terms are being completed – up over 30 per cent in the last two years. The Co-op Return to Campus event held on September 11 offered students the chance to talk with and learn from experienced co-op students coming back from work experiences, including these four.

Sarah Rassenberg Program: iBiomed & Chemical Engineering Co-op work term: Latulippe Group, McMaster Role: Worked as a research assistant on a project related to testing the quality of wastewater Best part of the job: Feeling respected. “We had to say we were working with someone, not under someone. That really stood out to me. And I got to help out with the experiments and actually give my feedback at meetings.” What’s next: “Environmental engineering, definitely. I was always interested in the environment but this really sparked the feeling that hey, I can actually change things.”

Ashkan Shafiee Haghshenas Program: Master of Engineering Design Co-op work term: Ya YA Foods, a beverage manufacturing and packaging company in Toronto Role: As a Capital Engineer Coordinator, he helped design a new product line using autoCAD, then worked on the project development, including requesting quotations for parts and overseeing contractors. Best part of the job: “It wasn’t only design work, because I’m not a person to stay just in front of the computer. It

was also project based, so I got to go to the plant, follow the project and interact with different contractors.” What’s next: “I’m still working there parttime, and I think after graduating in December I will work there in a permanent position.”

Carl Ellis Program: Bachelor of Technology, Biotechnology Co-op work term: Allarta Life Science, an early stage life sciences company based out of McMaster Role: As a research lab technician, Ellis was involved in developing new test procedures and culturing cells for use in experiments, with the overall goal of producing innovative therapeutic products. The perks of a small company: “I liked the opportunity in a small startup to fill various roles, not just one. You get to do a lot of different things, depending on the goal of the company at the time.” Added bonus: Working in a startup gave him a new and inspiring perspective on the entrepreneurial spirit.

Nat Chin Program: Computer Science Co-op work term: 8 months with Stack, a Toronto fintech company Role: Working as a blockchain developer on point-of-sale projects related to student credit and cryptocurrency. What’s next: “I want to go back to blockchain full time and work on more technologies where blockchain can make a difference.” Added bonus: The job led to an opportunity to teach part-time in the blockchain program at George Brown College – “an eye-opening experience to go from student to teacher.”

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Students making an impact

5 outstanding research projects undergraduate students worked on this summer

On July 30, more than 40 Engineering students featured their summer projects in the JHE Lobby. Here are some that caught our eye. Animated comics: Building literacy through teamwork Department of Computing and Software McMaster Start Coding has been introducing youth in Hamilton and the surrounding area to the STEM fields for more than a decade. By creating new frameworks and tools for elementary and middle school students, participants can

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learn about STEM in a fun way, such as learning how to code. Knowing that children love comics, the team has extended their tools for graphics programming to create a comics tool that allows children to create animated

Students making an impact Yumna Irfan (pictured), Pedram Yazdinia (pictured), Christopher Schankula (pictured), Stephanie Koehl, Deborah Dutton, Chitwan Sharma and Christopher Anand (Professor)

comic strips. The activity supports multiple literacies, including English literacy, visual design literacy and digital information literacy, as well as teamwork and planning. Yumna Irfan, a third-year a third-year iBioMed - Health, Engineering Science and Entrepreneurship student, got involved during her first year at McMaster and recently completed a co-op term with the program.

“By incorporating mathematical concepts such as the Cartesian coordinate system and trigonometry, we have seen students understand things that they have learned in class better by playing with the tools we have provided,” says Irfan. “I really like teaching kids coding and being able to make a difference. It’s really inspiring to see them get interested in STEM — they don’t even realize they’re learning.”

Miniaturizing corked-shell microcapsules for ultrasound triggered release of drugs Department of Chemical Engineering There is a distinct need for tunable externally triggered drug delivery systems. Such a system would give clinicians a much greater degree of control over the patient’s treatment, and as a result, deliver a greater standard of care. So how can this be achieved? According to second-year Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering student Jonathan Que, using corked microcapsules, which are triggered by ultrasound. An electrospraying technique was previously developed in the lab of Todd Hoare, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering to fabricate corked-shelled microcapsules ranging from 60um to 150um to make current capsules smaller. Que says these new capsules would benefit from a miniaturization because it would allow for the capsule to

Ariana Hurley (pictured), Joe Deering, Daniel Osorio and Kathryn Grandfield (Professor)

Jonathan Que (pictured), Andrew Singh and Todd Hoare (Professor)

travel through the blood stream easier when necessary. “I’m still playing with the concentration and parameters,” says Jonathan Que. “Finding a perfect balance is a science.”

