THE
FALL/WINTER 2017
ENGINEER THE MAGAZINE OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY
Around the world in 48 days
INSIDE A message from our new Dean, Kevin J. Deluzio (Sc’88, MSc’90, PhD’98) Bruce Jameson gets his degree—71 years later!
Bob Dengler (Sc’65, DSc’88) and son Steven circle the globe in a helicopter for Canada 150
Page 10
PLUS Mary Ann Turcke: From Queen’s Civil Engineering to Bell Media to the NFL!
CONTENTS 1
Dean’s message Dr. Kevin Deluzio outlines top priorities in his first message as Dean of Engineering and Applied Science
2
Associate Deans’ messages New teaching methods, new faculty, and new facilities spur innovative research and student success
4
Strong global showing for QICSI team Spectra Plasmonics Queen’s students earn top spots in two prestigious competitions
6
The internet of me How Dr. Ying Zou is trying to fix your web browser and personalize your online experience
8
It’s alive! Dr. Ali Etemad looks to create the building blocks for a world of ambient intelligence
10
Around the world in 48 days Father-son duo Bob and Steven Dengler circle the globe in a helicopter for Canada 150
12
Eureka! Innovative BTech program is a golden opportunity for industry collaboration and career advancement
14
Peter Bregg Matt Mills Rob Whelan
Never too old Bruce Jameson returns to graduate after 70 years
15
To the top of her field From Bell Media to the NFL, Mary Ann Turcke’s star continues to rise
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
16
A new approach Dr. Lindsay Fitzpatrick explores the frontier between innate immunity and materials design
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Alumni engagement Photos from recent events, including a farewell to Dean Woodhouse, the Dean’s reception in Toronto, and Homecoming
FALL/WINTER 2017 DEAN
Kevin J. Deluzio (Sc’88, MSc’90, PhD’98) DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Adam Walker COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
Matt Mills INTERN
James Hubay CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Matt Mills Jordan Whitehouse GRAPHIC DESIGN
Walker Design + Communications PHOTOGRAPHY
Matt Mills Mark Witten CONTACT INFORMATION
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Queen’s University Beamish-Munro Hall 45 Union Street Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Tel 613.533.2055 Fax 613.533.6500 Email complete.engineer@queensu.ca
COMPLETE
The Queen’s Engineering Society has partnered with Ten Thousand Coffees* to bring you an e-mentoring platform, connecting Queen’s Engineering students and alumni. Once you make a profile, the program will “introduce” you to those of similar interests. By joining this site, you’ll be giving back to the Queen’s community on your own time, when you want, where you want.
THE
FALL/WINTER 2017
ENGINEER THE MAGAZINE OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY
Around the world in 48 days
Mentor and connect with tomorrow’s Queen’s Engineers
Join the Queen’s Engineering e-network. It’s just a click away!
INSIDE A message from our new Dean, Dr. Kevin J. Deluzio (Sc’88, MSc’90, PhD’98) Bruce Jameson gets his degree—71 years later!
Bob Dengler (Sc’65, DSc’88) and son Steven circle the globe in a helicopter for Canada 150
Page 10
PLUS
1
2
3
Scan the QR code to access the QU Eng hub (or go to https://goo.gl/uP5ttv)
Make an account and sign in
Start building your online presence in the hub!
Mary Ann Turcke: From Queen’s Civil Engineering to Bell Media to the NFL!
Read about alumnus Bob Dengler’s amazing around-the-world journey on page 10.
*10,000 Coffees is a third-party service and neither The Queen’s Engineering Society nor The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen’s University are responsible for your experience while using this service.
