Table of Contents Contents......................................................................................................................................2 Message from TISED’s Director...............................................................................................3 Governance.................................................................................................................................5 Staff..............................................................................................................................................5 Membership................................................................................................................................6 Research and Policy...................................................................................................................7 Scholars-in-Residence Program (Sir) & Visiting Profesoors...............................................8 Outreach.....................................................................................................................................9 Student Support.......................................................................................................................11 TISED Graduate Fellowships (MEDA)................................................................................14 Education and Training..........................................................................................................19 SEDTALKS...............................................................................................................................23 Contact Us ..............................................................................................................................25 Appendix A: TISED Members...............................................................................................26 Appendix B: Draft Layout for Proposed Master’s Program Space ...................................28 Appendix C: Financial Details...............................................................................................29 Photo Credits: Owen Egan, Gary Ng, Mary Kang and Christine Wang
Message from TISED’s Director The past year has been an unprecedented one in TISED’s history; as the world navigated the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and McGill prepared contingency plans based on the regional epidemiological situation and in anticipation of potential public health directives, TISED adapted to the every-changing landscape of the “new normal”. Over the past year our outreach activities were adjusted and moved online, as we tried to take advantage of the virtual platforms to create a more accessible forum for our researchers and community to gather. Our flagship event, the 7th Annual Trottier Symposium on Sustainable Engineering, Energy and Design, was hosted online on September 16, 2020, and saw two distinguished speakers share their thoughts on what COVID-19 taught us about how society can tackle the climate emergency through technological and political means. Dr. Naomi Oreskes and Dr. Michael E. Mann, laid out a challenging yet hopeful roadmap of how the scientific and research community can en-gage with the policy makers to implement the technological solutions to address the forthcoming consequences of the climate crisis. Furthermore, the SEDTalks! Training Program, TISED’s flagship student training initiative, celebrated its 5th anniversary and saw the largest and most diverse group of students completing the virtual presentation skills training workshops. Delivered in collaboration with McGill’s SkillSets team from Teaching and Learning Services, SEDTalks! continues to receive positive feedback from student participants as it promotes the high caliber sus-tainability research of the TISED graduate student community. On the academic side, the interest in TISED’s SEAD courses remained strong during the 20202021 academic year and four of our five current courses were delivered remotely. In addition, this year TISED took important steps towards launching a Master’s program in sustainability in engineering and design, a reality. A program proposal was submitted to the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI) in May 2020. Thanks to the work by the dedicated group of TISED members and other McGill stakeholders who worked alongside with the TISED team, the program proposal review by the Québec Ministère de l’éducation et de l’enseignement supérieur has been officially commenced. In addition, progress on the renovations of the physical space designated for the future TISED Master’s program is underway. The project was commenced in mid-2020; project completion and move-in are expected by the end of 2021. And though some of our acitivies related to programs such as the Research Workshops Program and the Scholar-in-Residence have been suspended while non-essential travel restrictions remain in place, TISED took steps to redirect the unspent funds from these programs to support promising
prospective graduate students wishing to pursue doctorate degrees in areas of sustainability within our Faculty as well as undergraduate students through additional summer research training support. As we all look forward to returning to campus for the Fall 2021 semester, we are faced with the reality that COVID is likely going to become endemic. Vaccines gave us an incredible weapon in the fight against the virus, saving lives and helping us get back a semblance of our pre-pandemic lives. Yet, while the progress on vaccine development demonstrated the potential and the power of our collective efforts it also brough to light the stark inequalities that exist around the world. Much like with the pandemic, the consequences of the climate change crisis will disproportionately affect the poor and disadvantaged regions of the world. The greatest opportunities in advancing climate action lie in making significant advances towards implementing renewable and clean energy production and use, increasing energy efficiency, and infrastructure (re)development to reduce our urban and industrial carbon footprint. And as our Trottier Symposium speakers emphasized, political courage in policy development will be needed to bring about substantive change. Promoting ideas and actions that can bring about substantive progress towards a sus-tainable and resilient societies across the world, will continue to be at the core of our activities in the coming year. During the coming year, TISED hopes to host a Scholar in Residence (2022-2023 cycle), who take a leading role in creating an impactful dialogue that advances policies for sustainability and climate change action. As always, we will continue to strive for creating research exchange opportunities for our members, delivering student support through funding and education enhancement activities and public outreach. To a successful and healthy 2021-2022 for all,
Subhasis Ghoshal Professor and Director, Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design
Governance TISED creates ad hoc committees and working groups established for project and event specific initiatives. TISED is in the process of finalizing the Board of Directors (BOD), to guide the strategic direction of the institute; the BOD is expected to be finalized by January 2022.
