The Complete Engineer - Fall 2013

COMPLETE

THE

FALL/WINTER 2012

ENGINEER THE MAGAZINE OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY

High-capacity ceramic capacitors:

Green and efficient

RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO:

Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Office of the Dean Queen’s University 45 Union Street Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6

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SEC TION HEADER

INSIDE... our feature looks at

Industry and Engineering: Partners in Innovation

SEC TION HEADER

CONTENTS 1 A Message from the Dean The Faculty must be more creative in finding funding sources to provide quality education

FALL/WINTER 2012

A Message from the Principal Dean Kimberly Woodhouse reappointed as Dean of Engineering and Applied Science 2 Message from Associate Dean Brian Surgenor What’s the value of industry partnerships?

DEAN

Kimberly A. Woodhouse

3 Civil An integrated learning experience—research and professional development all in one

MANAGING EDITOR

4 Graduate ADMI: Stand out from the pack

Adam Walker CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Jordan Whitehouse GRAPHIC DESIGN

6

Materials Ceramic capacitors: Batteries for the future?

7

Materials Queen’s Reactor Materials Testing Laboratory (RMTL) will be a world class facility

Walker Design & Communications

8 QUIP The Queen’s Undergraduate Internship Program: Students + industry = a winning combination

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nanci Corrigan Anita Jansman Kirsteen Macleod Alec Ross

9

CONTACT INFORMATION

Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Queen’s University Beamish-Munro Hall 45 Union Street Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Tel 613.533.2055 Fax 613.533.6500 Email complete.engineer@queensu.ca

Professional The Mining GCCR program: Meeting an industry need

10 Undergraduate Mech 460: Student teams tackle industry challenges 12 Mining Designing smart systems for harsh environments 13 Centres Fuel Cell Research Centre: Seen as radical twenty years ago, it’s now mainstream.

And that is a good thing 14 Mechanical Collaboration for creation: GM and Queen’s researchers optimize the battery cooling system for hybrid and electric vehicles 16 Electrical The Next Generation Optical Networks program: Need for speed 17 Chemical Sensing a problem 18 Alumni Events The Faculty has launched Inspiring Greatness: The Campaign for Queen’s Engineering and the Dean and the Advancement team have been travelling across the country telling people about it

COMPLETE

THE

FALL/WINTER 2012

ENGINEER THE MAGAZINE OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY

RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO:

Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Office of the Dean Queen’s University 45 Union Street Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6

INSIDE... our feature look at

Adam will be writing copy for this section at Queen’s Engineering

PM# 41956012

COVER

Dr. Vlad Krstic holds a string of high-capacity ceramic capacitors in one of his labs at Jackson Hall

Nicol Hall celebrates its 100th birthday

FACULT Y

Dean’s Message

W

elcome to the Fall/Winter 2012 edition of The Complete Engineer. The leaves have fallen, winter is in the air, and another class of young future engineers is hard at work on campus.

As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Nicol Hall, it’s remarkable to look back at the milestones and achievements of our Faculty over that time. One hundred years ago, Queen’s—and in particular, what was then the Faculty of Science—was seeking a separation from the church in order to receive government funding for programs.

Today, funding continues to remain an issue—and our Faculty must be more creative about finding the necessary resources to provide the quality of education that our students deserve. Fortunately, we have been successful in developing many valuable industry partnerships that provide not just critical funding, but mentorships, tools, and hands-on learning opportunities that enrich our programs and equip our students with valuable experience and contacts for the future.

SCOT ADAMSON

This issue of The Complete Engineer features our recent successes through innovation in these industry partnerships at both the undergraduate and graduate level. We hope that you enjoy reading about them—and as always, we welcome your comments about our endeavours.

Kimberly A. Woodhouse PhD, PEng, FCAE, FBSE Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science

Dean Kimberly Woodhouse reappointed as Dean of Engineering and Applied Science

I

t’s my pleasure to announce that Kimberly Woodhouse has accepted reappointment as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science for a five-year term, effective July 1, 2012. Her reappointment was recommended by the Advisory Committee, chaired by the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Alan Harrison, and earned the unanimous support of the Committee.

Despite financially challenging times, Dr. Woodhouse has accomplished a great deal in her first five years as Dean. Notable among these are the development of the Faculty’s academic plan and strategic plan; the new Innovation and Global Leadership program, a joint initiative with the Queen’s School of Business, which admitted its first students this year; and the Aboriginal Access to Engineering program.

Thanks to the leadership of Dr. Woodhouse, the faculty, and researchers, the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is a leader in engineering education, and a key contributor to Queen’s national and international reputation.

We are proud of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science’s accomplishments, and I know we all look forward to continued innovation and success from Dean Woodhouse and her team.

Dr. Daniel Woolf, Principal and Vice-Chancellor THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 1

FACULT Y

What’s the value of industry partnerships?

(It’s not just about the money)

T

he shift in funding towards academic-industry partnerships has opened the door to a myriad of opportunities for innovation in engineering. But while financial support is both necessary and important, it’s just one aspect of the value of these critical collaborations for enhanced learning and discovery.

Where industry partnerships were once a simple relationship between a researcher and a company, now there are teams of undergrads, grads, faculty, and industry experts working together to solve problems that will keep Canada competitive in the global marketplace.

Partnerships have contributed to a nearly 40% increase in research funding for the Faculty over the past 5 years, leading to a new high of $26 million in 2011. For perspective, the (non-research) operating budget of the Faculty in 2011 was $24 million.

The benefits are truly wide-ranging—and about much more than money.

Through their participation, students gain hands-on experience—not just technical knowledge, but valuable key skills development, such as training in communications, commercialization, and industry practices.

They also get a chance to experience various industry environments while forging important new relationships for future careers.

Universities gain as well, through partnerships that allow us to create new programs that meet the needs of our students, our industry partners, and our evolving world. Our new Graduate Certificate in Community Relations for the Extractive Industries (see story page 9), for example, was designed in response to mining companies’ need for engineers to build better relations between the mining industry and the communities where they work, both for the benefit of industry and to ensure that the community benefits from the presence of the company.

In return for funding, mentoring, expertise, tools, and real-world problems to solve, industry partners gain knowledge from bright minds with creative ideas and the time to conduct critical research and development for new solutions that might not otherwise make it to market. They also get access to education, such as programs for industry engineers who are granted time and tuition from their employer to upgrade their engineering and professional skills.

These partnerships are hard work. They require all participants to invest a great deal of time, energy, expertise, and knowledge for mutual benefit. But the rewards are great. They offer students a chance to design engineering solutions for some of our world’s biggest problems— from new medical treatments and environmentally friendly chemical processes, to robotic systems and ultra-efficient product designs.

Grants and funding agreements always have, and likely always will be, a core component of a university’s ability to provide a quality education.

But today’s funding partners offer much more than a boost to the budget. They provide unrivalled opportunities for strong alliances that advance design and drive ingenuity for an ever-changing world.