Multiscale imaging techniques of in vivo cellulose nanocrystal aerogel bone scaffolds Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and the School of Biomedical Engineering Bone tissue grafts and scaffolds are widely used to aid in healing of bone defects. Injectable bone tissue

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Students making an impact scaffolds allow for minimally invasive surgery, while cellulose nanocrystal aerogels, a low-density material, have shown to be viable injectable bone tissue scaffolds. Third-year iBioMed - Materials and Biomedical Engineering student Ariana Hurley investigated a method by which bone interfaces in scaffold sites can be imaged on a multi-length scale through various imaging modalities. “This project is a continuum of what I did last summer,” says Hurley. “I used four different imaging techniques

to measure from microscale to the nanoscale.” Imaging parameters and sample preparation procedures were optimized to best visualize this interface. Localized areas of interest were identified by micro-CT, which were then sectioned, visualized on the microscale with optical microscopy, and meso-length scale with the SEM. Samples were also imaged in a plasma focused ion beam microscope to obtain a 3D volume of old bone, new bone interface on the nano length scale.

Visualization of polystyrene microbeads in a paramagnetic medium under the influence of an external magnetic field School of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering

Jenna Harris, (pictured) Srivatsa Aithal, Tamaghna Gupta, Sarah Mishriki, Rakesh P. Sahu and Ishwar K. Puri (Professor)

Second-year iBioMed - Engineering Physics and Biomedical Engineering student Jenna Harris dedicated her summer to her passion. “My goal is to make healthcare more accessible,” says Harris. “The thing I love most about my program is being

able to combine engineering, physics and healthcare.” Typically, cells are grown in two dimensions, which is less representative of physiological conditions. Magnetically assisted 3D bioprinting creates 3D structures of cells quickly and without the use of a scaffold, which is valuable to the fields of tissue engineering, drug screening and drug discovery. While the project is still in progress, Harris and her team has been able to determine that Gd concentration has a greater influence on particle flow than volume of solution. Harris says she hopes to continue the project by performing more thorough image analysis and experimenting with different magnet configurations. “To get 3D formation of cells, we used polyester beads,” says Harris. “[We] want the solution to be as close to chemical as possible. 3D printing of cells is necessary for drug development and tissue growth.”

SEPT Technological Research W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology Throughout Adam Sokacz’s three-month term at the McMaster School of Engineering Practice and Technology (SEPT), he participated in various projects that allowed him to research the applications of modern technologies, including in the field of multirotor drones and microcontrollers designed for Internet of Things applications. Sokacz, who will be entering his second-year of his Bachelor of Technology - Automation Engineering Technology Program, says MultiWii was used to set up the hardware for drone communication. The ATMega328 platform worked with a common accelerometer/gyroscope board to provide stabilization. The user input from the transmitter was able to control the rotor speed, which yields promising results for the future implementation on campus.

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Adam Sokacz

“I get to work with a lot of cool tools like 3D printers,” says Sokacz. “We have some really cool equipment on campus. I got to build a drone, which is a big interest of mine, so I’m working on an ongoing project. I really love doing this.”

Students making an impact

Gaining summer experience During the summer months, while most clubs and teams go on hiatus, these students have been hard at work. Here is a look into what our Faculty of Engineering students have accomplished last summer. McMaster Mars Rover Team launched the inaugural Ontario Rover Rally On July 28, at McMaster Innovation Park, the McMaster Mars Rover team hosted the inaugural Ontario Rover Rally (ORR), bringing together more than 70 people, including rover teams and Mars-enthusiasts from across Ontario. The rally is the first of its kind in Ontario, with the only other North American rover competitions being held in Alberta and Utah. McMaster was joined by teams from Ryerson University, York University, and the University of Toronto. During the competition, teams raced their rover over inclines, obstacles and martian-like terrain. The competition also included a science and design challenge, where teams proposed methods of detecting life on Mars and protecting cargo as it descends from orbit. The McMaster Mars Rover team is comprised of students from multiple engineering streams. Along with organizing the ORR, the team is in the process of building a rover to compete at the Canadian International Rover Challenge.

Mac RoboMasters competed in Robotics Competition in Shenzhen, China On July 24th, the Mac RoboMaster team traveled to Shenzhen, China to compete in its first RoboMaster Robotics Competition. The team of undergraduate students has been preparing for the competition since January. In only a few months, they built and optimized a squad of five robots designed to perform various tasks in an arena. During the competition, teams must navigate a battlefield to find and launch projectiles at their opponents. With the glory of being named “RoboMaster” and more than $600,000 in prize money up for grabs, the competition is fierce. The annual competition brings together more than 170 teams from across the globe, including 24 from North America. McMaster is one of three Canadian universities that participated in the competition.