FACULT Y
Dean’s Message
I
t’s an honour to be welcoming you to the fall/winter 2017 alumni? You are one committed group, evidenced most issue of The Complete Engineer in my first message as Dean. recently by your contributions to our Inspiring Greatness As a Queen’s alumnus and as a faculty member for over campaign, which resulted in the highest level of giving in 10 years, I am truly proud of the accomplishments of the our Faculty’s history. Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. Over the next, year, I will be focusing on three In my new role as Dean, I can now fully strategic priorities: strengthening our research understand the amazing breadth of work impact, building on the student experience, and and innovation within our Faculty and what increasing diversity within our faculty ranks. To we can achieve together. Over the next, year, I succeed, we’ll need everyone working together It’s an exciting time to be Dean. Along with will be focusing on three towards these important goals. strategic priorities: faculty renewal, which will help us increase Next time you’re on campus, make sure to stop strengthening our our diversity, we’re seeing some incredible by the corner of Union and Division Streets, results from our researchers, who are research impact, where construction on our new Innovation and collaborating internationally to stretch the building on the student Wellness Centre (IWC) is well underway. About boundaries of discovery. Our exceptional experience, and a third of the IWC is dedicated to engineering, degree completion and employment increasing diversity including research space and undergraduate rates are a testament to the value of our undergraduate and graduate programs and within our faculty ranks. programming space. Set to open next fall, it will nurture interdisciplinary opportunities and our teachers. Our proactive approach to create a hub for learning, research, innovation, supporting students both within and outside and entrepreneurship. of the classroom is setting new standards for helping students transition and thrive in a university setting.
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Since becoming Dean on July 1st, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with many faculty members, staff, students, and alumni, and have noticed a shared commitment to our school and to each other. Our faculty members take a forward-looking, collaborative approach to teaching and research, and our staff go above and beyond to develop and manage a wide range of support programs. And our
I believe in working collaboratively to achieve success, and I welcome your thoughts and recommendations as we embark on another academic year. I look forward to hearing from you!
Kevin J. Deluzio, (Sc’88, MSc’90, PhD’98) Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
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FACU LT Y
Associate Deans’ Messages Supporting student success
Aiding our researchers
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E
very one of us knows how it feels to be stressed about a difficult situation in our lives, or to worry that we will not achieve a goal. This is particularly true for university students, especially those in their first year as they transition to a new way of learning and a new way of living. That’s why we’ve developed the 10 Point Student Success Model, an integrated approach that brings together the key elements that students need to be successful during their time in Queen’s Engineering. Academically, we understand that first year can be overwhelming, so the very first class on the very first day for every student is a time management workshop tailored for engineering students. Throughout the year, students can take advantage of a series of study skills workshops, as well as after-hours tutorials led by upper-year students. Our Section 900 program (previously known as J-Section) provides a critical safety net that allows students to retake failed fall semester courses early in the winter term and get back on track. It also serves as a mental safety net—students stressing over exams know, in the back of their minds, that Section 900 is always there for them. There are also 36 academic advisors on hand throughout the programs, as well as student facilitators who meet one-on-one with students to help them develop learning strategies. For personal support, we have engineering-based mental health counsellors who are trained to help students cope with the specific challenges and heavy workload in engineering programs. Our office is always open for students who need to talk, and we also have Wellness Days near exams with tension-releasing activities and snacks. We know that our model is working: our retention rate from first to second year is over 96 per cent, and we have a 91 per cent graduation rate, the highest of any engineering program in Canada. At Queen’s, it’s not just about reaching an academic goal. It’s about learning, growing, and becoming the person you want to be. That’s what we call success.
Lynann Clapham, BMet, PhD’87, PEng Associate Dean (Academic)
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ngineering recently welcomed several new faculty members to campus, many of whom are also new to their roles as teachers and researchers. Part of our job in welcoming them is to provide them with the resources and guidance they need to thrive at Queen’s. Our recently developed half-day onboarding workshop helps new faculty members learn about the resources available on campus that support their research and teaching. Two of those resources are the University Research Services and the Centre for Teaching and Learning, which provide a wide range of training programs and one-on-one consultations. The workshop also features case studies, tips, best practices for research grant applications, and information about on-campus grantwriting support. We’ve also developed a full-day research workshop that provides practical guidance for various aspects of the research process, including grant applications, publishing, and new communication methods for leveraging work. The workshop is open to faculty members, post-doctoral, and senior doctoral students considering an academic or research career. We’re also pleased to have joined the Canadian Graduate Engineering Consortium (CGEC), a unique and progressive recruitment initiative that brings together seven of Canada’s top universities to address the country’s urgent need for qualified engineers. This group engages in collegial competition, hosting graduate recruitment events at each school during the fall. These events allow potential students to have valuable conversations with faculty members who can help them decide which school is best for them. Many thanks to all our faculty, staff, and graduate students who volunteered at these events this fall. Guidance and mentorship can make all the difference at the beginning of a career, whether one is a graduate student or a faculty member. At Queen’s, we’re dedicated to providing the resources that promote a smooth transition into new roles and the solid foundation for a successful career