Dr. Brian Surgenor in his Mechatronics Lab

2 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

Brian Surgenor PhD, PEng, FCSME Associate Dean (Research, Graduate Studies, and External Affairs)

CIVIL

Non-Ferrous Reinforcement Project Research team at the Monorail Test Track.

Front to back: Nik Wootton, Dr. Amir Fam, Mark Dickson (Bombardier), Dr. Mark Green.

An integrated learning experience—research and professional development all in one

I

n the overlap between academy and industry, Nik Wootton, Sc’11, has found his strength. Now just a little less than halfway through his MASc in Civil Engineering, the variety of skills required by Wootton’s thesis project has revealed project management as an unexpected professional passion for the young researcher.

With his co-supervisors, Dr. Mark Green, Sc’87, and Dr. Amir Fam, Wootton is part of a team exploring the advantages and disadvantages of reinforcing concrete with fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) as an alternative to rebar (steel-reinforced concrete) in the construction of a new monorail test track in Kingston. Queen’s collaboration with transportation industry leader Bombardier Transportation has meant a unique educational opportunity for Wootton. “Most students’ research projects are done more in-house, or if they involve partnerships, the student’s interaction with industry can be limited,” says Wootton. “But in this case, I’m learning what it’s like to work with businesses in the community.” In addition to cooperating with Bombardier, these structural engineering researchers have been working closely with Anchor Concrete.

“Queen’s Department of Civil Engineering has always been concerned with its students’ professional development, but it is truly a unique experience to be gaining such good industry experience and to have it all so integrated,” Wootton reflects appreciatively.

What led Wootton down this path into industry and experimentation? The answer, in large part, had to do with knowing

where he wanted to be rather than knowing what he wanted to research. “I did my undergrad here and I made the decision to stay at Queen’s because I couldn’t picture myself going anywhere else,” he explains with a relaxed certainty. The native Albertan enjoys the “student town” feel of Kingston and the environment of the Queen’s community. You’d be surprised, he insists, how tight-knit a large group of engineering grad students can be. As for the cutting edge structural technologies his research is helping to shape, Wootton recalls: “I had experimented a little with fiber reinforced polymers on a design team in undergrad. I didn’t fully understand its potential back then, but now it seems I’m finding out something new about this technology every month.”

When asked what it’s like stepping from the campus lab into the middle of a high profile business world—and if it meant getting a new power suit—Wootton laughs and explains that “everybody is very professional” but when most of your meetings are in construction settings, “work appropriate” still means steel-toe boots. “There was a period of time when I was working closely with Anchor at their production facility. They set me up near the concrete beams they were building for our guideway so I could do some instrumenting and preliminary testing. Most of the ‘business’ stuff happens electronically,” he describes.

In the longstanding relationship between Queen’s and Bombardier, academy and industry are also learning from each other by incorporating each others’ most

effective strategies. “Aside from other research, I do reporting to Bombardier, site testing, and research design. All of this being done by the same person is typical of scholarly work. But in this context it’s a matter of integrating research with exacting levels of corporate quality assurance,” elaborates Wootton. “That means there’s nothing left to chance. It also means that you create archives more so than you might as an individual researcher, which is good for accountability and continuity.”

In the coming months, Wootton anticipates rising to more practical challenges because the scope of the project is up to him. “It’s not a traditional internship, and it’s not just like being an employee. It’s more like being a contracted researcher.”

After the monorail is built this winter and testing is done, Wootton expects he’ll move on in the working world. “I was excited to do my Master’s in engineering because Queen’s is so research intensive and I saw as an undergrad that there was a strong research base among the faculty; I wanted to be on the grad side of things.

After my thesis is done, though, I’m looking forward to going back out West and getting a job.” Wootton envisions himself doing project management for just about any firm in Canada. For the time being, Wootton’s collaborative research with Bombardier is proving to be an integrated learning experience beyond anything he expected. “I haven’t anticipated every challenge, but it’s been great. And that’s a testament to good organization and a good partnership.”

THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 3

GR ADUATE

ADMI:

Stand out

from the pack

New developments in technology and industry arise at sometimes blinding speed. To meet the challenges presented to them on a daily basis, today’s engineers must continually hone their skills and complement their technical expertise with business and management competencies.

A group of engineering scholars recognized a need for a continuing education program for working engineers and formed the Advanced Design & Manufacturing Institute (ADMI). The decade-old partnership brings together the engineering and business schools of four leading Ontario Universities—Queen’s, Western, McMaster, and University of Toronto—to offer the Master of Engineering in Design and Manufacturing program.

Graeme Paul at Yaskawa Motoman Robotics Canada

G

raeme Paul, Sc’97, MEng’08, the Engineering and Operations Manager for Yaskawa Motoman Robotics Canada, knew he wanted to advance his engineering career. Five years after graduating from Queen’s with his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, he began to search for a continuing education program that would suit his particular needs.

“I wanted something that would allow 4 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

me to continue in my role at my firm, while at the same time build on my technical and management skills,” he says. “I couldn’t possibly take a two-year break and go back to school at that point in my career.”

The Master of Engineering degree program at the Advanced Design & Manufacturing Institute (ADMI) fit the bill. With financial and organizational support from his employer, Paul enrolled

in the part-time program in 2006. For each selected course, he attended the two 4-day (Thursday through Sunday) class modules, all the while continuing his role at Yaskawa in Mississauga, Ontario.

In 2008, his efforts were richly rewarded with a new set of competencies that led to a promotion as Program Manager.

Dr. Brian Surgenor, Associate Dean at Queen’s Faculty of Engineering and

ADMI Fast Facts l Earn

your Master ‘s of Engineering in Design and Manufacturing from a prestigious Ontario University

l Part-time

advanced engineering degree (usually completed in 3-4 years)

l Offered

by the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Institute (ADMI)

l 10

courses required to fulfill degree requirements

Joe Azzopardi stands proudly at his graduation in 2009

l Each

Applied Science and one of the founders of ADMI, is a strong advocate for the professional development of practicing engineers. He sees the Master’s of Engineering in Design and Manufacturing as a critical, if not necessary, step in an engineer’s career.

“Ten years ago, the founding schools recognized that there was a need for practicing engineers to extend both their technical and business skills beyond what was available when they were undergraduates. That original need is still there,” says Surgenor. “But today, the demands on engineers’ ability to solve problems requires them to consider the social, policy, and environmental impact of their solutions.”

“

I realized that my then 20-year-old international bachelor’s degree was on an endangered species

list. When I came across the ADMI

”

website, I knew right away that

a Master of Engineering degree

with a combination of engineering and management subjects would differentiate me from the pack.

—Joe Azzopardi

ADMI’s foremost strength is anchored in its pairing of four leading engineering schools—Queen’s, Toronto, Western, and McMaster, and their respective business schools. The partnership creates an incredible wealth of knowledge and expertise to be tapped into through the varied course offerings.