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Students making an impact Faculty of Engineering students attend experiential weekend on the Akwesasne reserve A contingent of McMaster faculty, staff and students travelled to the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne from June 14 to 16 to attend a knowledge-sharing weekend hosted by Bear Clan Mother, Mamabear (Louise MacDonald). The weekend included discussions organized by The Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR) and several traditional activities including a sweat lodge ceremony, tobacco burning, and social with dancing and drums. The students also demonstrated the low-cost wireless environmental sensors developed by McMaster engineering professors, Charles de Lannoy, Emil Sekerinski and Ravi Selvaganapathy, that can help the community to track their water quality and take control of their health. “To be exposed to their culture and holistic way of thinking, even just for a weekend, has forever changed my outlook in life,” said Kyle Heyblom, a fourth year chemical engineering student and Engineers Without Borders member who attended the event. The Engineers Without Borders (EWB) McMaster Chapter is a club that advocates for positive global and local change and tackles the causes of poverty and inequality.

MERGE takes first place at CANRGX competition MERGE (McMaster Experimental Reduced Gravity Team) took home the Overall Excellence First Place Prize at the 2019 Canadian Reduced Gravity Experiment (CAN-RGX) Design Challenge. The competition challenged students from Canadian universities and colleges to design an experiment to be tested in microgravity conditions aboard the Falcon-20 research aircraft. CAN-RGX is hosted by SEDS-Canada and took place from July 22-26 in Ottawa, Ontario. The team studied the effects of sloshing during satellite fueling, according to a MERGE press release. Their slat screen system dampened and evenly dispersed incoming fluid to minimize dynamic forces that could create instabilities in the satellite. McMaster was one of four teams selected to fully design, build, and fly their experiments.

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Facing up to the Challenge Young people who will tackle tomorrow’s thorny global problems will need both superlative technical skills and a range of problem-solving skills. That’s the philosophy behind the newly launched McMaster Grand Challenges Scholars Program, an initiative aiming to enhance graduates’ ability to drive real, sustainable change in the face of 21st century challenges. The Grand Challenges program builds on the strengths of MacChangers, a co-curricular program led by the Faculty of Engineering and the MacPherson Institute, which brings together teams of students from across campus to seek local solutions to challenging societal issues.

It’s just the latest way McMaster Engineering is transforming the student experience and amplifying experiential learning, says Ishwar K. Puri, Dean of Engineering. “We know that the world is changing at a rapid rate and so we need to prepare students to be agile thinkers and strong communicators who are capable of shaping the future, rather than just chasing it,” Puri says. “We want to ensure that every student graduating from McMaster Engineering is a resilient, calculated risk-taker who can impact the world.”

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Following a framework developed by the US National Academy of Engineering, the Grand Challenges Scholars Program is offered at more than 60 American universities, including MIT, Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio State and the University of Southern California. McMaster is the first Canadian university to be accepted into the program, joining eight other non-U.S. schools, including Australian National University, City University of Hong Kong, and the National University of Singapore. While the American version of the program focuses students on very specific goals, the McMaster version encourages students to look for problems that address the UN Sustainable Development goals, which range from eradicating poverty to climate action to improving water quality and good health and well-being. To complete the program and earn a digital credential, students will have to demonstrate skill in the five competency areas of research, multiculturalism, business and innovation, multidisciplinary work, and social consciousness. They can draw on learning gained through coursework, extracurricular and co-curricular activities, exchange programs, volunteer opportunities, and work experiences to demonstrate their mastery of the competencies. Civil Engineering professor Cam Churchill, who is also the Director of the McMaster Grand Challenges Scholars program, says a process for reflection built into the program will help students gain insight into the skills they are cultivating. For example, participating in Engineers without Borders could develop an understanding of different cultures to contribute toward the multiculturalism competency. As participants gain skills and experience, they will move sequentially through foundational, visionary and scholarly levels in each competency. Scholarly-level skills in at least two competencies will be required to graduate as a Grand Challenges Scholar, while those who earn scholarly credentials in all competencies will be awarded a Grand Impact Scholar certification. “Our students want to change the world, they want to make a difference,” says Churchill. “The Grand Challenges program lets them actually work on something real, on

