Ontario Professional Engineers Awards recipients are named for 2011
TORONTO, June 30, 2011 /CNW/ - The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and Professional Engineers Ontario are pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 Ontario Professional Engineers Awards. The awards are given to Professional Engineers who have shown exemplary service in their respective fields, to their communities and to their profession.
The awards will be presented at a gala on Saturday, November 12, 2011, at the International Centre in Mississauga. Members of the media are invited to attend.
Citizenship Award
Anna Dunets Wills, P.Eng.
For over three decades, Anna Wills, P.Eng., has dedicated herself to
enhancing her profession, and society at large, through her tireless
volunteer work. Engineer Wills's service to society began as an
undergraduate engineering student in the mid-1970s, when she
volunteered with Frontiers Foundation, a non-profit volunteer
aboriginal service organization. Later she volunteered for Kairos, a
Canadian ecumenical justice and human-rights organization partnering
with organizations in Africa. Ms. Wills also sits on the Housing,
Economic Development and Infrastructure committee of the North-South
Partnership for Children, which finds ways to assist thirteen First
Nations communities in northern Ontario.
Engineering Medal: Young Engineer Award
Milica Radisic, P.Eng.
Milica Radisic, P.Eng., has established herself as a leading researcher
in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. As a
professor in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the
University of Toronto, her work on the development of heart tissue has
been widely acclaimed for its ability to improve the quality of life
for the estimated 70,000 Canadians who suffer heart attacks each year.
Professor Radisic's research has focused on developing new heart tissue
that can replace the damaged tissue and significantly reduce the
likelihood of congestive heart failure. She was named one of the Top 35
Innovators Under 35 by MIT's Technology Review.
Engineering Medal: Entrepreneurship
Stephan Matusch, P.Eng.
Mr. Matusch is cofounder of Ionic Engineering Ltd. Under his direction,
the company's automated systems division expanded from a one-man
operation to a multi-disciplinary group of over 50 employees generating
$7.5 million in annual revenue, with projects on every continent. He
realized that robotic and other technologies had become sufficiently
robust for heavy industry and, as a result, has been a leader in
applying these technologies in harsh environments. In 2006, Mr. Matusch
received the 40 Under Forty Award from Northern Ontario Business.
Engineering Medal: Research and Development
Elizabeth A. Edwards, P.Eng.
Engineer Edwards is an innovative researcher and well-respected
educator. A Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of
Toronto, she is also Director of BioZone, a new centre for
collaborative bioengineering within the Department of Chemical
Engineering and Applied Chemistry. Professor Edwards has achieved
international recognition for her pioneering research on the biological
processes affecting pollutants in the environment. Her research on
anaerobic biotransformation has significantly contributed to improving
the understanding, management, and remediation of hydrocarbon
contamination. She was the first to report mineralization of toluene
and xylenes under sulphate-reducing conditions.
Douglas Perovic, P.Eng.
Professor Perovic, a Professor and former Chair of the Department of
Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto, has
achieved and demonstrated a profound understanding of the structure,
properties and performance and advance materials systems particularly
in the areas associated with nanotechnology. He is internationally
recognized for his innovative work in the fields of scanning and
transmission electron microscopy applied to semiconductors and metallic
alloys, thin film nanostructures and failure analysis. He also led the
creation of the multi-industry, multi-university Centre for
Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging, the first of its kind in
Canada.
David Zingg, P.Eng.
Dr. Zingg works at the forefront of research in computational
aerodynamics. He is Director of the University of Toronto Institute for
Aerospace Studies (UTIAS), the top academic aerospace research
institute in Canada and among the best in the world. Among Professor
Zingg's many honours and awards are the Canada Research Chair in
Computational Aerodynamics and Environmentally-Friendly Aircraft
Design—which he has held for the past ten years—and the J. Armand
Bombardier Foundation Chair in Aerospace Flight. In 2009, Professor
Zingg was awarded the University of Toronto Faculty Award for
excellence in research and teaching, and in 2010 he was inducted into
the Canadian Academy of Engineering.
Engineering Medal: Management
Mohamed Attalla, P.Eng.
