UOIT appoints Daniel Hoornweg as new research chair

OSHAWA, ON – The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) is pleased to announce that Daniel Hoornweg has been named the Jeffrey S. Boyce Research Chair in Natural Gas (NG) as a Transportation Fuel.

“We are very pleased to have Daniel join UOIT in this capacity,” said Dr. Michael Owen, vice-president, Research, Innovation and International. “His breadth of knowledge and global experience in the area of sustainable cities is an excellent complement to the alternative fuel research he will lead at UOIT in collaboration with our industry, community and government partners. Having the Energy Systems and Nuclear Science Research Centre and the Automotive Centre of Excellence co-located at UOIT provides an unparalleled opportunity to pursue collaborations and conduct research that creates new knowledge, promotes knowledge translation between the academy and end users, solves problems of global proportion and results in economic and social innovation.”

As Boyce Research Chair, Hoornweg will provide visionary and transformative leadership in taking an energy systems view of the use of NG for transportation including the technology and its economics, environmental impact and social acceptability. The aim of his research will include improving public policy and the design of equipment and systems for providing compressed natural gas (CNG) and/or liquified natural gas (LNG) to the transportation sector. It will have applications for use in cars and light trucks to optimize flexible fuel engine designs in terms of emissions, power and viability including hybrid systems that combine NG with biogas, hydrogen and other fuels. Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) have several advantages such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, lower fuel costs, longer ranges and high reliability in inclement weather.

The chair is the result of a $1.5-million donation, the largest gift UOIT has received from an individual, from Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sure Energy Inc. Jeffrey Boyce.

"Development of natural gas as an alternative energy source is vital to the future of the transportation sector,” said Boyce, a Calgary-based entrepreneur. “This chair program is aimed at finding solutions to meet the growing demand for alternative fuels and I believe NGVs will help fill this gap. I congratulate Daniel on his appointment and will follow his work with keen interest.”

Hoornweg studied engineering in Ontario at the University of Guelph and the University of Waterloo. He has lectured at Columbia University in New York; University of Toronto in Ontario; Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge; Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.; London School of Economics and Political Science in England; University of Cambridge in England; University of Guelph; Paris Sorbonne University; and École Polytechnique in Quebec. For the past six years he has been an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science at UOIT. Prior to that, he was an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Environmental Science and Planning at the University of Waterloo. He is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto and will continue to serve as director, Global City Indicators Facility at the University of Toronto.

Upon graduating from Waterloo as a geological engineer he spent two years in Alberta working for Schlumberger Oilfield Services. He also completed three work terms with the Ontario Geological Survey as well-site advisor overseeing NG drilling on Lake Erie, evaluating hydrocarbon potential in Southern Ontario, and bedrock mapping in Northern Ontario. For the past 20 years, Hoornweg has worked for the World Bank as senior municipal engineer and lead urban advisor, and has overseen the Bank’s Sustainable Development Networks’ Sustainable Cities Program with more than 200 global operations and $4 billion in annual support. He was also recently appointed by the Minister of Consumer Services and the Board of the Technical Standards and Safety Authority as Chief Safety and Risk Officer for the Province of Ontario. He is a member of the Urban Strategy Council of GDF Suez and of the Philips Liveable Cities Think Tank and an occasional advisor to Cisco Systems; Oliver Wyman; McKinsey and Company; World Business Council for Sustainable Development; The World Economic Forum; Siemens; IBM; Edmonton Waste Management Corporation; and Evergreen Brick Works.

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