Three Ontario Tech Engineers Recognized with Prestigious National Honour

OTTAWA, ON – Ontario Tech University is proud to announce three of its faculty members have been inducted by the Engineering Institute of Canada’s (EIC) as Fellows.

The EIC, Canada’s first and oldest engineering society inducted Dr. Hossam Kishawy (Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS)), Dr. Daniel Meneley (Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science (FESNS)) and Dr. Dan Zhang (FEAS) as EIC Fellows at the Institute’s 2012 annual awards banquet in Ottawa. The prestigious recognition for exceptional contributions to engineering in Canada is only awarded to as many as 21 of the 22,000 members of the EIC’s various Member Societies each year.

“The grade of Fellow represents less than 0.1 per cent of the combined EIC membership, so it is a remarkable achievement for any single university to have so many in this exclusive group in the same year,” said Dr. Richard Marceau, provost and vice-president, Academic, UOIT. “Our faculty members are clearly at the top of their game and through this distinction our recipients represent the high quality and depth of our university’s engineering expertise, research and teaching,.”

Ontario Tech University has been recognized with an incredible six EIC Fellows since 2010, which represents ten percent of all awards over the past three years.

Dr. Hossam Kishawy, professor, FEAS, and assistant provost, Research, is also the director of the Automotive, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering programs at Ontario Tech University. The EIC is recognizing Dr. Kishawy for his industrial, teaching and research experience, particularly in the manufacturing area. He is a senior member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario. Prior to joining Ontario Tech University, Dr. Kishawy was a tenured faculty member at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton where he won numerous research and teaching awards and also served as director of Graduate Studies.

Dr. Daniel Meneley, adjunct professor, FESNS, has combined his extensive career as a practicing engineer in Canada and the United States with a very impressive series of appointments in academia. Dr. Meneley has mastered a wide variety of complicated engineering challenges in the areas of nuclear reactor kinetics, fluid dynamics and thermalhydraulics. His international contributions in nuclear engineering and science have won him wide acclaim and his counsel is in constant demand by nuclear industry peers worldwide.  From 1991 to 2001, he was chief engineer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. While in retirement, the Government of Canada called upon him in 2007 to report to Parliament on the safety evaluation of National Research Universal (NRU) reactor safety systems. 

Dr. Dan Zhang, professor, FEAS, is the Canada Research Chair in Robotics and Automation. Dr. Zhang is an expert in high performance reconfigurable robotic systems and their applications in manufacturing systems and a leading international researcher in the areas of parallel robotic machines and advanced manufacturing systems. He has contributed extensively to the development of new engineering programs at Ontario Tech University and was the director of Automotive, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering programs from 2007 to 2009. He serves on the boards of the Durham Region Manufacturing Association, and the Professional Engineers of Ontario, (Lake Ontario Chapter). Dr. Zhang is a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineers, senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a senior member of Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

In 2011, Dr. Ibrahim Dincer, professor, FEAS, was inducted as an EIC Fellow (2011 archived release). In 2010, Dr. Ebrahim Esmailzadeh, professor, FEAS and Dr. Greg Naterer, professor, associate dean (Academic and Research), FEAS and Canada Research Chair in Advanced Energy Systems were both inducted (2010 archived release).

Founded in 1887, the EIC is a federation of 11 member engineering societies in Canada, which encompass all fields of engineering. The EIC is celebrating its 125^th anniversary in 2012.

About Ontario Tech University
A modern, forwarding-thinking university, Ontario Tech advances the discovery and application of knowledge to accelerate economic growth, regional development and social innovation. We inspire and equip our students and our graduates to make a positive impact in a tech-focused world. For us, it’s not only about developing the next tech breakthrough. Understanding and integrating the social and ethical implications of technology differentiates us as university. Learn more at ontariotechu.ca.

Media contact
Bryan Oliver
Communications and Marketing
Ontario Tech University
905.721.8668 ext. 2209
bryan.oliver@ontariotechu.ca