Dr. Attalla is the Senior Construction Administrator at the Toronto
District School Board (TDSB). He leads a team of 500 professionals to
service the needs of the more than 600 TDSB schools and other
buildings. Dr. Attalla's expert management has allowed facilities to be
constructed under budget and ahead of schedule, and his school
construction projects have been of such interest that property owners
and administrators of school boards from across Canada and the United
States have come to visit them. Engineer Attalla possesses a
comprehensive experience in the industrial, commercial and
institutional sectors, and is internationally recognized for his
experience in the subjects of management, leadership and strategic
planning. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Waterloo
and Ryerson University.
Anton Davies, P.Eng.
Anton Davies, Vice-President and co-founder of Rowan Williams Davies and
Irwin Inc. (RWDI), is a renowned scientist and engineer in the fields
of wind engineering, air quality and sustainable design, and has
published numerous articles on these subjects. As one of the Principals
in charge of RWDI's Environmental Team, he has directed many of the
firm's major environmental projects around the world. Dr. Davies has
served on several governmental advisory boards and committees on
environmental improvement. He was also a recipient of the Arbor Award
for volunteers from the University of Toronto, and has been inducted
into U of T Engineering's Hall of Distinction.
Engineering Medal: Engineering Excellence
Robert Bryant, P.Eng.
Engineer Bryant is the Senior Technical Advisor in Engineering with
Union Gas in Chatham. He is the lead on the new Union Gas Engineering
Complete Overview Technical Training (ECOTT), where he is working with
consultants to develop around 16 technical training modules of a week's
duration to instruct Engineers in Training (EITs) on the oil and gas
industry and Union Gas's departments. Engineer Bryant's technical
expertise has also won him the respect of the Ontario Energy Board,
which has invited him to testify at several hearings into projects to
build new pipeline systems.
Nils Voermann, P.Eng.
Engineer Voermann is head of the Furnace Group and the Technologies
Business Unit for Hatch Ltd., a Mississauga-based multi-disciplinary
firm of 8,500 employees, with 65 offices worldwide. Mr. Voermann and
his team have an international reputation as design engineers and
installers of the world's largest and most efficient metallurgical
smelting furnaces. Through his technical and leadership skills, Mr.
Voermann's career has been distinguished by an uninterrupted
progression of innovative projects that have secured Hatch's technology
business worldwide.
Gold Medal
Michael E. Charles, P.Eng.
Dr. Charles has served in positions of leadership in both the public and
private sectors. A chemical engineer, he worked for the Research
Council of Alberta and Imperial Oil before joining the University of
Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. Professor Charles
has served on the University of Toronto's Governing Council, on the
boards of three of the Ontario Centres of Excellence, and is a Fellow
of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Engineering Institute of
Canada and the Chemical Institute of Canada, as well as a Senior Fellow
of Massey College. His research has focused on novel problems
associated with the pipeline transport of complex crude oils and
particulate solids, which resulted in some 65 publications. As Dean of
Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto from 1993
to 2001, he led the faculty with vision and fortitude and guided it
toward the new fields of biomedical and biosystems engineering.
About OSPE
The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) is the advocacy
association for engineers in Ontario. OSPE promotes and supports
excellence in all aspects of engineering by enhancing the profile of
Ontario's engineers among employers, the public and all levels of
government, and advancing their economic interests through continuing
education, career advancement, member benefits and affinity programs.
For more information about OSPE, please visit www.ospe.on.ca.
About PEO
Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) licenses Ontario's 73,000
professional engineers. PEO grants temporary, limited and provisional
licences to practise professional engineering, authorizes businesses to
provide engineering services to the public, and sets standards for and regulates engineering in Ontario in order to serve and
protect the public interest. Rigorously educated, experienced, and
committed to a Code of Ethics that puts the public first, licensed
Professional Engineers can be identified by the P.Eng. after their
names. PEO has presented awards for professional achievement and
community service since 1947. For more information about PEO, please
visit www.peo.on.ca.
For more information or to schedule interviews with award winners, please contact:
Elizabeth Raymer
Acting Manager, Marketing and Communications
Ontario Society of Professional Engineers
416-223-9961, ext. 224
eraymer@ospe.on.ca
David Smith
Manager, Communications
Professional Engineers Ontario
416-840-1068; 1-800-339-3716, ext.1068
dsmith@peo.on.ca