Amir Fam, PhD, FACI, FCSCE, FASCE, FIIFC, FEIC, PEng Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies), Donald and Sarah Munro Chair in Engineering and Applied Science
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Setting the stage for excellence in teaching
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hat’s the ideal learning environment? Some would say it’s one-on-one instruction from our excellent faculty. But that’s not exactly realistic in a university setting. Instead, we get creative in our approach to teaching by providing our faculty members with spaces and tools that facilitate collaborative learning and hands-on experiences. The traditional lecture theatre is now giving way to more active learning spaces that promote team discussions and exercises. These allow students to problem-solve with each other in a structured environment. The active learning classrooms in Ellis Hall, for example, feature moveable tables and chairs, whiteboards, and tableside screens for group activities, allowing instructors to lecture and give students opportunities to work together and practice what they’ve learned. Our new classrooms in the Innovation and Wellness Centre, slated to open next fall, provide even more flexibility for instructors to engage students. Technology continues to play a larger role in the classroom. Teachers can use online tools to poll students in real time through their smartphones or laptops, giving them a snapshot of how well the class understands the lecture. And sometimes the classroom isn’t a classroom at all. Many of our students are working on projects with industry or community clients, including over 100 first-year students who are completing engineering design projects with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte right now. Others take part in internships
designed to help them apply their knowledge in a real-world environment. Collaborations with other faculties and community groups are giving our students new perspectives on problems, but this also means that we need to ensure that our curriculum reflects these approaches to learning. Thanks to support from the Dean’s Educational Development grants, we’ve had specialists work with instructors on course design, content, and assessment in a way that connects the courses together and promotes interdisciplinary learning. I look forward to sharing our progress with you as our new teaching spaces, course redesigns, and educational technology projects develop over the next year.
Brian Frank (Sc’97, MSc’99, PhD’02) Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning), DuPont Canada Chair in Engineering Education, Research and Development
QUEEN’S SUMMER ENGINEERING ACADEMY
Do you know an aspiring engineer? If you know someone who is currently in grades 7 through 12, you can give them an introduction to the Queen’s Engineering experience with Connections: Queen’s Summer Engineering Academy (QSEA), and QSEA Jr. With both residence and day options available, the QSEA program is an engineering-focused educational summer program that exposes your child to engineering design, as well as engineering fields such as chemical, civil, electrical and computing, geological, mechanical engineering, mining, and others.
The Academy runs in July and August, and offers three concurrent programs per week, with each exploring interesting components and disciplines of engineering. Students can attend a one-week session, or to get a complete picture, they can sign up for as many weeks as they wish. QSEA and QSEA Jr. presents students with
a broad engineering overview, using lab facilities and thought-provoking projects to inform and engage students without being technically overwhelming. The team-based design projects involve collaboration, leadership, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. These are based on the same concepts and methodologies Queen’s Engineering students study.
To learn more visit our website at engineering.queensu.ca/qsea
C HEE
Strong global showing for QICSI team Spectra Plasmonics The Queen’s students behind Spectra Plasmonics earned a top spot in the Dunin-Deshpande Summer Pitch Competition and won the grand prize in the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition for their plan to market a novel new chemical detection technology. Now they’re moving to parlay a summer project into a successful business.
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t’s been a huge few months for Queen’s students Yusuf Ahmed, Malcolm Eade, Christian Baldwin, Tyler Whitney, and Ryan Picard. They all earned spots in the much sought-after 2017 DuninDeshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre Summer Initiative (QICSI) program. Together they formed a team called Spectra Plasmonics, spent the summer developing a business plan for a novel sensing technology, incorporated their company as Spectra Plasmonics, earned $15,000 in the QICSI Pitch Competition in August, and then earned the grand prize at the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition in Singapore. The competition in Singapore was especially fierce, with 36 elite teams representing prestigious universities from across the world. Their win comes with $125,000 in prize money, $100,000 in venture cap funding, and thousands of dollars in valuable support services. In just a few months, the Spectra Plasmonics team has progressed from cold start to going concern. “We’re really proud of the team and the researchers, anyone who helped honestly,” says Baldwin. “We’re really happy, and see a real possibility of 4 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER
becoming a successful company. We just want to work even harder now.” It often takes years for researchers and entrepreneurs to get a new technology to market. So, how does it happen? How does a small group of bright Queen’s students manage to get so far in such a short period of time?