problems in the Hamilton community that they learn to understand and solve as allies of the community.” The heart of the McMaster Grand Challenges program is completing a project, such as MacChangers, within the local community that has impact. Third-year Mechanical Engineering student Mariam ElSheikh took part in the program last year and worked with the City of Hamilton on a compelling project to transform the roof of an underutilized parking garage into community space. The team was responsible for both envisioning the problem – underutilized parking spots and a lack of community gathering space – and defining a solution. They met with experts, undertook community consultation and researched the technical and social aspects of the project, then presented their work in a public showcase. ElSheikh says it was an experience that really taught her about herself, her skills and her interests. “It was great that it was so tangible – you could see that it would better the community,” ElSheikh says. “It wasn’t just an assigned project in a course, it was something that could potentially be applied to society around you.” Projects are required to be ACTIVE – Attainable, Cultural, Technical, Impactful, Viable, and Experiential –to meet the requirements of the Grand Challenges program. Churchill says student enthusiasm for these types of projects reflects the growing interest in social responsibility that he sees among today’s aspiring engineers. While hosted by McMaster Engineering, students from all faculties can participate in the Grand Challenges program. Given the technical nature of the ACTIVE project, students from other faculties will be encouraged to work alongside engineering students on interdisciplinary teams. By offering formal recognition for students who take on extra challenges to improve their skills and contribute to society, the program also offers a way for students to demonstrate their professional skills to future employers and to create new innovations, says Churchill.

“The Grand Challenges program lets them actually work on something real, on problems in the Hamilton community that they learn to understand and solve as allies of the community.”

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@McMasterEng on Twitter

Giving Back Our Giving Story: Chandra and Wendy Kudsia “Applying to McMaster was one of the best things I ever did,” says Chandra Kudsia. He and his wife, Wendy, are paying it forward by supporting the next generation of students at Mac. He arrived on his own from India in 1964. “Canada was a new and wonderful experience,” recalls Chandra Kudsia, MEng ’66, DSc ’13. In his final year as an engineering undergrad in India, he applied to U.S. universities for graduate studies. One of his professors suggested he apply to a Canadian university, as well. “I knew very little about Canada,” Chandra recalls. But he decided to do some research and came across McMaster University. Mac offered him admission — and financial aid with no strings attached. “That scholarship was the essential enabler for me to make the move,” says Chandra. “And there I was at McMaster in the electrical engineering department in the fall of 1964.” Only a few weeks later, he met Wendy at a dance at the FROS Lounge (Friendly Relations with Overseas Students, the present-day Faculty Club). They were married in the McMaster chapel in 1967. In June 2019, they celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary. Wendy also benefited from financial support from her high school teacher, which allowed her to pursue her BA at McMaster. She graduated in 1966. “We learned the lesson that helping to educate students is not an expense, but an investment in our collective future,” she says. Both long-time generous donors to McMaster, the Kudsias have funded bursaries and scholarships for students in the

Faculties of Engineering and Humanities. They are now stepping forward to support The Pivot, Mac Engineering’s initiative to transform undergraduate education and educate the engineer of the future. Their $100,000 gift will create the Chandra and Wendy Kudsia Fund: Supporting Excellence in the Engineering Education of the Future. “The Pivot is transformational — a complete departure from the usual way of teaching,” says Chandra, who also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board. He chose to support the initiative because of the hands-on leadership of Ishwar Puri, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering. “His leadership is the key to success,” says Chandra. “If anyone can make it happen, it’s Ishwar.” “The Kudsias have been great friends of McMaster Engineering and I am very grateful for their support,” says Ishwar Puri. “Investing in the next generation of engineers allows us to enhance our current programming and build upon our long history of engineering excellence.” For his part, Chandra is clear about his feelings for Mac. He recalls that fateful moment 55 years ago when he took a chance and filled out the one-page admission form. “Applying to McMaster changed the course of my life. It was indeed one of the best things I ever did.”

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Giving Back

Our Giving Story: Cynthia and Yves Bled With a 60-year marriage and a shared passion for giving back, Cynthia and Yves Bled are dedicated to helping female students pursue an engineering career They met as graduate students at the University of Toronto and married soon after. Each pursued a successful career in academia: Cynthia as a professor of economics and a school board trustee, and Yves as a professor of anthropology and then dean of students. They shared a love of travel, collecting art and artifacts from their world travels. They also share a deep commitment to giving back: They have set up scholarships at many universities, including McMaster where they have created the Yves and Cynthia Bled Future Achievers Scholarships for Women in Engineering. Why engineering? “We are very focused on engineering as the discipline that continues to lag behind in gender parity,” says Cynthia, a recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. “We feel it is important to encourage women to pursue careers in STEM.”

Why McMaster? “It’s the reputation of the university and its strengths in engineering and science,” says Yves. “We believe this scholarship will create a real impact, helping female engineers to study at McMaster.” The couple has also remembered Mac in their estate plans to ensure the scholarship will exist in perpetuity. “McMaster Engineering is highly committed to advancing diversity in engineering, and we are very grateful to the Bleds for their support,” says Ishwar Puri, dean of the Faculty of Engineering. “A key aspect of our latest initiative, The Pivot, is to prepare our students to work in diverse, multicultural teams, and we are very proud to have achieved 35 per cent female enrolment in fall 2019.”