Academic Staff
Prof. Subhasis Ghoshal,
Prof. Laxmi Sushama,
Director
Trottier Chair in Sustainable Engineering and Design
Prof. Jeffrey Bergthorson,
Prof. François Bouffard,
Associate Director & Panda Faculty Scholar in Sustainability in Engineering and Design
John M. Bishop and Family Faculty Scholar in Sustainable Engineering and Design
Administrative Staff
Monika Skonieczny,
Gary Ng,
Manager
Research Assistant
Irene Toffolo,
Parisa Hassani,
Administrative Coordinator
Digital Communications and Outreach Associate
Membership
New Members:
Stephanie Loeb
Naomi Keena,
Naomi Keena, architect and interdisciplinary researcher, is an Assistant Professor at McGill University’s Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture. Keena’s research focuses on broadening the space and time upon which we consider architectural and urban design, to understand both the work of the techno-sphere in constructing our urban environments and that of the geo-biosphere in sustaining such development. She combines life cycle approaches to design with data visualization and computational techniques as a means to assess socio-ecological factors in architecture and to transform complex data streams into organized knowledge.
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Daniele Malomo
Assistant Professor Civil Engineering
Assistant Professor, Architecture
Professor Loeb’s research efforts span the intersection of materials science and environmental engineering, with a particular focus on the removal of chemical and biological contaminants in water using sunlight, engineered light sources, and light-activated nanomaterials. Her recent research has aimed to characterize how sunlight inactivates challenging viruses in the environment. She is also interested in the fabrication and design of novel light-activated nanomaterials for sustainable water disinfection and developing improved methods for detecting and quantifying pathogens in water.
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Assistant Professor Civil Engineering
Professor Malomo’s areas of expertise are structural and earthquake engineering. The main focus of his research is on computational modeling of masonry, heritage and reinforced concrete systems, collapse analysis of large-scale structures and infrastructures, development of hybrid DEM/ FEM numerical techniques. Since 2021, he serves in the Board of Directors of the Canadian chapter of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). His work has been recently awarded by (TMS), (PEER) and (IABSE).
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RESEARCH Trottier Chair in Sustainable Engineering and Design The Trottier Chair in Sustainable Engineering and Design conducts leading-edge climate research and continues to have significant influence on climate research and on adaptation strategies of private and public bodies. Over the last year, the Trottier Chair, continued to promote interdisciplinary research to address today’s grand challenges. For example, Prof. Sushama led a research effort on the impact of COVID-19-related traffic slowdown on urban heat characteristics, using Montreal as a case study in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada and other TISED members. An article related to this work has been submitted for publication.
Selected Publications 1.
Zhao, K., L. Sushama, 2020. Aircraft Takeoff Performance in a Changing Climate for Canadian Air ports, Atmosphere, DOI: 10.3390/atmos11040418.
2. Diro, G., L. Sushama, J. Scinocca, Y. Jiao, 2020. Impact of soil moisture on the dominant modes of North American temperature variability. Climate Dynamics, DOI: 10.1007/ s00382-020-05537-3 3.
Oh, S., L. Sushama, B. Teufel, 2020. Arctic precipitation and surface wind speed associated with cyclones in a changing climate. Climate Dynamics, DOI: 10.1007/s00382-020-05425-w
4.
Teufel, B., L. Sushama, 2020. Reply to: Permafrost thaw and northern development, Nature Climate Change, DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-0862-5
Scholars-in-Residence Program (SiR) & Visiting Professors The Scholar-in-Residence program supports scholars and experts in conducting collaborative research with an emphasis on advancing sustainability in one of TISED’s strategic areas; Sustainable Infrastructure and Urban Development; Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency; Sustainable Industrial Processes and Manufacturing or Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience. A TISED SiR spends up to six months in residence at McGill’s Faculty of Engineering to participate in interdisciplinary research with a clear policy impact and teaching. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SiR Program was suspended during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Research Workshop Program The Research Workshop Program (RWP) facilitates discussions on cutting edge advances in technology and design as well as policy frameworks and interventions required to advance sustainability. Each RWP includes a specialized research workshop and a public seminar. During the research workshop, focussed discussions support the development of a timely and topical publication and/or a research funding proposal. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Research Workshop Program was put on hold.
OUTREACH Despite the COVID-19 pandemic TISED has continued its outreach efforts, and hosted a series of virtual events, with students, researchers and the community. Hosting these events online, increased accessibility, with recordings of the talks available on TISED’s YouTube channel following the event.