“ ” What Yusuf, Malcolm, Christian, Tyler, and Ryan do for us is they
present this work to the world as a marketable product...
“You can’t really find opportunities like QICSI easily,” says Ahmed. “This is crazy, how quickly we’ve been able to move, and this is all thanks to the QICSI team and what they’ve been able to support us with—the resources, the advice, the funding—everything counts, and that’s why we’ve been able to get to where we are at this point.” And, of course, there’s the technology. It’s a bit difficult to describe concisely, but it goes something like this: Say you want to detect tiny amounts of a particular
molecule in a sample. This could be useful for anyone who wants to confirm or discount the presence of bacteria, viruses, explosives, drugs, environmental contaminants, any molecule, in any fluid sample. Traditionally these kinds of tasks are carried out at professional laboratories on hugely expensive and specialized equipment by highly trained technicians. They are expensive and time consuming. There is, however, a method called surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) that allows us to identify molecules present in trace quantities by interrogating a sample with a laser beam. SERS has been known for decades, but the materials and processes needed to use it have typically been prohibitively expensive, difficult to manufacture, and hard to reproduce. That’s where Queen’s chemical engineering researchers come in. “We’ve developed a new method—a particularly efficient, quick, and costeffective method—for building substrates for SERS,” says Queen’s MD/PhD candidate Hannah Dies. “We build little microchips in the lab with an AC electric circuit on them that can connect to an
A SOLID FOUNDATION: Queen’s students Yusuf Ahmed (Sc’18), Tyler Whitney (Comm’17. Artsci’18), Christian Baldwin (Sc’19), Malcolm Eade, and Ryan Picard (Sc’17) are the founders of Spectra Plasmonics.
external power source. We can actually build intricate nanostructures that are very sensitive for SERS detection.” Dies developed the process with Queen’s chemical engineering professors Dr. Aris Docoslis and Dr. Carlos Escobedo, and with the help of PhD candidate Joshua Raveendran. It opens the door to the development of relatively inexpensive portable devices that can be used to conduct very precise tests quickly, and without the need for more expensive and complex laboratory facilities and highly trained personnel. “We wanted to protect the intellectual property, so we got in touch with Ramzi Asfour at the Office of Partnerships and Innovation at Queen’s,” says Dies. “Ramzi then pitched the idea to the QICSI program. From there, the students formed their team based on their mutual interest.” “What Yusuf, Malcolm, Christian, Tyler, and Ryan do for us is they present this work to the world as a marketable product, something that we wouldn’t be able to do because it’s outside our areas of expertise,” says Docoslis. “We liked them as a team when they started back in May, and it proved to be a perfect match. They pretty much searched heaven and
A BETTER WAY: Queen’s engineering professors Dr. Aris Docoslis (centre) and Dr. Carlos Escobedo (left), as well as MD/PhD candidate Hannah Dies (right) invented and developed the SERS method at the foundation of Spectra Plasmonics’ business plan. earth to find potential early adopters of the technology, and they amazed all of us with their energy and activity.” And collaborations like this one just might be the best advantage of the QICSI program. For QICSI participants, it’s the chance to build a business plan on the foundation of some of the amazing research happening every day at Queen’s. For researchers, it’s a chance to see more of their work transformed into viable commercial products. For Queen’s, it’s a chance to demonstrate that the research
work and programs here aren’t merely competitive but also leading in the academic and commercial arenas. It’s a win for every stakeholder. So, what are the next steps for Spectra Plasmonics? “We know where we need to be and what we need to look forward to,” says Eade. “We have a number of organizations that have expressed interest in working with us. Now it’s getting this product into the hands of users, refining it, and making the best possible product to launch.” As for the QICSI experience, all on the Spectra Plasmonics crew seem unanimous. “In terms of one thing you could do at Queen’s to develop your character, develop your skills, and change you as an overall person, QICSI is by far the thing to do,” says Eade. “There aren’t many programs out there that will pay you to start a company, that will pair you up with world-class advisors and alumni in the Queen’s network, and will give you this kind of access to opportunity. It’s kind of overwhelming. I would say, absolutely, if you have the opportunity to do it, do it.” THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 5
ECE
The internet of me How Dr. Ying Zou is trying to fix your web browser and personalize your online experience