My Giving Story: Dean Chambers ’78 Mac grad funds unique summer research experience for Engineering students Dean Chambers remembers what it was like to be an undergraduate preparing for a career. “I was lucky to get some great summer jobs,” he recalls. “It really helped me hit the ground running.” He graduated in 1978 with his degree in chemical engineering and management — and went on to a 35-year career as a senior executive in the chemical, mining and metals industries. Now a corporate director and consultant, Chambers decided he wanted to give students a leg-up on their own future careers. “I’m a big believer in experiential

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learning,” he says. He’s also a believer in providing undergraduates with hands-on industry experience. In early 2016, he created the Chambers Experiential Learning and Discovery Fund. Each summer since, the fund has provided an engineering undergraduate with a paid summer research placement that includes an industry component. “The idea is to help promising students develop career-ready skills,” says Chambers. To date, four undergraduates — and four faculty members — have benefited.

Giving Back

This year’s faculty supervisor was Todd Hoare, a professor in the department of chemical engineering and Canada Research Chair in Engineered Smart Materials. “This research opportunity is quite competitive,” says Hoare, who received his PhD from Mac in 2006 and came on faculty in 2008. “It’s unique because it combines rigorous academic research with some great industry experience.” Hoare notes the Chambers research placement is a good fit for his lab, which frequently collaborates with industrial partners. This year’s student was Chloe Dawson, now entering her fourth year in chemical engineering and bioengineering. Dawson was supervised by post-doctoral fellows in Hoare’s lab — and by Kenneth Ng, an R&D scientist with Suncor Energy Inc. The four-month project tested new technology that could improve plant health in the fight against microbial pests. Dawson presented their findings every month to stakeholders at Suncor and McMaster. She credits the experience with giving her the opportunity to be “in rooms full of brilliant people,” she says. In turn, this has encouraged her to think of her own aspirations. “I want to be one of those people!” Her supervisor Ng commends Dawson for rising to the challenge. “She’s an excellent student, with the right kind of mind for research — a questioning attitude,” says Ng, who completed his BSc from Mac in 2008 and went on to a PhD at the University of Toronto. Ng also commends Chambers for funding a research

Left to right: Todd Hoare, Dean Chambers, Chloe Dawson, Kenneth Ng

placement with both an academic and an industry component. “It’s a two-way street,” says Ng. “It’s important for Suncor to have a connection to academia in support of our agroscience team.” “We are tremendously grateful to Dean for his leadership and his generous support,” says Ishwar Puri, dean of the Faculty of Engineering. Puri notes that a major focus of The Pivot — the Faculty’s new initiative to transform the undergraduate experience — is a commitment to providing students with more real-world experience. “Thanks to Dean for taking the lead to create this invaluable research experience.” Chambers has also provided major support to the Gerald Hatch Centre for Engineering Experiential Learning. With his wife, Carol-Lynn, he funded the Chambers Academic Grant and they are annual supporters of the Chem-E-Car student club. In 2017, Chambers was named one of Mac Engineering’s Top 150 Alumni. But back to this summer’s research project. Chambers asks Dawson and Ng: “What’s next?” While the project was of necessity only four months long, Ng is confident the research is well underway. “Chloe was able to take the project much farther than expected,” he says. As for Dawson, the summer placement has opened her eyes to “the combined mind-power” generated when academic researchers collaborate with industry professionals. “I’m so grateful for this amazing experience,” she says. “This was an awesome summer job.”

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Venture engineers excitement and exploration For nearly three decades, McMaster Engineering’s youth programs have inspired young people to explore the world of science, engineering and technology. Led by enthusiastic undergraduate instructors, our popular Venture and LEAP Academy programs deliver fun and innovative programming through outreach initiatives, curriculum-based travelling workshops, and unique summer programs. In 2019, free travelling workshops were delivered to a record 24,000 students from kindergarten to Grade 11. “The workshops bring STEM to life in the classroom,” says this year’s Venture director Emma Levy. “Our hands-on science and technology activities demonstrate curriculum concepts to students in a fun and interactive way.” The outreach program focuses on engaging girls, Indigenous youth and other underrepresented young people, to encourage them to see a science or engineering education as part of their future. The success of that approach can be seen in this year’s summer programs, which saw 38 per cent of enrolled students identifying as female. This year also saw a significant increase in the number of young people taking part in the popular CodeMakers program, which builds computer and coding skills to transform them from consumers of technology to producers of technology. “Digital literacy is becoming increasingly important. Students need to be able to use computers and understand

