DR. MARKO SABAN, XEROX

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019 @ 2:30 P.M. (BSB B135)

'How to land a “dream job” and stay in charge of your career?'

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Overview

Every graduate engineering student probably has a “dream job” in mind upon graduation. In reality, this dream job may or may not become reality or it may take a few attempts to fulfil. Is this a problem? Not at all, and we’ll offer a few strategies how to deal with this, from an engineering standpoint. On the other hand, every employer has big expectations from their highly qualified work-force, MSc and PhD engineers, and this is quite understandable. Some employers value employee career development more than others and they put generous time and resources towards it; however, there is a bit of a catch here and engineering graduates should be aware of it. And then there are trends, biases, soft (people) skills vs. technical skills, quest for innovation and sustainability, “flattening” of organizational structures, etc. The trends are a powerful factor in the workplace, and they should not be ignored, but one should be mindful of their “expiry date”. We plan to touch on a few powerful trends and put them in a job-hunting/career developing context. Finally, the presenter will offer a few tips for landing a “perfect job”, then for having a terrific start at a new company, developing a steady career pace, and for ultimately finishing strong and moving on.

Biography

Dr. Marko Saban is an Adjunct Professor at McMaster University where he has been teaching Plant Design and Simulation course (4W04) since 2011. He retired from Xerox Research Centre of Canada in 2018 as Director of Scale-Up Engineering Lab, after an amazing 27-year career. In addition to teaching at Mac he is currently also working at the U of T as a course consultant for U of T’s Plant Design course. During his tenure at Xerox he has hired, managed, and mentored probably over 100 young engineers; through his teaching and Mac and the U of T he has taught about 300 students to date. He is passionate about chemical processing and about helping young engineering talent find good jobs. In his spare time Marko is a master rower and therefore there might be some sport analogies thrown in his presentation...

LES SHEMILT LECTURE - DR. PAUL WEISS

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2019 @ 2:30 P.M. (HSC FARNCOMBE ATRIUM)

'Precise Chemical, Physical and Electronic Nanoscale Contacts'

Biography

Paul S. Weiss graduated from MIT with S.B. and S.M. degrees in chemistry in 1980 and from the University of California at Berkeley with a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1986. He is a nanoscientist and holds a UC Presidential Chair and a distinguished professor of chemistry & biochemistry and materials science & engineering at UCLA, where he was previously director of the California NanoSystems Institute. He also currently holds visiting appointments at Harvard’s Wyss Institute and several universities in Australia, China and South Korea. He studies the ultimate limits of miniaturization, developing and applying new tools and methods for atomic-resolution and spectroscopic imaging and patterning of chemical functionality. He and his group apply these advances in other areas including neuroscience, and microbiome studies, and high-throughput stem cell transfection. He led, coauthored, and published the technology roadmaps for the BRAIN Initiative and the U. S. Microbiome Initiative. He has won a number of awards, in science, engineering, teaching, publishing, and communications. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Physical Society, the American Vacuum Society, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and an honorary fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society. He is the founding and current editor-in-chief of ACS Nano.

DR. ALI KHADEMHOSSEINI, UCLA

THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2019 @ 2:30 P.M. (HSC FARNCOMBE ATRIUM)

"Emerging Organ Models and Organ Printing for Regenerative Medicine"

Khademhosseini Laboratory is a world-leading multidisciplinary research group at California NanoSystems Institute, University of California Los Angeles. Our team consists of various students and researchers from different backgrounds and nationalities, all aiming to push forward novel micro/nanoscaled technologies for the purpose of minimally invasive therapeutics. We have accumulated experience and expertise in biomaterials engineering, cell/tissue engineering, biofabrication, and organ-on-a-chip to facilitate technological translation from the lab to clinics for the better society.

Overview

Engineered materials that integrate advances in polymer chemistry, nanotechnology, and biological sciences have the potential to create powerful medical therapies. Our group aims to engineer tissue regenerative therapeutics using water-containing polymer networks called hydrogels that can regulate cell behavior. Specifically, we have developed photo-crosslinkable hybrid hydrogels that combine natural biomolecules with nanoparticles to regulate the chemical, biological, mechanical and electrical properties of gels. These functional scaffolds induce the differentiation of stem cells to desired cell types and direct the formation of vascularized heart or bone tissues. Since tissue function is highly dependent on architecture, we have also used microfabrication methods, such as microfluidics, photolithography, bioprinting, and molding, to regulate the architecture of these materials. We have employed these strategies to generate miniaturized tissues. To create tissue complexity, we have also developed directed assembly techniques to compile small tissue modules into larger constructs. It is anticipated that such approaches will lead to the development of next-generation regenerative therapeutics and biomedical devices.

