Recent Faculty Appointments:

Alis Ekmekci, Assistant Professor (2008)
Philippe Lavoie, Assistant Professor (2008)
Craig Steeves, Assistant Professor (2009)

Academic Retirement:

Prof. L.D. Reid, 2007
Prof. A.A. Haasz, 2008
Prof. J.S. Hansen, 2008

Awards and Honours:

Professor Emeritus J. Barry French was appointed as Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of his many contributions to industry, commerce and business.

Professor Emeritus Bernard Etkin was appointed as Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of his multifaceted contributions to aerospace research, education and academic administration. The citation reads: "Following wartime and postwar service in Canada's aircraft industry as an aerodynamics engineer, Bernard Etkin served the University of Toronto with distinction as a teacher, a researcher, an administrator and a governor. He designed and brought into being novel research facilities, he assisted a large number of graduate students with their theses and published many research papers. He served as Dean of Engineering, on the Senate, and on the Governing Council. His four published volumes on the Dynamics of Flight in English, German, Russian and Chinese are classics, studied by students and engineers around the world. He has served Canadian industry and government extensively on committees and as a consultant. He is the recipient of many scientific and professional honours."

Professor Chris Damaren has been appointed Vice-Dean, Graduate Studies for the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.

Professor Emeritus Peter Hughes of the Institute for Aerospace Studies is the winner of the 2007 John H. Chapman Award of Excellence from the Canadian Space Agency for his "tremendous impact as an engineer, researcher, educator, author and entrepreneur." The award was made at the annual Chapman Dinner at the Canadian Space Agency in Montreal on May 24. Last year, Professor Hughes won the only other national award in this field, the Alouette Award, from the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute. Only one other person has won both these awards.

For more information, please go to the Canadian Space Agency website.

Alouette Award

The Alouette is an award introduced to recognize an outstanding contribution to advancement in Canadian space technology, application, science or engineering. It may be awarded to an individual, to a group, an organization or group of organizations, as appropriate to the nature of the contribution. The terms are:

1. The trophy shall be awarded annually for an outstanding achievement in the field of astronautics as defined by the CASI By-Laws.
2. The achievement may be either a single outstanding contribution or, in the case of an individual nominee, a sustained high level of performance resulting in several advances in space.
3. The contribution on which the award is based must be recognized as a Canadian-led space endeavour or as a significant Canadian contribution to an international program.
4. Preference shall be given to contributions that lead to new benefits for mankind.
5. The recipient shall have been a Canadian citizen at the time the contribution was made.

Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars Satellite Project Team:
On June 30, 2003, Canada’s first home-built science satellite in over 35 years was launched into space. By successfully carrying out its goals, the Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST) mission has achieved unprecedented pointing accuracy for a microsatellite and allowed university and private sector participants to develop skills and technologies that will be of benefit to Canada in future programs. In the first year of operations, the MOST team made improvements to on-board software that now allow up to 30 stars to be observed simultaneously versus the original goal of observing one at a time. The MOST mission has gained international recognition for its achievements and has helped Canada as a world leader in microspace missions. It has contributed to scientific knowledge and raised new questions about stellar structure and dynamics. The satellite has been first to make several astronomical discoveries that have shaken the scientific community. It has accomplished all this with a very modest budget compared to similar missions - 10 million dollars to develop and launch. The MOST project team consist of: Glen Campbell (Canadian Space Agency), Dr. Kieran A. Carroll (Concept), Peter Ceravolo (Ceravolo Optical Systems), Dr. Charles Hersom (Spectral Applied Research), Dr. Jaymie M. Matthews (University of British Columbia), Dr. Slavek Rucinski (Concept), Henry Spencer (SP Systems), Peter Stibrany (Dynacon Inc.), Andrew Walker (Sumus), Richard Worsfold (Ontario Centres of Excellence), Dr. Robert Zee (University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Space Flight Laboratory).

Professor Emeritus Rod Tennyson gave an invited lecture at an International Conference on "Collaborating in Africa: New Approaches in the Water Sector". It was sponsored by CIDA,the Institute of the Environment of the University of Ottawa, the INRS Centre at the University of Quebec and the Fondation Africaine de l'Eau et de Sante, and Telescience. The conference was held in Gatineau Quebec and attended by over 150 delegates, many from Africa. Prof Tennyson has been working on a project for over a year dealing with the concept of providing fresh water for people and irrigation to serve over 20 million people in the sub-Sahara region of Africa. The project (TAP) envisages a Trans Africa Pipeline delivering fresh water coast to coast using nuclear powered desalination plants on each coast, with 84 tank farms located over 14 countries, the latter powered by solar energy. The title of his Plenary talk was:"Trans Africa Pipeline (TAP): Fresh Water Coast to Coast". The lecture was received very well by the African water specialists who declared the project to be feasible and worth doing. The estimated cost was over $10B USD, with proposed financing by the G8 countries who have committed $48B up to 2010. The outcome was the creation of an international consortium called "Eau Africa" whose purpose is to secure initial seed funding to carry out a detailed feasibility study. A copy of his paper is available by contacting Prof. Tennyson at: rctennyson@aol.com

Professor Timothy Barfoot was awarded a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Autonomous Space Robotics. He also received the 2002 G.N. Patterson Award in recognition of excellent performance in a Ph.D. Program.

Professor Joaquim Martins was awarded a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Multidisciplinary Optimization. He also received the Ballhaus Prize for the best Ph.D. thesis of the year in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford Univ.

Professor David Zingg was awarded a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Computational Aerodynamics.