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how they work to really succeed in other areas of their lives,” says Levy. Venture and LEAP summer programs continue to innovate to offer students inspiring experiences that develop their skills. A curriculum redesign for next summer will create three program streams that will provide students with a range of choices while giving them the opportunity to explore a wide variety of engineering areas. One stream will offer hands-on experiences in areas of engineering including mechanical, mechatronic and automotive, while a second stream will group together laboratory-based activities in the chemical, bio-medical and bio-tech areas. A third stream will offer the CodeMakers program along with computer science and software engineering options. “We want to give kids the chance to explore what they are interested in, so they are excited about what they are learning and more inclined to dive in,” says Julee Minniti, a third year Bachelor of Technology - Biotechnology student who will serve as Venture Academy co-director for the coming year.

Welcome Week More than 1,400 first year Engineering, Bachelor of Technology, Computer Science and Integrated Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences students were greeted by eager Faculty of Engineering Welcome Week reps (aka Red Suits) between Aug. 26 and 30. Activities ranged BusPull – McMaster Engineering students from the traditional pulled a full-sized HSR bus move-in day welcome to through downtown Hamilton. In its 30th year, the bus pull is a Welcome Faculty Fusion cheering Week event organized by the McMaster fun to meeting clubs Engineering Society in association with Shinerama, a nationwide effort by and teams to university students to raise money participating in for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF). coding sessions. This year’s first year class comes from more than 30 countries. One in three students are female. Coding – First year students participate in a coding challenge during Welcome Week.

Clubs and Teams – Students check out the McMaster Baja Racing car during Faculty Fest.

Move in – Engineering Welcome Week reps (Red Suits) greet first year students and their parents during Move In weekend.

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News For the first time since 2012, McMaster is ranked among the top 75 universities in the world. The university ranked 72nd in the internationally respected 2020 Times Higher Education rankings released in Switzerland in Septemeber, advancing five spots over last year and one of only four Canadian universities in the world’s top 75. It’s the first time McMaster has cracked the top 75 since the change in rankings methodology in the early part of this decade. The world ranking success is just the latest in a steady cadence of global recognition for McMaster. Earlier this year, Times Higher Education ranked McMaster as second in the world for its impact at home and globally.

McMaster moves up six spots in QS World University Rankings In an annual ranking of the world’s top universities, McMaster has been ranked 140th in the world – an increase of six spots over last year. McMaster was one of only two universities in Canada’s top seven that saw their score and global rank increase in the 2020 QS World University Rankings, an international assessment that measures the world’s top 1,000 universities on a number of criteria, including academic reputation, citations per faculty and faculty/student ratio. McMaster’s scores improved in areas including academic reputation (which is weighted at 40% of the overall score), student/faculty ratio and percentage of international students.

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News

McMaster becomes the first Canadian university to offer digital degrees Graduates from McMaster Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Faculty of Engineering now have a degree in their pockets. More than 940 undergraduate engineering, Bachelor of Technology and computer science students received the institutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first-ever digital diplomas this spring. The pilot project marks a first for any Canadian university and follows in the footsteps of a handful of notable American universities, such as the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Using a free app called BlockcertsÂŽ, a digital credentialing system built by MIT which is anchored by bitcoin blockchain technology, students who opted in to the pilot project are able to carry and securely validate their credentials through their phone.

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News

McMaster researchers use friendly viruses to make a gel that can heal itself – and you McMaster researchers have developed a novel new gel made entirely from bacteria-killing viruses. The anti-bacterial gel, which can be targeted to attack specific forms of bacteria, holds promise for numerous beneficial applications in medicine and environmental protection. Among many possibilities, it could be used as an antibacterial coating for implants and artificial joints, as a sterile growth scaffold for human tissue, or in environmental cleanup operations, says chemical engineer Zeinab Hosseini-Doust.

Mechanical Engineers develop 3D printed sensors powered by snow Ravi Selvaganapathy, a professor in Mechanical Engineering and Canada Research Chair in biomicrofluidics, along with Ahmed Abdelsalam, a visiting researcher and Islam Hassan, a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering, used Canada’s harsh winter climate as inspiration to develop 3D printed sensors. Abdelsalam and Hassan, who came up with the original idea, thought, “We have a lot of snow. Why don’t we try to extract energy from it?” Triboelectric nanogenerators are “energy harvesters” that can take energy from the environment in a variety of forms (mostly mechanical) and convert it into electrical power. The device was made possible by depositing successive thin films, which acted as the electrode and UV-curable silicone (the triboelectrification layer). The structure proved to be transparent, mechanically strong, metal-free and flexible.