TISEDTalks - Invited Speakers Series Last year TISED launched a new outreach initiative, called TISEDTalks. TISEDTalks feature both Canadian and international researchers on relevant topics of sustainability in urban planning, architecture, and engineering; attendance is open to all members of our community, professors, students and public, alike. The goal of TISEDTalks is to provide a forum where TISED members can meet other researchers as well as present their work, all in hopes of fostering potential cross disciplinary collaborations while engaging the broader McGill student and research community and highlighting the cutting edge work done by our members in the area of sustainability. TISED held two virtual TISEDTalks in the previous academic year and plans to host four seminars during the 2021-2022 academic calendar. Prof. Sarah Dorner (Polytechnique Montréal), Associate Prof. Dominic Frigon (McGill University) and Associate Prof. Robert Delatolla (University of Ottawa) “COVID-19 Surveillance in Wastewater”, February 2021 (hosted in partnership with The Brace Water Centre). Watch Now
Prof. Eric Massanet, Professor and Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science for Emerging Technologies, University of California, Santa Barbara. “Decarbonizing the Cement and Concrete Cycle”, April 2021. Watch Now
7th Annual Trottier Symposium on Sustainable Engineering, Energy and Design The Annual Symposium focuses on the relevance of sustainable engineering and design to people’s lives. Each year TISED and lnstitut de l’Énergie Trottier (IET) at Polytechnique Montréal take turns hosting this event, which historically has taken place in the spring. This year the symposium was exceptionally moved to the fall, due to logistical challenges. On September 16, 2020, TISED in partnership with IET, hosted the 7th annual Trottier Symposium on Sustainable Engineering, Energy, and Design. For the first time, we hosted the event virtually, making this Symposium our lowest carbon footprint event and most accessible symposium to date. The 7th Symposium, titled “Lessons from a Pandemic: Solutions for addressing the Climate Change Crisis” featured two prominent speakers Dr. Naomi Oreskes and Dr. Michael E. Mann. The presentations were followed by a Q&A period, moderated by Dr. Bruce Lourie, President of the Ivey Foundation with questions submitted live by the audience via Twitter and email. The symposium can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube.
Highlights
STUDENT SUPPORT Made possible by the generous donation from varies benefactors as well as the Trottier Family Foundation and with support from the Faculty of Engineering, TISED provides student funding opportunities in the form of Faculty Scholar Awards, Graduate Fellowships (MEDA), Undergraduate Research Internships (SURE) and other education enhancement initiatives.
Faculty Scholar Awards The Faculty Scholar Awards support research in sustainability in part by funding the Scholar’s doctoral students.
Panda Faculty Scholar Award in Sustainability in Engineering and Design On January 1, 2021, Prof. Jefferey Bergthorson was reappointed for a three-year term as the Panda Faculty Scholar, and TISED Associate Director. Prof. Bergthorson’s research focuses on improving our fundamental understanding of the combustion and emissions properties of a variety of alternative zerocarbon and low-carbon fuels, including hydrogen, ammonia, and using metals as carbon-free recyclable fuels. Faculty Scholar: Prof. Jefferey Bergthorson, Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student: Kartik Mangelvedhe, PhD Candidate Research Area: fundamentals of nitrogen oxide pollutant formation in metal flames; a key question on the emissions that might arise from metal power systems
Publications supported by Award: 1. J Palecka, JS Park, S Goroshin, and JM Bergthorson. Aluminum-propane-air hybrid flames in a Hele-Shaw cell. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute (available online). url: https://doi. org/10.1016/j.proci.2020.09.01 2. J Palecka, S Goroshin, AJ Higgins, Y Shoshin, P de Goey, JR Angilella, H Oltmann, A Stein, B Schmitz, A Verga, S Vincent-Bonnieu, W Sillekens, and JM Bergthorson. Percolating ReactionDiffusion Waves (PERWAVES) | Sounding rocket combustion experiments. Acta Astronautica 177 (2020), 639-651. 3. F Blais, P Julien, S Goroshin, and JM Bergthorson. Effects of initial reactant temperature on flame speeds in aluminum dust suspensions. Combustion Science & Technology (available online). url: https://doi.org/10.1080/00102202.2020.1820496 4. KA Trowell, S Goroshin, DL Frost, and JM Bergthorson. Aluminum and its role as a recyclable, sustainable carrier of renewable energy. Applied Energy 275 (2020), 115112:1-8. 5. KA Trowell, S Goroshin, DL Frost, and JM Bergthorson. The use of supercritical water for the catalyst-free oxidation of coarse aluminum for hydrogen production. Sustainable Energy & Fuels 4 (2020), 5628-5635.