Joe Azzopardi, MEng ‘09, is a mechanical engineer at the Canada Revenue Agency whose family moved from Canada to Malta when he was a young teenager. His career path was destined to

be circuitous.

He earned his Bachelor’s of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Malta in 1983. He soon returned to Canada, where he faced the same challenges many internationally trained engineers experience in this country. Although he found a foothold in the industry, his job searches revealed stiff competition from professional engineers armed not only with undergraduate degrees from reputable Canadian universities, but with Master’s and doctoral degrees as well.

“I realized that my then 20-year-old international bachelor’s degree was on an endangered species list,” recalls Azzopardi. He immediately started researching options for advanced studies, initially leaning towards an MBA. “When I came across the ADMI website, I knew right away that a Master of Engineering degree with a combination of engineering and management subjects would differentiate me from the pack.”

Azzopardi stresses that the program’s flexibility, which allowed him to pick and choose his courses, was a huge selling point. So, too, was the access he got to excellent instructors who generously shared their academic and business acumen.

“Five years, three employers and ten courses later, I completed my degree in time to qualify for and apply to what is now my current position as Research and Technology Manager with the Canada Revenue Agency,” says Azzopardi.

Surgenor likes to point out that university-industry partnerships have many sides. “Research partnership with industry is, of course, critical,” he says.

“However, industry support for professional development and continuing education is equally important. When industry supports education in this way, we can ensure a steady supply of highly skilled, highly valued engineers in Canada and around the world.”

course presented as a set of two 4-day (Thursday through Sunday) modules

l Each

module involves approximately 30 hours of lectures, discussion, and application work

l Courses

are structured to include a variety of elements, including classroom lectures and discussions, case studies, guest speakers, company visits and practical industrial applications, individual coaching, and group interaction

Course modules run Thursday through Sunday Scheduling requires employers to contribute two full days of time for their employee to participate in the course, recognizing that the employee is contributing his or her personal time to participate on Saturday and Sunday l Qualified

individuals may apply to the partner university of their choice for admission to the ADMI Master’s degree program or may choose to apply to register, without admission to the ADMI Master’s degree program, as a non-credit participant in one or more of the specific ADMI course offerings

l Tuition:

$2,700 per course

l Apply

online at: www.admicanada.com

THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 5

MATERIALS

Ceramic capacitors:

Batteries for the future?

Dr. Vlad Krstic in one of the ceramics labs in Jackson Hall

M

echanical and Materials Professor Dr. Vladimir Krstic has seen much change since he came to Queen’s in 1987.

At the time his lab consisted of one small piece of equipment. Twenty-five years later, the ceramics research lab Krstic helped to build occupies nearly 50 percent of Nicol Hall, and his work on a new generation of electrical capacitors has made this small corner of Queen’s a renowned player on the international stage of ceramics research.

Due to an ever-increasing demand for energy storage and transport, Krstic and his research team recognize the need for materials and devices that can store large amounts of electricity without creating the traditional disposal and pollution problems associated with energy generation.

“Acid-based batteries are the most common way to store electrical energy, but these have inherent limitations such as slow charge time, degradation of performance over time, waste, and pollution,” says Krstic. “The ceramic capacitor, by contrast, is in a solid state with no acid, and it can be charged in a matter of seconds rather than the 12 to 15 hours it takes to charge an acid-based battery.”

It is this innovation and ingenuity that attracted the attention of metals manufacturing giant Novelis, which

6 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

has partnered with Krstic to address the problem of oxide deposits on aluminum metal substrates, the surface on which chemicals live and react. The aim is to develop a new class of materials with dielectric capacity superior to what is now commercially available. Large amounts of

“

Our project with Dr. Krstic is

considered exploratory and radical, yet these types of projects are vital for scientific discovery and for

making technical breakthroughs

commercially viable. Novelis needs to

”

tap into key technical competencies that Queen’s has to offer. These are real, juicy collaborations that we want to exploit to their fullest.

—Dr. John Hunter, Novelis

electricity would be stored in lightweight capacitors with thousands of layers and a low charging time. To Novelis, a manufacturer that’s always looking for ways to improve and increase its product line, this research is of significant interest.

Dr. John Hunter, senior Novelis consulting scientist, is a strong advocate for

partnering with Queen’s engineers. He’s worked on projects at the Queen’s Solar Calorimetry Laboratory with Dr. Stephen Harrison (Mechanical and Materials Engineering) and Dr. Juliana Ramsay (Chemical Engineering).

“Our project with Dr. Krstic is considered exploratory and radical, yet these types of projects are vital for scientific discovery and for making technical breakthroughs commercially viable,” says Hunter. “Novelis needs to tap into key technical competencies that Queen’s has to offer. These are real, juicy collaborations that we want to exploit to their fullest.”

Krstic’s advanced research into capacitor energy storage is extremely focused, yet he never loses sight of the big picture. He points to the powerful rivers in northern Canada, the endless sun in African deserts, and the world’s oceans as being obvious sources of renewable energy that can be harnessed.

“This is a relatively small field, and we move in small steps,” he says. “But these are exciting times. We have the technology—we’ve proven that. The key is to find viable ways to concentrate all that energy into small, transportable volumes. When we do that, we will solve the energy problem.”

> For more me.queensu.ca/People/Krstic/l

MATERIALS

Queen’s Reactor Materials Testing Laboratory (RMTL) will be a world-class facility

D

r. Mark Daymond, who was recently named the NSERCUNENE Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in Nuclear Materials and is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, is helping to create Queen’s new Reactor Materials Testing Laboratory (RMTL).

Funded by a Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) grant and a Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation grant (MEDI) grant—both awarded in 2009, the RMTL will allow researchers to study how the hostile environment inside nuclear power reactors cause degradation and corrosion of materals. The facility will house accelerator technology that creates atomic displacements similar to those found inside a reactor. Compared to a more traditional materials test reactor, accelerator technology is less expensive and permits far more sophisticated testing of both current and advanced materials.

Now under construction, the RMTL is located in Kingston just south of Highway 401. It is expected to be operational in 2014.

Reactor Materials Testing Laboratory Facts l Comparable

in size and scale to radiation treatment and isotope production facilities found in hospitals

l A

unique facility in Canada in terms of design and target research; other accelerators are found elsewhere in Canadian universities. Comparable facilities exist in Michigan, USA, and France.

l Testing

takes place under highly controlled conditions, with extensive training required for faculty and students

Established through the support of the Canadian nuclear industry, the Industrial Research Chair in Nuclear Materials will supplement the research and development capabilities of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) and Kinectrics Inc. (formerly Ontario Hydro Research). The RMTL facilities will be key to the research carried out under the Chair.

“The RMTL will help us identify ways to extend the life of existing power generating systems and lead to the design of safer, more efficient nuclear reactors,” says Daymond. “We really have an opportunity to become a centre of excellence in this field.”

