University of Toronto Applied Science & Engineering Volume 8 Issue 1 Spring 2006 Engineering a World of Possibilities Skule Alumni Make an Impact in Non-Traditional Careers insideskule Columns and News: 3 From the Dean 4 Skulenews 8 Events for High School Students and Alumni 9 New Professional Development Courses 5 11 ON THE COVER: Steve Dennis (Civ 9T9), one of the UofT engineering alumni in this issue who have pursued diverse careers, has found his vocation working for Médecins Sans Frontières. He is shown standing Features in front of a photo taken by Dr. Mary O’Brien in South Sudan, Africa. 10 Engineering a World of Possibilities 11 A True Vocation 13 Legal Advocate 13 14 Patently Innovative 16 A Global Perspective 18 Major League Player 20 Mr. Milestone 22 A Pioneering Prescription for our Health Care System www.engineering.utoronto.ca Volume 8, Issue 1, Spring 2006 Principal Photographer: Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto Engineering Society. Stay in Touch Editor: Stephen Frost concerning research partnerships, We invite inquiries concerning To give us your new address, visit Dean Anastasios N. Venetsanopoulos Contributing Photographers: alumni news, continuing education, active participation in Faculty us online at www.skulealumni.ca Managing Editor: Ruth Weinstock David Cooper/ Toronto Star, David internships and student activities. programs and comments and click on Register Information, Editorial Board: Lisa Boyes, Grandy Photography, John Hryniuk, Circulation: 39,000 and suggestions from readers. send an e-mail to Márta Ecsedi, Dr. Greg Evans, Camelia Linta, Lindsay Lozon, ©This publication is copyrighted. Please contact: [email protected] or call us at Jackie Isaac, Barry Levine, Dr. Dr. Mary O’Brien, Nelly Pietro- Limited portions of its content may Professor Anastasios 416-978-4941. Javad Mostaghimi, Dean Anastasios paulo, L. 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If you do Ruth Weinstock Published bi-annually as a service written consent of the copyright Telephone: 416-978-3131 not wish to receive this publication, ™ Design: Avi Dunkelman, to alumni, students and friends of owner is forbidden. Skule is a reg- Fax: 416-978-4859 please contact us at 416-978-2139 or Design + Communications Inc. the Faculty of Applied Science and istered trademark of the University of e-mail: [email protected] 1-800-463-6048, or [email protected] fromtheDean Celebrating Our Ingenious Alumni, Students and Faculty Members I would like to introduce this issue of Skulematters I am also pleased to tell by reflecting on engineering as a discipline and a profes- you of a new way to support sion. The stories in this edition profile alumni who have promising graduate students. pursued non-traditional careers. Their professional lives Using new funds from the demonstrate the diversity of engineering, the ingenious provincial government to application of knowledge and the innovative ways in match private donations, the university has created the which engineers have built metaphoric bridges to many Graduate Student Endowment Fund (GSEF). Donations other disciplines. If an engineer is now “a person who of a minimum of $50,000 will be matched 1:1 through creatively uses science, mathematics and technology to this special fund. Half the annual payout on the resulting satisfy human needs”, a degree in engineering may lead $100,000 endowment will then be matched by equivalent to a successful career in almost any field of endeavour. UofT funds. A new fellowship will provide roughly $6,000 per annum in perpetuity for a graduate student. The Faculty is meeting the challenge of the increas- The GSEF program is enabling our Faculty to create 60 ingly broad definition of engineering as a profession named graduate scholarships; 35 GSEF awards are still by changing our approach to undergraduate education. available to be funded. The first round of these grants Guided by Professor Greg Evans, Vice-Dean, will be awarded in the coming academic year. Undergraduate, and newly appointed Chair, First Year, Professor David Kuhn, (both of the Department of This winter has seen another metaphorical and Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry [CHE]), physical bridge built on UofT’s St. George campus. the Engineering Strategies and Practice (ESP) program A number of our top researchers associated with the has been rolled out for all first-year students after a multi-Faculty Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical successful two-year pilot. In combination with the con- Engineering (IBBME) have relocated to the Terrence ventional engineering curriculum, ESP gives our students Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research early exposure to teamwork, critical (TDCCBR). By the end of February, thinking, communications skills and seven of our Faculty’s bioengineers engineering in a social context— Engineering confers had moved into the open-concept, knowledge and skills training that will interdisciplinary laboratories in this a degree without borders, serve them well throughout their facility, Canada’s first integrated undergraduate programs and their either of geography or health sciences centre. (see News diverse careers. practice. Highlights, p. 8) The Faculty has also recently The stories in this issue, as introduced program minors to bring greater breadth to the illustrated by our cover story about one graduate’s work curriculum for upper-year students. The recent launch of with Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), a new collaborative minor in bioengineering is an exam- clearly demonstrate that a degree in engineering is ple of our new approach to undergraduate education. increasingly a degree without borders of either geography This option will enable interested students in any engi- or practice. I am sure you will find these stories about neering discipline to develop their understanding of an the work of our graduates in medicine and health care, exciting and rapidly growing area of research and the public sector, law, management and international aid engineering practice. Professor Molly Shoichet, Canada to be quite remarkable. If you are interested in further Research Chair in Tissue Engineering and member of discussion on the changing nature of engineering, CHE, IBBME and UofT’s Department of Chemistry, you may wish to refer to a recent report of the National directs the collaborative bioengineering program and the Academy of Engineering, summarized online at bioengineering minor. The Faculty has plans to launch http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10999.html other engineering minors in the future, and students will soon also be able to create a minors program through Dean Anastasios Venetsanopoulos the Faculty of Arts and Science. skulematters • Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering • University of Toronto 3 <••• skulenews... skulenews... skulenews•••> Celebrating Alumni Achievement Nine renowned alumni were Henry Edamura (Civ 6T0), Lakefield Research into an interna- The Malcolm F. McGrath celebrated on November 3, 2005, in Professor Lloyd Reid (Eng Phys tionally recognized sector leader Alumni Achievement Award, hon- front of 210 classmates and friends 6T4) and Larry Seeley (Chem 6T6) and also founding and heading ouring alumni for dedication to the at the Faculty’s annual Engineering were inducted into the Hall of ArgentoPlata. community, the Faculty and UofT, Alumni Association Awards banquet. Distinction, chosen for their out- was shared this year by two emi- standing contributions to the profes- The 7T6 Early Career Award, nent outstanding alumni: Frederick Keith Coleman Hendrick (Mech sion and to society. Edamura is best intended for an outstanding profes- Gerson (MMS 4T7), President 4T7) won the highest accolade known for his leadership in plan- sional who graduated ten years ago, of F.T. Gerson Ltd. Consulting accorded by his peers, the ning and designing airports here went to Fabian Papa (Civ 9T5), Engineers, and Jim Thomson (Min Engineering Alumni Medal. and overseas, including Toronto’s a managing partner with Valdor 4T8), whose many achievements Hendrick was President and CEO Pearson International Airport. Reid, Engineering Inc. and highly regard- include 35 years as a member of of Noranda Minerals Inc., one of J. Armand Bombardier Chair in ed municipal engineering consult- UofT’s Physical Plant Department. many key posts he has held in the Aerospace Flight and, until recent- ant. The exceptional accomplish- minerals sector in Canada and ly, Associate Director of UofT’s ments of Adrian Hartog, who heads Andrea Ho (Mech 0T5) won abroad. The Rhodes Scholar is also Institute for Aerospace Studies, has ATI Technologies’ consumer prod- the L.E. (Ted) Jones Award of noted for his distinguished