John M. Bishop & Family Faculty Scholar Award in Sustainable Engineering & Design Faculty Scholar: Prof. Francois Buffard, Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Student: Imen Jendoubi, PhD Candidate Research Area: The research explores various methodological approaches to perform the control of local renewable energy generation in conjunction with local flexible electricity demand and energy storage. The inherent challenge with such problems is how the energy storage and flexible demand can be used dynamically to maximize the low-carbon component of the energy consumed. The research succeeded in designing several such approaches, which all have several benefits. First, they can operate autonomously, and second, they can adapt readily to changes in system configurations (e.g., the addition of new solar panels), as they do not rely on an explicit model of the energy system. Publications supported by Award: none to date; The results of the initial work will be submitted for publication in the latter half of 2021. Carol McLeod Faculty Award in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency In February, Mr. David P.J. McLeod, BEng 1955 made a generous donation in memory of his wife, Carol McLeod, to establish the Carol McLeod Faculty Award in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency to reward outstanding Faculty members in the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design. The award will be given annually to support the outstanding teaching and or research innovation efforts of dedicated Faculty members who are affiliated with TISED and who contribute to the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency. It is expected that the first recipient of the award will be selected in the 2021- 2022 academic year. A call for applications is expected in Fall 2021.
TISED Doctoral Recruitment Awards (DAR) The ongoing pandemic has led to a temporary suspension of some TISED research initiatives, specifically the Scholar-in-Residence (SiR) Program and the Research Workshop Program (RWP), due to travel and in-person gathering restrictions imposed by public health officials. In turn, this suspension has resulted in unspent funds from Fiscal Year 2021. In Winter 2021 TISED decided to direct these funds towards supporting prospective doctoral candidates and introduce the one-time only Doctoral Recruitment Awards (DRA) for prospective PhD students of TISED members to help attract top-caliber doctoral candidates into the Faculty of Engineering for the Fall 2021 semester, looking to work on sustainability related research projects.
Fall 2021 DAR Recipients
Remy Fortin, Architecture, Research area: Materials and design used in buildings for reduction of greenhouse gases Sicong Jinang, Civil Engineering, Research area: Development of new control algorithms to improve the efficiency and reliability of urban bus systems Aosong Li, Materials Engineering, Research area: Metallic coatings to increase corrosion protection of components in the aerospace in-dustry Tongyue Liang, Materials Engineering, Research area: Enhancing the lifetime and durability of surfaces undergoing regolith wear in planetary exploration environments Bobby Miglani, Materials Engineering, Research area: design of sustainable electrochemical technologies Siyuan Mu, Civil Engineering, Research area: Unraveling nanomaterial-bacteria interactions towards development of efficient strate-gies for degradation of toxic halogenated organic contaminants in natural and engi-neered systems Zahra Rahamani, Civil Engineering, Research area: Technologies for treatment of contaminated water Pouria Rahmati, Civil Engineering, Research area: Predictions of oxygen exchange downstream of turbines, and the development of a robust retrofit technology Racchana Ramamurthy, Civil Engineering, Research area: Biodegradable plastics in urban air and
TISED Graduate Fellowships (MEDA) The McGill Engineering Doctoral Awards (MEDA) program aims to recruit the best and brightest new doctoral students from around the world. Selection for this award is based on the excellence of a student’s academic and research record, including publications, presentations and his or her potential to make a major impact on the quality of research in the Faculty of Engineering at McGill University and in the field of engineering. MEDA are offered by the Faculty of Engineering and are cost shared with the student’s Department/School or supervisor.
Ciro Robert Martoni Fellowship in Sustainable Engineering Anthony Ubah, Electrical and Computer Engineering. Research area: Nanoelectronic Devices and Materials. Philip Cimento, Chemical Engineering. Research area: Plasma Reactors. Khalil Hashem, Civil Engineering. Research area: Environmental. Andrea Gabor/Urban Strategies TISED Fellowship in Sustainable Urban Planning & Design Samuel Kohn, School of Urban Planning. Research topic: Deconstructing Business Sentiment Towards Pedestrianisation. Connor Cordingley, School of Urban Planning. Hanna Demyk, School of Urban Planning. Research topic: Case study research on the implementation of nature based solutions for flood risk reduction in Asia. Trent Bonsall, School of Urban Planning. Research topic Use of simple technologies in monitoring and evaluation of food security programs in rapidly urbanizing Global South cities. Andrew Faber, School of Urban Planning. Research topic To what extent will Montreal’s new inclusionary zoning bylaw create greater housing accessibility? Assim Sayed Mohammed, School of Urban Planning. Alexander Topp, School of Urban Planning.
