Three members of the U of T Engineering community have been honoured by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) and Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) with Ontario Professional Engineers Awards. These awards recognize engineers in Ontario who have made exceptional contributions to the profession and to society.
Professor Emeritus Roderick Tennyson (UTIAS) received the Management Medal, for innovative management contributing significantly to an engineering achievement. Alumna Jeanette Southwood (ChemE 8T6, MASc 8T8) received the Citizenship Award, for an engineer who has made significant volunteer contributions to the community. Alumna Pirathayini Srikantha (ECE PhD 1T7) received the Engineering Medal – Young Professional Category, for outstanding young Ontario engineers who have made exceptional achievements in their chosen fields.
“These three outstanding members of the U of T Engineering family have had tremendous and extensive impact, not just through their professional contributions, but for the betterment of society across Canada and around the world,” said U of T Engineering Dean Christopher Yip. “On behalf of the Faculty, my warmest congratulations to them on this well-deserved honour.”
Tennyson was a professor at UTIAS for four decades and Director of UTIAS from 1985-1995. He was also founding Director of the University of Toronto’s Government Research Infrastructure Program office. Tennyson’s research has involved studying the effects of the environment in space on materials. He holds several patents for protective coatings for spacecraft and fibre-optic sensor systems. Tennyson was a founding member of the International Space University and president of the Canadian Foundation for the International Space University. He served on the inaugural Canadian Defence Science Advisory Board and as a Board member for the Canadian and Ontario Centres of Excellence.
Over the past ten years Tennyson has worked towards mitigating the water crisis in the Sahel region of Africa. He has formed a team of international experts to implement the Trans Africa Pipeline, an 8,000 km pipeline using solar-powered desalination technology to provide potable water for 11 countries.