The University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering recently honored 25 faculty and staff members for their outstanding contributions with teaching, research, and administrative staff awards. These awards recognize exceptional faculty and staff for their leadership, citizenship, innovation, and contributions to U of T Engineering’s teaching, service, and research missions.
“I’m grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge our professors and staff who contribute to making U of T Engineering Canada’s top-ranked school for engineering education and research,” says Christopher Yip, Dean of U of T Engineering.
“My congratulations to all the awardees, and my heartfelt thanks to all our faculty and staff members for their continued excellence.”
Among the recipients, Professor Chi-Guhn Lee and Katie Allison (MASc student) from MIE are awarded the Safwat Zaky Research Leader Award and the Teaching Assistant Award.
Chi-Guhn Lee (MIE)
Safwat Zaky Research Leader Award
Recognizing leadership in innovative interdisciplinary and multiple-investigator initiatives that have enhanced the faculty’s research profile.
Over the past decade, Chi-Guhn Lee has led large-scale research initiatives that have benefited many students and faculty members and significantly raised the profile of U of T Engineering.
He has taken over the leadership of the Centre for Maintenance Optimization and Reliability Engineering (C-MORE), which was founded 30 years ago by Professor Emeritus Andrew Jardine (MIE) but began to stagnate when he retired. Under Lee’s leadership, C-MORE has steadily grown, supporting more diverse research activities and educational opportunities.
Lee was also instrumental in developing U of T’s research partnership with LG, beginning in 2018 when he invited the President of LG CNS to visit the faculty. An official agreement between LG and U of T was signed in 2019, bringing in $3 million. Lee then worked closely with LG CNS to initiate a second funding program, effectively doubling LG’s investment.
In 2023, LG Electronics announced the renewal of their partnership with U of T for another five years.
Lee played an important role in creating an International Doctoral Cluster for the exchange of graduate students with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Under his guidance, the program has facilitated substantial research collaborations and cultivated a vibrant academic community.
Katie Allison (MIE MASc student)
Teaching Assistant Award
Recognizing a TA who demonstrates excellence in classroom teaching, working with students, and the development of course materials.
Katie Allison, a mechanical engineering MASc student, has served as a teaching assistant in two foundation year courses in the Division of Engineering Science, ESC101: Praxis I and ESC103: Engineering Mathematics and Computation. This means that students encounter her during their often challenging transition to university.
Allison’s style of teaching and her approach to engaging with students helps them to build confidence in their skills and knowledge as they progress through their first term. Her commitment to students does not end when the course does; she continues to mentor and advise many students in her classes throughout their time at U of T.
Allison also played a key role in the development of ESC204: Praxis III, starting with her involvement on the course development team as a fourth-year EngSci student. Since then, she has taken on various roles in the course, including TA, senior TA, and course instructor. Allison developed a more than 200-page prototyping handbook that serves as a reference for students to extend their learning, as well as hands-on Prototyping Bootcamp materials that she has created and refined through several iterations of the course. As ESC204 has developed, she has been instrumental in collecting feedback and responding to student concerns to improve their experience.
Congratulations to Professor Lee and Allison for their achievements and contributions to the research and teaching of the U of T Engineering!
– This story was a part of the article originally published on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News Site on April 16, 2024, by Carolyn Farrell.