Mike Zahn Fellowship Kavya Rajendran, Bioengineering. Khashayar Feizbakhshian Kohan, Civil Engineering. Research area: Hydraulics. Khalil Hashem, Civil Engineering. Research area: Environmental. Redwood Graduate TISED Fellowship Mengying Lei, Civil Engineering. Research area: Transportation. Yu Wang, Civil Engineering. Research area: Environmental. Uma and Mahesh Sharma Graduate TISED Fellowship Kartik Mangalvedhe, Mechanical Engineering. Research area: Combustion and Energy Systems. Pavan Velivela, Mechanical Engineering. Research area: Design and Manufacturing. John M. Bishop & Family Fellowship for Sustainability in Engineering & Design (TISED) Kang Hoon Choi, Chemical Engineering. Research area: Corrosion Yu Wang, Civil Engineering. Research area: Environmental. Kauser Family Graduate TISED Fellowship Andrew Carkner, Chemical Engineering. Research area: CO Methanation Reactor. Khalil Hashem, Civil Engineering. Research area: Environmental. 2 ACDEG Fellowship in Sustainable Engineering Khashayar Feizbakhshian, Civil Engineering. Research area: Hydraulics. Anirban Kundu, Civil Engineering. Research area Environmental Sofi Buzukashvili, Mining & Materials Engineering. Shahab Mahmoudi Sadaghiani, Electrical and Computer Engineering. Research area: Integrated Circuits and Systems.
TISED Awards for Summer Undergraduate Research (TASUR) Suspension of TISED’s SiR and RWP initiatives in the fiscal year 2021, made funding available to TISED members in the form of undergraduate research traineeship awards. The TASUR awards were made available to TISED members whose prospective trainees had applied for a SURE award, but were unsucessful in securing the funding from the Faculty due to high demand. The award criteria stipulated that the students’ proposed summer research project be related to sustainability in engineering, and design and be consistent with TISED’s missions and goals.
TASUR Recipients Hermine, Demael, Architecture, Construction Métis: Development of a collective eco-construction cluster including a prefabrication and eco-construction facility in the Gaspé. Frederic Verrier-Paquette, Architecture, ReCONstruct: Deep Energy Retrofit Program Development and Pilot Project Aki Fujinawa, Mechanical Engineering, Computational modeling of flame propagation in a suspension of polydispersed iron particles. Laurence Peinturier, Mechanical Engineering, Design of a lab-scaled concrete-based high temperature molten salt solar thermal receiver and storage system.
Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE) Awards The SURE awards provide an opportunity for undergraduate students to get exposure to research in their discipline through paid summer research traineeships. Typically, students work closely with a graduate student.
Summer 2020 TISED SURE Award Recipients Chantel Yung, Civil Engineering. “Methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells”. Harry Marksfield SURE Award. Coralie Jabra Khabbaz, Chemical Engineering, “Catalyst development for CO2 and CH4 activation to value added chemicals.”. William Harker SURE Award in Sustainability in Engineering & Design. Allan & Linda Stephens SURE Award in Sustainability Engineering. David Lutes, Civil Engineering, “Investigating prevention strategies to protect our water resources and public health”. John M. Bishop & Family SURE Awards for Sustainability in Engineering and Design. William Harker SURE Award in Sustainability in Engineering & Design. Harry Marksfield SURE Award. Ethan Everly, Mechanical Engineering. “Feasibility study of Canadian solar energy resources”, Jerry and Norma Farnell SURE Award Hanyu Zhang, Civil Engineering. “Bioremediation strategies for degradation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soils in cold regions”, Jerry and Norma Farnell SURE Award Kalyssa Volk, Chemical Engineering, “Investigating prevention strategies to protect our water resources and public health“, Brian Hirst SURE Award in Sustainable Engineering. Kerui Lai, Material Engineering, “Lab scale resin transfer moulding system development.” Jerry and Norma Farnell SURE Award. Furino-Remillard SURE Award in Sustainable Engineering. Allan & Linda Stephens SURE Award in Sustainability Engineering. Nicholas Pinkerton, Mechanical Engineering, “Feasibility study of hydrogen fuel for energy production” , Mr. & Mrs. Lee Hee Chong and Mr. & Mrs. David Su Toye SURE Award (Sustainability). Noah LeFrancois, (BSc) Major Physics, Minor Mathematics, “Heat transfer in molten salts for solar thermal energy technologies“, John M. Bishop & Family SURE Awards for Sustainability in Engineering and Design. Richie Fong, Materials Engineering, “Discovery of sustainable and high-energy battery materials”, Claudia Macedo Memorial SURE Award in Sustainable Engineering. Sneha Singh, Civil Engineering, “Importance of wastewater composition on the dynamics of immigration in activated sludge wastewater treatment systems.”, Furino-Remillard SURE Award in Sustainable Engineering. Titiuan Delorme, Electrical Engineering, “Modelling energy storage assets in long-term capacity planning in deeply decarbonized electricity systems”, Jerry and Norma Farnell SURE Award. Veronika Mamaievska, Chemical Engineering,“Investigating prevention strategies to protect our water resources and public health”, Harry Marksfield SURE Award. Weijia Huang, Computer Engineering, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Broadband Wireless Access Communications”, Allan & Linda Stephens SURE Award in Sustainability Engineering. Zheyu Liu, Software Engineering, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Broadband Wireless Access Communications”, Prof. David Selby SURE Awd Sustainable Engineering. Mr. & Mrs. Lee Hee Chong and Mr. & Mrs. David Su Toye SURE Award (Sustainability).