RMTL research will further the fundamental understanding in areas such as radiation-induced deformation of nuclear materials (especially zirconium alloys), the effect of manufacturing variables, crystallographic texture and microstructure, and other related topics. The resulting knowledge will allow engineers to better predict in-reactor behaviour and, in turn, improve the performance and longevity of reactor core components.

The highly advanced testing facility will strengthen Queen’s position in nuclear testing research and attract researchers both from Canada and abroad. Partners in the RMTL research program include McMaster University, Western University, Royal Military College, University of Toronto, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (Canada), Imperial College and Manchester University (UK), Pennsylvania State University (USA), and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization.

“Canada is an established leader in nuclear power research and development,” says Daymond. “The RMTL and the IRC at Queen’s demonstrate the industry’s commitment to pursuing an environmentally responsible source of elec-

Dr. Mark Daymond and Professor Emeritus Rick Holt, at the RMTL construction site tricity that will be a major component of global power generation in the future.”

Daymond says nuclear energy will need to be part of the energy mix for generations to come, and along with sources of renewable energy will form part of the energy solution. He points out, however, that while intense research is underway to harness other energy sources in economical and efficient ways, nuclear power is one solution into which huge investments have already been made, and that keeping existing plants operational as long as feasible makes both economic and carbon sense.

Born and educated in the United Kingdom, Daymond came to Queen’s in 2004. His research focuses on the areas of radiation damage, radiation-induced deformation, properties of zirconium alloys in nuclear applications, stress measurement by diffraction techniques, and modelling of materials deformation mechanisms. Before his appointment at Queen’s, he was Group Leader of the Engineering Materials Group at the ISIS Pulsed Neutron Facility, part of the Rutherford Appleton Lab in the UK.

> For more: www.rmtl.ca

l Expect

to host visitors from all over the world once operational

l Facility

supported by Canada Foundation for Innovation and MEDT

l Industrial

Research Chair in Nuclear Materials is a renewable five-year term, funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

l Expected

completion date: 2014

THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 7

QUIP

The Queen’s Undergraduate Internship Program:

Students + industry =

H

a winning combination

iring bright Queen’s students who have already completed years of academic study is an attractive prospect for industry.

To link students and employers, the Queen’s Undergraduate Internship Program (QUIP) has been working since 1989 to help arrange 12- to 16-month work terms in technology, languages, business, and industry. The internships are offered to students in Engineering, Arts and Science, and Commerce who have completed their second or third year of studies.

For Henry Sukardi, a mechanical engineering student set to graduate in 2013, completing an internship was well worth it. His internship with Lafarge, the world’s largest cement and aggregates company, at its lakeside plant in Bath, Ontario, was overwhelmingly positive.

“I was able to take a year off school and have an enjoyable and fruitful paid job,” he says. “Plus, I wanted to have industry and hands-on experience in the field before I graduated, to give me an edge in future job opportunities over my peers.”

The only intern in the plant, Sukardi received quality one-to-one coaching from industry experts and numerous challenging assignments, including supervising the demolition of a massive sand tank and a kiln roller replacement. The plant’s cement kiln is 200 meters long, 5.5 meters in diameter, and can produce 1.1 million tonnes of cement annually.

“This field experience gave me the opportunity to work with numerous tradesmen, engineers, sales representatives, and managers,” says Sukardi. “It developed both my project management skills and my technical abilities.”

Francois Boucher, the Talent Director, Human Resources at Lafarge IPEA in Montreal, says his company has long recognized the value of employing Queen’s interns. “They bring their creativity and energy to our workplace. Internships enable us to help educate future leaders in our industry. Further, they help us with recruitment. We are preparing potential employees who, after they graduate, can help address the specific, real-world challenges we face.”

Sukardi, for example, “brought three years of academic knowledge and a good 8 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

Henry Sukardi Henry Sukardi on site at Lafarge base of theory and technical skills to bear on projects.”

While at Lafarge for his internship year, Sukardi received mentorship to help him learn, and got a good idea of potential careers, issues, and what employers really want from new grads.

“It’s pleasing to know that we benefit, but we’ve also given a student paid work experience related to his or her field, valuable technical know-how, contacts and mentors, and an impressive credit on a resume for tackling an after-graduation job search,” Boucher says.

Sukardi, now back at Queen’s com-

pleting his final year, is building on what he learned at Lafarge with further academic study. “I believe the internship has made me a well-rounded engineer with technical and managerial experience,” Sukardi says. “I met many welcoming and encouraging individuals in the industry. That made me grow as person and in becoming an effective engineer.”

The experience also expanded his horizons. “I won’t restrict myself to one industry. As a wise supervisor once told me, ‘The world is your playground.’”

> For more : http://engineering.queensu.ca/

Queens-Undergraduate-Internship-Program.html

PROFESSIONAL

The Mining GCCR program:

Meeting an industry need

O

n a sunny August afternoon, two dozen men and women sit on chairs in a circle in a conference room at a downtown Kingston hotel. Among them are Paula Sherman, Mirielle Lapointe, and Dale Cota, elders from the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation who have been invited to speak about their experiences of standing up to Frontenac Ventures, a small mining company that, with legal permission but without prior notice, began prospecting for uranium on their ancestral lands north of Kingston. The women recall attempts by the company to buy the community’s consent with cash payments. They describe insulting behavior and demeaning words of company employees, government representatives, and even a judge that eventually sentenced two native leaders—Dr. Sherman and Queen’s University Professor Robert Lovelace—to jail terms for their months-long protest actions. (Only Lovelace served time; Sherman was fined.)

Sherman and Lapointe are polite, but unequivocal: no promises of money, community benefits, and jobs will ever persuade the Ardoch Algonquins to accept drilling without consent on land they consider their own and on which they live, hunt, trap, and fish.

“If you want to help the aboriginal community,” says Lapointe, “just stay away.”

These are uncomfortable words for their audience, who work for mining firms from across North America, for NGOs, and for government, and are students in Queen’s new Graduate Certificate in Community Relations for the Extractive Industries program (GCCR).

Modelled after a similar program at the University of Queensland in Australia and spearheaded at Queen’s by Jeffrey Davidson of the Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining, the program aims to help participants learn how to foster mutually beneficial relationships between resource extraction companies and the communities in which they operate (or hope to operate).

Davidson says such a program is long overdue in North America, because there is a recognized shortage of skilled and experienced community-relations practitioners in the mining industry. More than ever, governments and the public expect the mining industry to live up to strict

standards of corporate social responsibility. Community relations practitioners work on the front lines to ensure that those standards are met and, ideally, result in a win-win proposition for all stakeholders.

Until recently, says Davidson, the industry hasn’t given community relations the attention it deserves.

“More often than not, the onus for performance on the ground—‘walking the talk’—falls to field and site-based teams and individuals who may or may not be involved in the exploration, project development or operational phases of a project,” says Davidson. “These people are often put in a difficult position without the benefit of prior education, sufficient experience or proper management support. They have to learn on the fly how to balance duty to their employers with their empathy for local people.”