DR. SIVA SARATHY, TROJAN TECHNOLOGIES

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019 @ 2:30 P.M. (BSB B135)

'Ultraviolet Treatment of Water and Wastewater: Disinfection & Removal of Trace Contaminants'

We enable customers to meet their water quality objectives by providing eco-efficient solutions that reduce and recover costs, energy, resources and space. Collaboratively solving problems with our customers, we deliver low-risk, innovative technologies that offer sustainable results. We ensure greater water confidence and environmental stewardship for people, industries and municipalities, improving the lives of over one billion people globally.

Overview

For the last 40 years, Trojan Technologies has lead the industry in providing leading edge UV based technology for disinfection and contaminant removal from waste and wastewater. In this lecture, Dr. Sarathy will cover the basics of photochemistry, UV disinfection, and UV-based advanced oxidation processes. Also he will highlight notable municipal installations and innovative applications of UV technology.

Biography

Dr. Siva Sarathy received a Bachelors degree in Environmental (Chemical) Engineering from the University of Waterloo and a PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Dr. Sarathy holds an Adjunct Research Professor appointment at Western University’s Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering. He has 15 years of experience in water and wastewater treatment processes with the last 10 years as a Research Scientist with Trojan Technologies. Dr. Sarathy is also the President of the Canadian IWA Young Water Professionals Chapter.

MR. ANDREW J THAKE, DR. WALID AL-GHERWI

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019 @ 2:30 P.M. (BSB B135)

'Practical Aspects of Advanced Process Control'

Overview

Imperial Oil Limited (French: L'Impériale) is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. Exxon Mobil Corp. has a 69.6 percent ownership stake in the company.

Biographies

Andy Thake is currently the Advanced Control Group Head at Engineering Services Canada, Imperial Oil. He joined the company in 2002 after beginning his career at Shell Canada where he was a Process Control Engineer at the Sarnia Refinery. Andy holds a MASc degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto with research focus on process control. While at Imperial, Andy has had both technical and supervisory assignments in the field of process control which involved work in many areas of process control (process control systems, base control through to APC/RTO). Andy recently completed an assignment with ExxonMobil where he had the opportunity to work in a team that provides advanced process control support for refining and chemicals across the globe.

Walid Al-Gherwi is currently an ACAP-RTO Engineer at Imperial Oil, he joined the company in 2013 after working more than 2 years with Sanofi Pasteur in Vaccine Manufacturing where he was Manager of Process Modeling and Process Analytical Technology. Walid holds a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Waterloo with research focus on Model Predictive Control. Walid’s interests include: design, implementation, and sustainment of Advanced Process Control applications, coordination of process control layers such as MPC and RTO, combining process knowledge with systematic mathematical tools to solve and troubleshoot industrial problems, and identification of marginal and energy improvement opportunities via process control applications.

MS. PAULINE MEYER LEBEL

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2019 @ 2:30 P.M. (BSB B135)

"Requirements for Licensing as a Professional Engineer"

Biography

Pauline Meyer Lebel is a professional chemical engineer with over 20 years of experience in industry. Her background is varied and includes chemical process development, proposal preparation, project management, training and consulting. She has also been involved in teaching engineering and computer courses at both Sheridan College and Conestoga College. She is currently the Manager, Licensure at Professional Engineers Ontario.

DR. ERIN ALLARD

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2019 @ 2:30 P.M. (BSB B135)

"Lesson Planning and Delivery"

Biography

Dr. Erin Allard is an Educational Developer at the Paul R. MacPherson Institute for for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching, where she has worked since 2012. As the Program Area Lead for the Emerging Educators portfolio, she oversees services and supports that foster Teaching Assistants’, graduate students' and postdoctoral fellows' teaching development. These services and supports include: the annual Teaching and Learning Forum, the Teaching and Learning Certificates of Completion Program, facilitator training for the McMaster Children and Youth University in the City Program (a program led by her colleague, Beth Levinson), and the Student Educational Developer Program (led by her colleague, Elliot Storm).

DR. DANIELLE ZYNGIER

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 @ 2:30 P.M. (BSB B135)

"Experiences in Data Science - Optimization and Analytics"

Biography

This Hatch optimization specialist is also an adjunct professor at McMaster University. She has over 15 years of experience in consulting, as well as developing and deploying advanced planning and scheduling solutions for the manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure sectors. She contributes to the development and support of Vista DSS and HydroVantage, two Hatch software tools for optimal operations of power-generation systems and long-term asset management, respectively. She has also developed award-winning tools for strategic planning of hydroelectric systems. Recently, Danielle developed a state-of-the-art scheduling tool for train systems (patent-pending Hatch Rail Optimizer). She has published over 30 peer-reviewed academic papers and book chapters, and has co-authored three U.S. patents in the field of optimization.