Educational Enhancement Activities In addition to direct student financial support, TISED provides education enhancement activities made possible in part by generous donors through Student Education Enhancement Endowment Funds.
Other Activities “Plant your SEAD – TISED’s SEAD Courses Information Session”, hosted in partnership with SEAM, September 2020. “Summer Sustainability Research: Information Session”, hosted in partnership with SEAM, January 2021.
Education and Training TISED educates future engineers, urban planners, and architects by offering training opportunities, new courses, integrating sustainability into programs, and enhancing education ‘outside the classroom’. Teaching focuses on effective, practical, cutting-edge theories and strategies relevant to the development of sustainable engineers, architects, and planners’ career paths. TISED offers a growing catalogue of interdisciplinary sustainability focused courses, and a master’s program in Sustainability in Engineering and Design is under development.
A proposed Master’s Program in Sustainability in Engineering and Design TISED has continued to advance sustainability education at McGill University and the sustainability master’s program has taken further steps to becoming reality.
Program Timeline February 2019 - McGill Senate Final Approval May 2020 - Submission to Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI) & Québec Ministère de l’éducation et de l’enseignement supérieur In the past year, we have commenced formal steps towards creating a new master’s program in sustainability. The program dossier was submitted to the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI) in May 2020 and presented to their Academic Affairs Committee in June 2020. In January 2021, TISED received a BCI request for more information on our proposed program in the form of questions on specific details of the program. All the McGill stakeholders in the program worked alongside with the TISED team to answer these questions and our responses were delivered back to the BCI in anticipation of the upcoming virtual site visit.
TISED Course Offerings In preparation of the debut of the master’s program, TISED has been gradually introducing the courses of the proposed program into the McGill Engineering curriculum.
Over the past year, enrolment in SEAD courses has stayed steady despite the pandemic. A total of 83 students completed the four SEAD courses during the 2020-2021 academic year, for an average enrollment of about 20 students per course (compared to 17 students per course during the 20192020 academic year). Since the creation of the SEAD courses, we now have a total enrolment of 307 students in 15 classes since Fall 2016 when Energy Analysis was first taught by Prof. Bergthorson.
Proposed Master’s Program Space – Trottier Building Renovations In 2017, a the space in the Trottier Building was identified as a location to physical house the proposed TISED Master’s Program. The Faculty of Engineering (Electrical and Computer Engineering) and the Faculty of Science (Computer Science) have shared the occupancy of the Trottier Building since its construction in 2004. A block of rooms on the 2nd floor of Trottier (rooms 2060-64 & 2070), which are presently shared by the two Faculties, has been identified as an optimal home to accommodate the proposed TISED program. In spring of 2019, the Office of the Provost approved the funds for the project; the design of the space and the execution of the renovations. WSP was awarded the project and initial design plans for the layout of the renovted space were presented by WSP to the Faculty and TISED in March 2021 meeting. The new space will consist of a reception area, two small conference rooms, a multi-purpose student space and two offices for future administrative support staff; a graduate student advisor and an internship coordinator. Following a series of revisions, draft design layout of the physical space was finalized in June and is shown in Appendix B. An approximate timeline for the completion of the space renovation is shown blow.