Queen’s GCCR program is designed to counter this seat-of-the-pants approach

prospecting episode—that demonstrate the right and wrong way to do community relations.

One GCCR student, Mary-Carmen Vera, a geologist and manager at a Montreal exploration company, works as a consultant for a number of Cree communities in northern Quebec that are considering hosting mining projects. She aspires to help instill positive community relations practices in mining projects across Canada.

“I want to bring good information to the community so they know all the pros and cons of a project before making a decision,” she says. “But as a mining company, how do you approach them from the outside?”

This, says Dr. Laeeque Daneshmend, the Head of Queen’s Mining Department, is a critical question. Thanks to the Internet, stories of unethical or abusive mining practices can be broadcast around the world almost immediately. As a result,

The inaugural GCCR class (Professor Davidson, far right) by providing specific training in current best practices in community relations for working professionals in oil and gas, mining and other extractive industries. To earn a certificate, students must complete four courses—Community Aspects of Mineral Resource Development, Community Development for the Mining Industry, Community Engagement and Mining, and Mining Projects and Indigenous Peoples—via correspondence and a weeklong residential session in Kingston.

As part of their work, students are exposed to case studies from around the world—such as the Ardoch uranium

the poor behavior of a few bad actors has generated widespread public skepticism and hostility toward mining as a whole— even as the products of mining continue to be consumed at a voracious rate.

“Lots of mining companies are trying to do things right, but there are still some who aren’t, and it’s the bad guys that the public remembers,” says Daneshmend.

“With the GCCR, we’re trying to turn that around. Effective community relations gives you a better shot at being one of the good guys.”

> For more : www.gccr.ca THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 9

UNDERGR ADUATE

Mech 460:

Student teams tackle industry challenges

I

nstructor Jan Sneep is kept busy—and engaged—by his consultations with the student teams in Queen’s MECH 460 course. “It’s a lot of work for everyone, but it’s fascinating,” he says. “We want our fourth-years to learn that projects can be fun, as well as being intelligent engineering.”

This term, 134 Mechanical and Materials Engineering (MME) students on 33 teams are applying their skills to a wide range of projects. “We have everything from designing a sheave—a metal wheel that goes on top of a mining shaft to raise and lower the mining cage and weighs up to 40 tons—to designing miniscule, high-tech laser devices to help surgeons be more precise when they need to move pacemaker leads,” says Sneep. A civil engineer by training, Sneep acts as project manager for the student teams, which are also supported by 18 faculty technical advisors.

MECH 460 is one of two possible capstone project courses that aims to prepare MME students for their engineering careers by having them work on real-world design problems proposed by industry clients. Student teams must complete an engineering design project, work professionally and within time and budget constraints, and participate effectively as part of a team. MECH 462 is offered in the winter term, following MECH 460, and involves taking the next step into prototyping and perhaps testing selected projects.

This year, one project team is designing a Sound Transmission Testing Enclosure for Bombardier Aerospace. The goal is to develop a special soundproof (fully reverberant) volume to test sections of fuselage for sound transmission loss.

Ultimately, this will help make Bombardier aircraft more comfortable for passengers by limiting outside noise—from

the engines, for instance—while making the aircraft lighter and more fuel efficient.

The ability to test the performance of new fuselage wall sections allows engineers to verify the computer models used in the aircraft’s design. “This is seriously advanced work,” says Sneep. “Designing test facilities for this type of measurement requires great attention to detail.”

Students are also putting their heads together for Lafarge Canada in Bath, Ontario, on a new Low-Carbon Fuel CoFire Burner Design. “Lafarge is working on reducing its carbon footprint, so it’s changing the nozzle on its burner design to incorporate biomass,” Sneep explains.

“We have two teams working on that. It involves combustion and thermodynamics and challenging issues of looking at different particles and how they burn.”

Many exciting Queen’s projects are also supported by MECH 460 teams, such as an upcoming United States

A Student’s View on MECH 460: Project knee brace David L.X. Prior, BSc ‘12 and candidate for a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Economics My group worked directly with Niagara Prosthetics and Orthotics to redesign the hinge on an existing knee brace. The hinge mechanism was to have 25 per cent fewer parts, and links less than 1.6 mm thick—a 33 per cent reduction of the current design specifications. The group’s redesign cut the number of parts by over 40 per cent, while keeping the links under the specified 1.6 mm by using titanium, which offered a favorable strength-to-weight ratio.

The class helped me prepare for the workforce by teaching me first-hand the importance of being client-focused.

It also taught me how to set concrete boundaries, such as the functional specifications and economic constraints, on a project. Working for a “real-world” client made the project far more interesting since we knew the redesigned product could actually improve a patient’s life. I was also able to apply the

10 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

project management skills I acquired in MECH 460 to my summer position as an engineer at Procter & Gamble.

This was an interesting way to check out prospective employers, but also to see how various industries work. Throughout the project we communicated with experts in the prosthetics, die-making, metal-working, and nylon industries.

These conversations added great insight to our redesign project, and also to the inner workings of various industries, some of which we knew little about at the time.

I graduated from Mechanical Engineering in 2012 with an option in Biomechanical Engineering. I am currently pursuing a dual degree in Economics and will graduate from the program in the spring of 2013. As for future plans, I am currently looking at various industries ranging from manufacturing to management consulting.

David Prior

SEC TION HEADER

One of the MECH 460 teams briefs Jan on their progress

Department of Energy competition for alternative energy homes. “Team Ontario got one of 20 places, and in 2013 they are taking a solar home to California,” Sneep says. Queen’s is contributing the solar panels, while six MECH 460 project teams are at work on various aspects of the home. Queen’s is partnering with Algonquin College, whose students are doing the carpentry, and Carleton University, whose architectural students designed the building.

Christie Wilson, a current MECH 460 student, is applying her skills to a Head Shape Measurement System with the Queen’s Metal Forming Laboratory.

“We’re working with a professor and a grad student, so it’s a good opportunity to find out about further education, such as a Master’s program here at Queen’s,” she says. “As well, we learn new skills such as how to communicate with other group members, professors, clients, and technical advisors.”

Further, says Wilson, students learn technical report writing and presentations and apply different design skills applicable in the engineering workforce.

“I think it’s a valuable course that helps us prepare for our future careers.”

Sometimes, MECH 460 projects link back to successful projects from previous

years. One team, for example, is working on further modifications to a prosthetic foot design. MME Professor Tim Bryant was first asked by the inventor of the Niagara Foot in 1998 to collaborate and help with biomechanics and material analysis.

Since 2004, more than 20 Queen’s students have been involved in the Niagara

“

MECH 460 is one of two possible

capstone project courses that aims to prepare MME students for their

engineering careers by having them

work on real-world design problems proposed by industry clients.

Foot project. (See sidebar on page 10, “A Student’s View on MECH 460: Project knee brace”, for details) “Outstanding work was done last year on a knee brace,” Sneep recalls.