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Kudos

Thomas Adams

Chemical Engineering associate professor named University Scholar Six McMaster professors have been named 2019 University Scholars, an award that recognizes the achievements of mid-career researchers, including Thomas Adams, associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Recipients have distinguished themselves as international scholars and have demonstrated a commitment to the discovery, communication and preservation of knowledge, excellence in education and pedagogy, and to serving local and global communities. Each University Scholar will receive $15,000 each year of the award (up to $60,000).

Ken Coley becomes dean of Engineering at Western University McMaster Engineering Associate Dean, Academic Ken Coley took on a new role at Western University as its Dean of Engineering. It was announced on May 17 that he would assume the new role on July 1, 2019. Coley, who was also a professor for the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, began his first term as the Facultyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s associate dean, academic on August 1, 2008. He joined McMaster in 1996 as an associate professor and gained tenure in 1999. He served as chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Department from 2005 to 2009, during which time the number of undergraduate students enrolled in the program doubled.

Ken Coley

Steve Hranilovic appointed as acting associate dean, academic

Steve Hranilovic

Steve Hranilovic, professor of electrical and computer engineering and former acting associate dean, graduate studies, has been named acting associate dean, academic for a four-month term, or until the recommendation of the selection committee to identify an associate dean is approved. He succeeds Ken Coley who is moving to Western University as its dean of engineering. Hranilovic received his bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree from the University of Waterloo and masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and PhD degrees from the University of Toronto. His expertise is in communication algorithms, information theory and experimental implementations for optical channels, especially optical wireless channels.

Fall 2019

Kudos

Materials Science and Engineering student receives Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship LizaAnastasia DiCecco

Liza-Anastasia DiCecco, a doctoral student in Materials Science and Engineering, has been awarded the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. DiCecco will focus on developing custom additive manufactured titanium implants for people with osteoporosis. Each Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship recipient will receive $50,000 a year for up to three years.

Ishwar K. Puri, dean of Engineering, appointed as member of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Ishwar K. Puri, dean of Engineering, has been appointed to be a member of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) for a term of three years. “I am honoured to be appointed to NSERC Council by Her Excellency the Governor General on the recommendation of the Minister of Science,” says Ishwar K. Puri. “I look forward to helping advance Canada’s research and development agenda in collaboration with colleagues and leaders across our diverse and multicultural nation.” NSERC is the country’s largest funder of scientific research, and aims to make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators for the benefit of all Canadians.

Ishwar K. Puri

Engineering staff member Amber Bukata receives President’s Award for Outstanding Service

Amber Bukata

MacEngineer

Amber Bukata, manager, staffing and administration for the Faculty of Engineering, was one of 11 employees at McMaster who was recognized for going above and beyond her role by receiving the 2018 President’s Award for Outstanding Service. The awards recognize employees’ exceptional service, contributions to the efficiency and effectiveness of university operations, or their impact on the reputation of McMaster. Bukata began her McMaster career in 2002 as the staffing administrator for the Faculty of Engineering, was soon promoted to executive officer and then, in 2012, assumed her current position of manager of staffing and administration for the Faculty.

Kudos

Mark Lawford appointed as acting chair, department of computing and software The selection committee for the internal search put Lawford forward as a recommendation to the Senate Committee for a fiveyear term, commencing on July 1, 2019. Lawford will serve as acting chair until a final appointment recommendation has passed through the university’s approval process that will occur this coming fall. Lawford joined McMaster University in 1998 where he helped develop the Software Engineering programs and Mechatronics Engineering programs, and is also the director of the McMaster Centre for Software Certification. He is currently the lead investigator or co-investigator on a number of projects with several original equipment manufacturers and serves as the Connected and Autonomous Vehicle faculty advisor for the McMaster EcoCAR team.

Mark Lawford

McMaster Engineering community members inducted into Canadian Academy of Engineering

Nearly a dozen McMaster Engineering-affiliated professionals have joined a cohort of 54 highly accomplished engineers who were inducted as Fellows into the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) during a ceremony in Québec City on June 21. Donna Strickland, a McMaster Engineering alumna, is being awarded with a CAE Honorary Fellowship at a later date. Last year, eight McMaster Engineering-affiliated professionals joined the CAE. The newest McMaster Engineering-affiliated CAE members include: • Katherine Crewe. (Chair, TEC-Canada.) As patent holder of a coronary stent, Crewe led the commercialization of the product from animal and clinical trials through its launch. She has a Master of Biomedical Engineering from McMaster. • Stephen Elop. (Group executive, technology, innovation and