Sustainability Education Workshop Initiative In summer of 2020, TISED launched a new initiative aimed at developing educational content on sustainability for a variety of undergraduate courses in the Faculty of Engineering. Named the Sustainability Education Workshops (SEW), the goal of the initiative is to develop educational learning modules that can be offered to students in a work-shop format. These modules would also be made available to Professors within the Faculty who wish to include some sustainability content in their existing (or new) courses. Another goal of this initiative is to produce a series of high-quality, concise, and impactful videos that can expose students, at the undergraduate, high school, and CEGEP level, as well as, and prospective future Master’s Program students, to the major concepts of sustainability. The content and structure of the videos will be inspired and informed by these teaching modules. Through this effort, TISED can increase its impact and promote its goal of educating current and future generations of engineers, urban planners, and architects to be leaders in sustainability in their professions.
2020 SEW Initiative Timeline • • • •
August 2020 - Call for applications September 2020 – Applications review & announcement of recipients January – August 2021 – Preparation of workshop content Fall 2021 – Winter 2022 – Delivery of the inaugural workshops
The first call for applications for workshop funding was launched in the fall of 2020 and three applicants were successful in the competition. The recipients were advanced to begin their work and the final workshop content materials are expected to be delivered to TISED by the summer of 2021. It is expected that the initial workshops will be delivered during the 2021-2022 academic year.
2020 SEW Initiative Recipients Prof. Anne-Marie Kietzig (Chemical Engineering), Life Cycle Analysis Prof. Kietzig’s workshop focuses on the use of software in the area of materials resource information. This popular software, ANSYS Granta, provides users access to a database of information on materials and their properties that will allow for enhanced design and performance. The workshop will highlight the Eco-Audit tool within the software and will allow participants to evaluate the environmental impacts (energy, water) of their different design options and configurations when building a product or designing a process.
Prof. Sidney Omelon (Materials Engineering), Life Cycle Analysis Prof. Omelon’s workshop will teach carbon footprinting and the ISO 14044:2006 standards that govern the life cycle analysis (LCA) process. The workshop will walk participants through the application of the LCA process in different engineering scenarios and highlight the benefits of the analysis to engineering and design in the different engineering disciplines within the faculty.
Prof. Jeffery Bergthorson (Mechanical Engineering), Energy Transitions Prof. Bergthorson’s workshop will cover the role of energy in human society, the challenges of our existing energy system, and the different options available to us to generate sustainable and greenhouse-gas-free energy. With climate change and limited oil reserves demanding a transition away from fossil fuels, clean primary energy technologies, based on wind, water and solar, are shown to be cost effective and practical options for decarbonizing our electricity grid. Energy storage technologies, from stationary storage options, such as pumped hydro or compressed air, to portable energy carriers, such as hydrogen, ammonia and even metal fuels, are also discussed as a key enabler to the transition to a low-carbon and prosperous society.
Student Training - SEDTalks! Presentation Skills Training The SEDTalks! Presentations Skills Training is a platform for graduate students to share their sustainability research, develop professional skills in public-speaking and communication, expand their academic and industrial networks, and work with other researchers to make an impact on sustainability through engineering and design. Delivered in partnership with SkillSets and led by oral communication professionals, from Teaching and Learning Services (TLS), the training includes workshops, small group coaching sessions with feedback, and explores strategies to design research talks that are both accessible and impactful. The 2020-2021 cycle marked the 5th anniversary of the SEDTalks! Training and this year, the program was revamped and adapted to the virtual setting, due to the cancellation of all in-person extracurricular activities and events at the university. The primary focus of the fall 2020 workshop was for the students to deliver a virtual 180-second talk on their research to a multidisciplinary audience at the SEDx180S event that was held in December. We had the largest, and most diverse cohort of participants during the Fall 2020 training.
30+
13
Training workshop participants from all units in the Faculty represented
Students presented 180-second research talks at the SEDx180s
At the conclusion of SEDx180S, a selection committee chose 3 students, our 2021 ChangeMakers, who proceeded to the winter training and delivered full presentations at the annual SEDTalks! Event, which was held virtually on March 24, 2021. TISED is also pleased to report that the 2021 SEDTalks! Event was sponsored by WSP, one of the world’s leading professional services firms. Mr. Eric Peissel, Executive Vice President, Advisory & Innovation gave the welcoming address and spoke about WSP’s commitment to sustainability and to support the SEDTalks! Initiative the ongoing demand in the global marketplace for engineers, urban planners and architects who have a strong understanding of sustainability and the challenges that face the global community in the coming decades.
