News
In 2011 Professors Packer, Christopoulos, and Collins inaugurated the "Centre for the Resilience of Critical Infrastructure" with funding from the University's Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. The agenda of this Centre can be viewed at: www.civil.engineering.utoronto.ca/research/rci.htm
Professor Jeff Packer was the 2010 recipient of the "Engineering Medal for Research and Development" from Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) and the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE). This was presented at the Ontario Professional Engineers Awards Gala on November 20, 2010.
Tarana Haque, undertaking her M.A.Sc. degree under the supervision of Professor Jeff Packer, received First Prize in the "CIDECT President's Student Research Award" competition, during the 13th. International Symposium on Tubular Structures (ISTS13) held in Hong Kong in December 2010. She received this for her paper and conference presentation on "Experimental Behaviour of Elliptical Hollow Section Welded X- and T-Joints" from the conference sponsor Comité International pour le Développement et L'Étude de la Construction Tubulaire (CIDECT).
Tarana was one of several finalists, judged on the written submission, to be invited (with all expenses paid) to the conference. The winner is then determined by secret written ballots of all conference attendees after the oral presentations in the "Student Award" session. In addition to the paid trip the prize consists of a certificate and monetary award. Since the inauguration of this student competition in 2001 it has been won on 4 of the 5 occasions by University of Toronto students: Silke Willibald, at ISTS9, Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2001; Maura Lecce, at ISTS10, Madrid, Spain, in 2003; Carlos de Oliveira [now CEO of Cast Connex Corporation – a University of Toronto spin-off company], at ISTS12, Shanghai, China, in 2008; and now Tarana Haque, at ISTS13, Hong Kong, China, in 2010.
Carlos de Oliveira, a 2006 M.A.Sc. graduate from the Toronto Tube Group, was the recipient of the 2010 University of Waterloo Faculty of Engineering Young Alumni Achievement Medal, for his role in co-founding the University of Toronto technology start-up company Cast Connex Corporation. The company was founded in 2007 with former co-supervisors Professors Jeff Packer and Constantin Christopoulos. Carlos was also a past recipient of the U of T Heffernan/Co-Steel Innovation Fellowship, the Ontario Centres of Excellence Martin Walmsley Fellowship for Technological Entrepreneurship and the CIDECT President’s Award for Research. Pictured below is Dr. Adel Sedra, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo and past Vice President, Provost, and Chief Academic Officer at the University of Toronto and Carlos de Oliveira, now Chief Executive Officer of Cast Connex Corporation.
Professor Jeff Packer was the 2009 recipient of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) "Excellence in Innovation in Civil Engineering Award", and received this award at the CSCE Annual Conference Awards Banquet in St. John's, Newfoundland, on May 29, 2009. This was awarded for technology developed on "Cast Steel Connectors" in collaboration with Professor Constantin Christopoulos, Mr. Carlos de Oliveira and Mr. Michael Gray.
Doctoral Students, Mr. Michael Gray and Mr. Andrew Voth, in the UofT Tube Group, have won national and university honours respectively, in Spring 2009. Michael received the CSCE Donald Jamieson Fellowship and Andrew received the University of Toronto Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award, for his outstanding extra-curricular voluntary contributions to the university.
Ms. Elena Nuta spent May to September 2008 undertaking an Internship at the "Fraunhofer Center Windenergie und Meerestechnik" in Bremerhaven, Germany, as a result of being awarded an International Scholarship by the Ontario Centres of Excellence. At this Wind Energy centre she undertook research on steel wind turbine structures as part of her M.A.Sc. program.
Professor Jeff Packer was the recipient in 2007 of major infrastructure grants from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) New Initiatives Fund ($3.22 Million) and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation ($3.22 Million). This has renovated the Structures Laboratories at the University of Toronto and converted them into a "Large-Scale Impact and High-Velocity Loading and Sensing Facility for Critical Infrastructure" of world-class calibre. Renovation and equipment installation took place in 2008 with operation commencing in mid-2009.
Dr. Maura Lecce, a NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Toronto Tube Group, was the 2007 recipient of the prestigious Moisseiff Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). This was presented to Maura at the ASCE Structures Congress in Long Beach, California on May 17, 2007.
U of T steel researchers and supporters