“Material was changed and the manufacturing was improved, saving the client thousands of dollars. The work won a number of awards.”

MECH 460 pays multiple dividends for its industry partners. They benefit from 350 to 700 person-hours of work

Jan Sneep from a team of motivated fourth-year students. They get a chance to meet potential employees who are interested in their industry. And they might obtain a tested prototype of the students’ design.

Clients provide $2,500 to support the course and engineering staff time for liaison with the student design team. The MECH 460/462 budget comes from a grant obtained through the Connections Program of the Centre for Materials and Manufacturing, which is supported by the Ontario Centres of Excellence.

“We’re encouraging more participation from industry,” Sneep says. “These partnerships work so well for everyone.

We’re always looking for fresh opportunities for our students to work directly with engineers in industry on solving practical engineering problems.”

> For more: http://me.queensu.ca/Courses/460/ THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 11

MINING

Designing smart systems

for harsh environments

Dr. Josh Marshall and PhD student Marc Gallant work on one of the Mining Systems Lab’s smallest robots

Y

ou may not think that Mars and mining have much in common—but Dr. Joshua Marshall, Sc’99, MSc’ 01, has combined his expertise in space and underground exploration to develop models and processes that work in both worlds and may someday be used for interplanetary resource discovery.

Marshall’s research focuses on the development and application of advanced methods for perception, modelling, and control of robotic equipment, and processes for mining and space exploration.

Recent work includes designs for robotic mapping and vehicle positioning, multivehicle coordination, and autonomous

12 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

vehicle technologies for mining and planetary applications.

A Queen’s grad, Marshall began his career designing robotics systems for the mining sector before joining space exploration giant McDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA). He later worked in research and development for both mining and space missions including the ExoMars project, which is scheduled to go to Mars in 2016. His current objective is to foster inventive yet practical ways for realizing low-cost, high-output, inherently safe, and environmentally responsible exploration operations that can be used deep in the mines—and deep in space.

“Space and mine exploration really have so many similarities,” says Marshall, who in 2010 joined Queen’s as an Assistant Professor at the Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining. “We’re dealing with harsh environments that have limitations from technology, such as the lack of GPS systems. Plus, we will someday want to explore mining in space, whether it’s mining the asteroid belt or extracting oxygen. By working in a cross-disciplinary fashion, we can use our knowledge in mining to support our efforts in space, and vice versa.”

> For more: https://msl.mine.queensu.ca/

CENTRES

Fuel Cell Research Centre: Seen as radical twenty years ago, it’s now mainstream.

And that is a good thing

D

r. Brant A. Peppley, BEd’86, MSc’93, Director, Fuel Cell Research Centre, Canada Research Chair in Fuel Cells, and Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, can boast about the many projects and industry partners that have been involved in fuel cell research. But it is a recent, current project underway with Ford Motor Company that’s got him talking these days.

“Ford Motor Company wanted to find a better way to deal with paint solvents that emit from painting so many cars and trucks, rather than incinerate them, turn them instead into hydrogen.

So what was previously a huge environmental problem is now a method to generate clean energy,” says Dr. Peppley.

Ford is testing this technique in their Oakville plant right now. It’s just another way to bring down the cost of hydrogen fuel, which aligns with the goal of the Queen’s-RMC Fuel Cell Research Centre (FCRC) and its mission as the leading university-based research and development organization in partnership with industry dedicated to advancing the knowledge base for addressing the key technology challenges to the commercialization of fuel cell applications.

A well-deserved boost to the FCRC came in the form of an Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence grant last July,

Dr. Brant Peppley and fellow researchers at the FCRC consisting of a $1.5 million award to lead the project, Energy Storage and Recovery Ontario (ESARO). The five-year award signals not only Queen’s commitment, but also the province’s commitment to

“

Ford Motor Company wanted to

find a better way to deal with paint solvents that emit from painting so many cars and trucks, rather

”

than incinerate them, turn them

instead into hydrogen. So what was previously a huge environmental

problem is now a method to generate clean energy.

—Dr. Brant A. Peppley

One of the Centre’s fuel cells

storing renewable energy for later use, which is becoming vitally important and will advance “a made in- Ontario” technology and keep the province at the forefront in the field of green energy.

“In fact, we have lived in a very skewed period of history,” says Dr. Peppley. “We had a ubiquitous availability of petroleum products, which hasn’t always been the case. We really have to start moving toward a diverse set of energy

sources. The stone age didn’t end because we ran out of stones, and we shouldn’t wait till we run out of oil to find an alternative.”

The FCRC has worked with many industry partners, such as Ballard Power Systems, Chrysler, and General Motors in the past, and more recently with Hydrogenics, Kingston Process Metallurgy, Lafarge Cement, and Wescast Industries.

Dr. Peppley credits FCRC’s location at Innovation Park, with a willingness and openness to invite engineers and researchers from all disciplines to be actively involved in fuel cell research, as the main force for placing Queen’s on the fuel-cell international stage.

“We have other university groups in Canada, our sister organizations, but none with the multidisciplinary aspect that FCRC offers, says Dr. Peppley. He points out that when it started, the FCRC was a small committed group of dedicated people trying to come up with energy alternatives.

Seen as radical twenty years ago, it’s now mainstream. And that is a good thing.

> http://www.chemeng.queensu.ca/people/ faculty/BrantPeppley/

THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 13

MECHANIC AL

Collaboration for cr GM and Queen’s researchers

the battery cooling for hybrid and electric vehicles F

our years ago, General Motors Canada turned to Canada’s research community to advance battery technology for the company’s new mass-produced electric and hybrid cars.

High-performance batteries are the core technology for the current and next generations of electrified hybrid vehicles, extended-range electric vehicles—such as GM’s Chevrolet Volt—and pure battery electric vehicles. Developing these batteries is an urgent issue in the auto industry.

For the past few years, Dr. Il-Yong Kim, an Associate Professor at Queen’s Department of Materials and Mechanical Engineering, has been collaborating with GM Canada to create the optimal battery system. In 2009 his group was awarded $50,000 from AUTO21, in partnership with the auto giant, for research to be

conducted over three years. A national research initiative supported by the Government of Canada through the Networks of Centres of Excellence Directorate, AUTO21 was formed to focus research expertise on the global competitiveness of Canada’s auto industry.

“Our project goal is to design an electrified vehicle battery system with effective thermal management,” says Kim, a recognized expert in design and computer-aided modelling. “The battery of an electric or hybrid car is its heart, so managing the battery’s optimal temperature is really important.”

As part of a consortium of universities across Canada, Kim’s group is developing methods and design tools relating to heat transfer and cooling that can be used to maximize the performance and lifetime of

Computer modelling of the new battery system

14 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

“

Our project goal is to design an

electrified vehicle battery system with

”

effective thermal management. The

battery of an electric or hybrid car is its heart, so managing the battery’s optimal temperature is really important.

—Dr. Il-Yong Kim

the electric vehicle battery pack.