Program ChangeMakers Breno Mumic Sequeira
Chemical Engineering, MEng Candidate Anne-Marie Kietzig, Supervisor Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
Fabrication of non-stick plastic containers: A key to creating longer lasting and easily recyclable containers
A frequent problem in the use of food and waste packaging is the final emptying of containers. Containers with food residue are rejected from recycling and, instead, end up in landfills where food decomposition emissions are a major contributor to global warming, acidification, and eutrophication. The solution may be super hydrophobic plastics created by understanding how liquids can be repelled by micro-textured surfaces. Breno’s research uses a laser-micromachining process for fabricating micro-patterns suitable for molding polymer containers. Taking this laser- micromachining of metallic mold surfaces from the laboratory to the industrial level may hold the key for dramatically increasing the recycling of common plastics.
Claire Gibson
Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanic, Ph.D. Candidate Dominic Frigon, Supervisor Sustainable Industrial Processes and Manufacturing
Eliminating a Key Antibiotic Resistance Hotspot: Investigating the Impact of Influent Immigration on Antibiotic Resistance inWastewater Treatment Plants Wastewater treatment plants are hotspots of antibiotic resistance, the spread ofwhich threatens nearly every aspect of modern medicine. Through a series ofdetailed reactor experiments and novel techniques for antibiotic resistance genedetection, Claire’s research investigates the impact of the influent wastewaterbacterial community on the overall microbial community and examines antibioticresistance within wastewater treatment facilities.In the future, her researchshould allow engineers to reconfigure wastewater treatment plant design totackle this antibiotic resistance hotspot.
Christopher Ramos
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ph.D. Candidate Geza Joos, Supervisor
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Wind and Solar Energy Integration: Creating Silicon Carbide Switch-based Converters to Connect Renewables to the Grid The recent growth of the renewable energy sector has been continuously driven by pressure to reduce our carbon footprint and help reverse the negative effects of climate change. But unlike traditional oil and coal plants, which use generator systems that produce power that automatically synchronizes with the electric grid, renewable sources, such as solar panels and wind generators, need power converters before connecting to the grid. Chris’ research focuses on the development of these converters by taking advantage of recent developments in silicon carbide semiconductors. The efficiency and cost of these power converter system are among the major challenges to massively scale up green energy plants to minimize the dependence on fossil fuels and mitigate climate change.
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Appendix A: TISED Members Madhav Govind Badami Jeffrey Bergthorson Kirk H. Bevan Sharmistha Bhadra Vikram Bhatt Lisa Bornstein Francois Bouffard Benoit Boulet Andrew Boyd Richard Chromik Sylvain Coulombe Noemie-Manuelle Dorval Courchesne Salmaan Craig George Demopoulos Allen Ehrlicher Ahmed Elgeneidy Dominic Frigon Susan Gaskin Subhasis Ghoshal Pascal Hubert Michael Jemtrud Geza Joos Mary Kang Anne-Marie Kietzig Jan Kopyscinski Mustafa Kumral Fabrice Labeau Tho Le-Ngoc Larry Lessard Jinxia Liu Nicholas Luka Aditya Mahajan Sara Mahshid Mohamed Meguid Brett Meyer Luis Miranda-Moreno Sivakumaran Nadarajah Alessandro Navarra Van-Thanh-Van Nguyen Jim Nicell
Urban Planning Mechanical Engineering Mining and Materials Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering Architecture Urban Planning Electrical and Computer Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Mining and Materials Engineering Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering Architecture Mining and Materials Engineering Bioengineering Urban Planning Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Mechanical Engineering Architecture Electrical and Computer Engineering Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering Mining and Materials Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering Mechanical Engineering Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Architecture Electrical and Computer Engineering Bioengineering Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Electrical and Computer Engineering Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Mechanical Engineering Mining and Materials Engineering Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics
Dan Nicolau Sasha Omanovic Sidney Omelon David Plant Nathaniel Quitoriano Agus Sasmito Patrick Selvadurai Yixin Shao Lijun Sun Laxmi Sushama Thomas Szkopek Mélanie Tétreault-Friend Nathalie Tufenkji Ipek Tureli Theodora Vardouli David Wachsmuth Xiaozhe Wang Kristian Waters Viviane Yargeau Fiona Zhao
Bioenginering Chemical Engineering Mining and Materials Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering Mining and Materials Engineering Mining and Materials Engineering Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics Electrical and Computer Engineering Mechanical Engineering Chemical Engineering Architecture Architecture Urban Planning Electrical and Computer Engineering Mining and Materials Engineering Chemical Engineering Mechanical Engineering
Appendix B: Draft Layout for Proposed Master’s Program Space