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strategy, Telstra.) Elop has made pioneering contributions that have led to the rapid evolution of computing technology, producing advances in foundational tools and technologies for telecommunication networks and the modern Internet. He holds a Bachelor of Computer Engineering and Management and an honorary doctorate of science from McMaster. Stephen Howe. (Executive vice-president and chief technology officer, Bell Canada.) Howe is a Canadian innovator designing, building and operating advanced broadband fibre, wireless, satellite and media networks. consumer internet speeds in the country. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering in engineering physics from McMaster and an MBA from Cornell University. James Politeski. (President, Ductmate Canada Ltd.) Politeski is recognized for his business leadership and strategic vision in leading the growth and transformation of the North American consumer electronics industry over the past 20 years. He holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and Management.

Fall 2019

Kudos

McMaster Engineering announces summer 2019 faculty appointments

Shelir Ebrahimi

Berker Bilgin

Marjan Alavi

Chemical Engineering and Engineering I

Electrical and Computer Engineering

W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology

Hao Yang

Mohamed Hassan

Civil Engineering

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Mohamed Ezzeldin Civil Engineering

Gail Krantzberg named to International Joint Commission advisory boards The International Joint Commission, a 110-year-old initiative between the US and Canada to prevent and resolve disputes around the country’s shared bodies of water, has appointed Gail Krantzberg, a professor with the engineering and public policy program, to the Great Lakes Science Advisory Board, which provides advice to the IJC on scientific matters and research related to the Great Lakes. Board members also complete studies on water quality issues related to the lakes. Krantzberg’s work focuses on ecosystem rehabilitation and protection, as well as Great Lakes governance.

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Faculty of Engineering McMaster University

MacEngineer

Michael Justason W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology

Are you an alumni who wants to get involved? Connect with us at: eng.mcmaster.ca/ connect/alumni

Events:

Staying connected with students and alumni

Alumni Day Saturday June 1st, 2019 The class of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;69 returned to campus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their graduation. Alumni came together to reminisce, re-connect and share in their journey since their departure from McMaster. Thank you to all who attended.

Fall 2019

Events: Staying connected with students and alumni

Applause and Accolades The annual Applause and Accolades Awards Gala recognizes engineering excellence among our distinguished alumni, faculty, staff and students, as well as influential community and corporate leaders. The May 9 event celebrated and honoured distinguished alumni, faculty, staff and students, as well as influential community and corporate leaders gathered at LIUNA Station where Ishwar K. Puri, dean of Engineering, was the host and emcee for the evening.

Women in Engineering: Welcome Back Dinner September 9, 2019 CIBC Hall, McMaster University Student Centre Thanks you to everyone who attended this annual event! We had over 300 attendees. It was so wonderful to see students engaging and building connections.

MacEngineer

Events: Staying connected with students and alumni

Mac Eng Connect The Engineering Alumni Office in collaboration with the Engineering Co-Op and Career Services office facilitated three Happy Hour- style networking events to connect students, alumni and employers. We look forward to continuing these events and encourage alumni to continue to share their journey with students.

Computer Science and Business Informatics Graduation Reception Tuesday April 9, 2019 Best wishes to the Computer Science and Business Informatics graduating class of 2019! Thank you to everyone who attended our reception.

Golf Tournament Friday June 7th 2019 The 17th annual McMaster Engineering Golf Tournament was held at Lowville Golf Club. Thank you to all alumni who spent the day enjoying the lovely weather and the beautiful course. Special thank you to all our sponsors!

Sponsor-a-Hole Crozier, Chris - BEngMgt ‘90(Civil) C.F. Crozier & Associates Inc. Veckie, Edward - BEng ‘00 (Mechanical) - Unified Engineering.com Corp.

Antipasto & Seafood Bar Berdusco, David - BEng ‘79 (Civil) Cripps, Paul – BEng ‘81 (Civil)

Crockett, Peter BEng ‘81 (Civil) Kurelek, Andy – BEng ‘81 (Mechanical) Monkman, John – BEng ‘79 (Civil) Moore, Gary - BEng ‘81 (Civil) Scheckenberger, Ron - BEng ‘81 (Civil) Sproule, Ben – BEng ‘79 (Civil)

Fall 2019

Backpack to Briefcase

PACK

BACK

BRIEF CASE

January 22, 2020 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm CIBC Hall, McMaster University Student Centre Event Contact: Carm Vespi vespi@mcmaster.ca 905-525-9140 x24906

Whiskies of the World November 14, 2019 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Liuna Station Event contact: Carm Vespi vespi@mcmaster.ca 905-525-9140 x24906