Battery temperature is critical, says Kim. “If your cellphone explodes, it’s a big deal. But the battery of an electric or hybrid car is very large. If the temperature is too high, a phenomenon called ‘thermal runaway’ could happen and the battery could catch fire or even explode.

That would be a real disaster.”

The T-shaped battery pack Kim works with as a baseline reference design is from the Chevy Volt. It weighs 180 kilograms and is 1.8 metres long—far larger and heavier than a regular car battery. “In this battery pack we have 288 battery cells, and between each cell we have one cooling cell,” Kim explains. “In our research we came up with a two-level approach that better defines the cooling problem.

We’re using computer simulations to look at pack-level battery system design and at cell-level component design.”

Excessive battery temperatures also decrease the life of the battery, which in an electric or hybrid car costs several thousand dollars or more to replace.

Regulating temperature will extend the battery’s life.

Kim and three graduate students have completed phase one of a project to estab-

reation: optimize system

lish the modelling, analysis and computational tools for battery optimization. The team is awaiting a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant for phase two, which will continue over several years to explore new concepts for automobile battery systems.

It’s satisfying to make emerging-technology advances with his team, says Kim. “This is a new era. Until now, electrified car battery design was usually conducted ad-hoc. But our system offers a more rigorous, math-based design procedure that GM can apply to the Chevy Volt and other car designs as they’re developed.”

The partnership with industry benefitted both parties. “We’ve had a good, close collaboration with GM, meeting and getting feedback from their engineers,” says Kim. “For them, this is a practical project that meets their realworld industry need to extend the battery life and optimize the safety of their cars, now and in the future.”

The project also provided a great opportunity for students. “The partnership allowed students to make contacts, take on real challenges, and learn state-ofthe-art design practice and technology in industry, which are not usually discussed in academia. That the students worked for GM is a definite plus—I believe it will help them get work once they graduate.”

At the AUTO21 annual conference in 2011 two of Kim’s students, Anthony Jarrett and Ben Banks, took first prize in the Council for Automotive Human Resources Highly Qualified People Poster Competition, which aims to develop the auto innovators of the future. They won $4,500 and were nationally recognized for their contribution to new automotive technology. Their poster focused on their group’s battery-cooling work.

Dr. Il-Yong Kim Kim says another spinoff may be more Queen’s-GM partnerships. “I arranged a campus visit last spring so that GM managers and the Chief Scientist could meet with Engineering Department heads and the Dean. We identified some potential areas for collaboration.”

Kim’s own research encompasses both the automotive and biomedical industries, and in 2010 he earned an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation to pursue his work in both sectors.

Whether he’s working to find effective and less-costly designs for emission-free cars or to design better artificial joints, the computational modelling and design optimization tools he uses result in better, cost-effective designs, streamline manufacturing processes, and help products be brought to market more quickly.

“Optimization is the key word in my research,” says Kim. Kim says another important issue for

the automotive industry is lightweight design for electrified cars, which relates directly to fuel efficiency. “We’re initiating another collaboration with the automotive industry, looking at using different metals for lighter chassis design. Aluminum is light, but too expensive to use for passenger cars, and it has very different stiffness and strength. So we’ll ask ourselves questions, such as, ‘What is the optimal distribution of aluminum, which is more expensive, and steel?’ without sacrificing safety or other concerns.”

> For more:

http://me.queensu.ca/People/Kim/Research http://www.auto21.ca/

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ELEC TRIC AL

Dr. Scott Yam, centre, with four of his grad students

The Next Generation Optical Networks program:

T

Need for speed

he next time you send an e-mail on your smartphone or download that latest action movie, take a moment to think about the millions of gigabytes of data zipping around the globe, meeting the demands of a society obsessed with tweeting, uploading YouTube videos, storing scientific research, and trading stocks in the virtual world.

These days, we upload, download, view, and share information at a dizzying rate, and our demand for these services only continues to grow. How does technology keep pace with a society that’s constantly demanding more, faster? At Queen’s, a collaborative program funded by the Natural Sciences and Research Council of Canada (NSERC‘s CREATE program) is giving graduate students the technical and professional skills they need to answer those demands through the design of new optical networks that can cost effectively meet both industry and personal demands in an informationsaturated world.

The Next Generation Optical Networks program provides graduate students with both technical and professional skills training. Along with regular coursework, students participate in collaborative research projects, industry internships and a “summer school” designed to enhance their professional skills. Trainees are also encouraged to participate in a graduate course jointly of16 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

fered by partnering faculties at Queen’s, McGill, and Laval on the simulation and modelling of optical communications systems and subsystems. They also have access to the tools and state-of-the-art experimental infrastructure at Queen’s, McGill, and Laval for specific skills training in optical networks.

“

We really needed some way to

provide an apprenticeship-type

”

opportunity with a senior engineer over an extended period of time

so that grad students could really

appreciate what’s required for such a specialized and strategic industry.

—Dr. Scott Yam

Thriving in the lab— and in the office

Dr. Scott Yam, who leads the project at Queen’s, says funding is critical to developing graduate-level skills. “Work experience programs have been highly organized at the undergraduate level, but similar programs have been missing from graduate studies, where the level of required technical skills is even higher,” he says. “We really needed some

way to provide an apprenticeship-type opportunity with a senior engineer over an extended period of time so that grad students could really appreciate what’s required for such a specialized and strategic industry.”

Technical expertise is critical, says Yam, but so are the professional communication skills necessary to advance the discoveries. “Today, we need to be able to communicate effectively to motivate others to both understand and accept our ideas,” he says. “Our students need to learn how to be comfortable speaking in front of others in different settings and in different countries.”

The Next Generation Optical Networks program also includes an introduction to commercialization and the many requirements and regulations that are part of the journey from idea to market. “During our summer school, students get training on copyright, patent and trademarks, and hear from Canadian entrepreneurs about how to take a great idea and make it into a company,” says Yam. “Knowing the national and international regulations, as well as information such as when to publish, gives our students the solid foundation they need to thrive in a competitive and constantly evolving industry.”

> For more: http://post.queensu.ca/~yam/ NSERC_CREATE_NGON_index.htm

CHEMIC AL

Sensing a problem If someone walks into an emergency room complaining of chest pains, there’s a good chance his condition will be diagnosed using a point-of-care testing instrument, a hand-held diagnostic tool used in hospitals all over the world. This remarkable device, which enables health practitioners to make swift, on-the-spot diagnoses is developed and manufactured

by Abbott Point of Care in Ottawa. Chemical Engineering researchers at Queen’s are lending their expertise to support continued development of this technology, helping to ensure their success in a broad market.

P

rofessor and Chemical Engineering Department Head Dr. Jim McLellan, Sc’81, PHd’91, and Chemical Engineering Professor Dr. Kim McAuley, along with some extremely talented graduate students, have been delving into the intricate design and manufacturing of pointof-care biosensors, and discovering ways to improve their efficacy and reliability.

With support from Mitacs, a national not-for-profit research and training program, and with funding from Abbott Point of Care and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), graduate students have developed a mathematical model to predict the thermal stability of a biosensor through its shelf life.

“This is detailed chemical engineering and we had excellent outcomes,” says Dr. McAuley. “The mathematical model demonstrated good predictive ability in a short-duration study.”

In fact, the positive outcomes from the first project prompted Abbot to invite Queen’s engineers to conduct further research on the behaviour of point-ofcare sensors.

“We’re building a fundamental model that details the chemistry and physics of what’s really going on when we alter a

component within the biosensor,” says Dr. McAuley.

Such collaborative research with industry gives rise to many additional benefits, including on-the-job training and an opportunity for companies to see potential employees in action. For example, Stephen Snyder, the graduate student investigator for one of the projects, graduated with a Master’s degree and has launched his career with Abbott.

Liang Li, the graduate researcher on the second project is now doing an internship at Abbott Point of Care through Mitacs.

Through the years, Dr. McLellan and Dr. McAuley have been fostering a relationship with Abbott Point of Care, and they point to the biosensor project as an example of how beneficial an industry partnership can be. Intense, applied investigation boosts students’ research skills and helps them pinpoint the theoretical problems they wish to pursue, with industrial relevance. This ultimately leads to more discovery research and more chance to work with cutting-edge industry partners.

“It’s absolutely vital that we engage with an industry leader like Abbott. Our students get exposure to the application of science and engineering design on realistic,

Dr. Kim McAuley and graduate student Liang Li

Dr. Jim McLellan challenging industrial problems. Abbott gains access to talent and creative minds,” says Dr. McLellan. “It’s particularly gratifying that we are involved with a product that’s manufactured in eastern Ontario.”

> For more: mitacs.chemeng.queensu.ca/index.htm http://www.mitacs.ca/accelerate

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ALUMNI E VENTS

Inspiring Greatness Coast-to-coast

Queen’s University inspired greatness Canada-wide in October, launching The Campaign for Queen’s Engineering in Calgary, Toronto, and Ottawa. Alumni and community and business leaders joined Faculty, University, and campaign officials at the events to kick off the largest campaign in Queen’s Engineering’s history. Thank you to all who helped us celebrate!

Calgary Engineering Alumni gathered at the Ranchmen’s Club for the launch of Inspiring Greatness: The Campaign for Queen’s Engineering on October 4th.

Howard and Janet McLean and student Allister Smith, Sc’13

Western Co-Chair, Evan Hazell, Sc’8.

Campaign Chair, Mike Norris, Sc’75, and Brian Heald, Sc’79

Howard Anderson, Sc’79, Kevin Tsang, Sc’06, Paula Corbeil, Sc’77, Lane Shelley, Sc’12, and Mike Trowell, Sc’0.

Sitting: Western Co-Chair, Jeff van Steenbergen, Sc’77, Riley Waite, Sc’79, Brian Heald, Sc’79, Patrick McLellan, Sc’79 Standing: Susan Anderson, Sc’87, Betsy Evans, Sc’87, Eric Le Dain, Sc’83

18 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

On October 11th, Toronto Engineering alumni attended the launch of Inspiring Greatness: The Campaign for Queen’s Engineering at Tory’s LLP.

David Clarry, Sc’82, Robert Francki, Sc’86, Paul Murray, Sc’74, Bryony Savanto, Sc’93, Greg Bavington, Sc’85, Sarah McLaren, Sc’93, David Dunford, Sc’93 Sarah McLaren, Sc’93, Jonathan Norris, Sc’11, Andrew Norris, Sc’07, Campaign Chair Mike Norris, Sc’75, and Eleanor Kerr

Peter Kenny, Sc’55, speaking about his philanthropy

Sitting: JoAnne Cavanagh-Butler, Sc’78, Kevin Seto, Sc’99, Andy Shaughnessy, Sc’87, LLB’91, Jory Platt, Sc’01, Danny Tomka, Sc’84 Standing: Robert Clapp, Sc’64, Walter Sowa, Sc’56

Alumni listen to student Vikram Bhatia, Sc’13 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 19

ALUMNI E VENTS

Close to 60 Ottawa area Engineering alumni joined Dean Woodhouse for the Ottawa launch of Inspiring Greatness: The Campaign for Queen’s Engineering at the Chateau Laurier.

Kevin Goheen, Sc’83, talking with Dean Woodhouse Scott, Sc’92, Steven, Sc’00, and David Parkes, Sc’68, looking at the building brochure

Donor David Parkes speaks to fellow engineers From left to right: Mark Baker, Sc’91, Gary Loubert, Sc’77, Andrew Shisko, Sc’79, Dean Henderson, Sc’93, John MacDiarmid, Sc’78, Cheryl McWatters, Artsci’77, MBA’88, PHD’91

Dean Woodhouse speaks to interested engineering alumni Sheila Murray, BNSc’59, Robert Murray, Sc’57, and Blair Erskine, Sc‘55 20 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER

An event hosted by Dean Woodhouse for 80’s alumni at the home of Maryann Turcke, Sc’88, in Toronto.

Fariborz Fallah, Sc’87, and Cathy Berka, BSc’87

Jeff Harbin, Sc’82, and Brian O’Shaughnessy, Sc’82

Susanne Stewart, BA’85, BED’86 and parent, Andrew Stewart, Sc’85, Gordon Mcilquham, BComm ’84, Andy Shaughnessy, Sc’87

The Vancouver branch of the Queen’s University Alumni Association recognized Don Lindsay, Sc’80, with the Kathleen Beaumont Hill Award at their annual award reception in September. Don was honoured for his dedication to Queen’s, his distinguished career in the business world, and his outstanding community leadership.

From left to right: Principal Daniel Woolf, Kathleen Beaumont Hill, Arts’50, and Don Lindsay, Sc’80

Principal Woolf, Don Lindsay, and Vancouver alumni celebrate with an oil thigh THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 21

INSPIRING GREATNESS CAMPAIGN

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE

Beamish-Munro Hall, Queen’s Universtiy, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6

inspiring.engineering.queensu.ca

Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Development Team Jane McMillan Director of Development jane.mcmillan@queensu.ca Extension 32160

Pat Smith Senior Development Officer pat.smith@queensu.ca Extension 79513

Heather McMartin Senior Development Officer heather.mcmartin@queensu.ca Direct Line 416-525-3923

Maura Doyle Development Coordinator maura.doyle@queensu.ca Extension 79533

Michelle Miatello Associate Director of Development michelle.miatello@queensu.ca Extension 75804

Donna Dwyre Senior Development Officer donna.dwyre@queensu.ca Extension 78212

Beth Wylie Development Officer beth.wylie@queensu.ca Extension 74594

Joanne Grills, Faculty Advancement Coordinator joanne.grills@queensu.ca Extension 75248

Contact us at 613.533.6000 or 1.800.267.7837