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our phone or laptop screen is flickering, and your browser’s fonts are all wonky. The results of your search for a cheap flight to San Francisco at the right time or a funky room at a bargain rate are taking what seems like forever. It’s annoying, frustrating, timeconsuming. And it interferes with your ability to do what you need or want to do online, whether it’s booking a hotel or a flight, comparing options to buy a new car, or getting the vital stats that you need for a design or a sales presentation at work. Software engineer Dr. Ying (Jenny) Zou is an expert in triaging and fixing the bugs that drive hundreds of millions of users crazy each moment of every day when using web browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. “All these web services have very large user bases. We help developers fix bugs faster by using data mining and machine learning to analyze the history of the previously reported bugs by developers and users,” says Zou, a full professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and a Canada Research Chair in Software Evolution. Zou and her research team have developed new triaging techniques for analyzing and prioritizing crash types by frequency, severity, and repair difficulty. These clustering techniques help Mozilla Firefox developers make better decisions about which crash types should be fixed and when, speeding up and improving the process of repairing bugs in existing and new releases of complex software systems. “Firefox receives millions of crash reports every day. The Mozilla developers and maintainers can leverage our work to speed up the triaging and eventual repair of bugs impacting millions of users worldwide,” says Zou, who is cross-appointed to the School of Computing at Queen’s. Her current research with her PhD student, Mariam El Mezouar, analyzes social media data to identify which bugs users complain about the most. “We helped Mozilla identify bugs that are more likely to be severe, if they are reported by a large number of tweets,” says Zou. More broadly, Zou’s research program
supports the evolution of service-oriented architecture (SOA) applications— including finance, e-commerce, and healthcare applications—by ensuring the delivery of reliable services with enhanced user experiences. “When SOA applications fail, the repercussions are huge, with major impacts on our daily lives and on the success of companies that use the applications. We provide techniques and tools to ensure the SOA systems remain healthy and agile in response to the large user base and rapidly changing requirements,” says Zou, who is also a visiting scientist at the IBM Centers for Advanced Studies. Zou has twice won IBM Faculty Awards, which are international prizes that recognize the quality of one’s research program and its importance to
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Future products would
personalize the daily activities
for users based on their history and preferences
industry, and was chosen as the 2014 IBM CAS Research Faculty Fellow of the Year. Her research at Queen’s in collaboration with IBM focuses on web services integration. The goal is to enhance online user experiences such as shopping. To buy a pair of boots, for example, a user may browse various e-commerce sites to compare products and consult user reviews. Essentially, users need to compose various services when buying boots, and face many options when choosing services. They also have to search for different kinds of information, such as price and user rating, which can affect their decisions about selecting the most appropriate services to reach their goals. “It becomes tedious and cumbersome for users to discover and compose services that achieve their overall shopping goals,” says Zou. Zou and her research team developed approaches to overcome several key challenges with existing web services.
Dr. Ying Zou with four of her graduate students
These challenges include limited and rigid options for users to specify their personalized preferences; conflicting preferences, like wanting a lower price for boots but a high user rating; and no prioritization of various preferences. Her solutions involved automatically learning user preferences to personalize how the user chooses services and provide tailored recommendations to help users select the most appropriate web services to meet their shopping goals. “We worked with IBM to learn user preferences and rank different options for users using machine learning. This reduces the overloading of information for users and helps them come up with better choices faster,” she explains. Zou is now collaborating with IBM on the development of future products that personalize and customize the integration of web services for the consumer. “In the past, all service integrations were done by developers, giving users limited choices,” she says. Her work aims at giving users more control and more decisions about the services that they need rather than letting developers give them just a few choices. “We want to build a personal assistant to alert users to opportunities. Future products would personalize the daily activities for users based on their history and preferences,” says Zou. For more information, visit Dr. Zou’s website at http://post.queensu.ca/~zouy/
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It’s alive!
ECE
Dr. Ali Etemad looks to create the building blocks for a world of ambient intelligence
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ne day soon your coffeemaker will know when you’re about to wake up so that it can have piping hot java ready as you amble into the kitchen. On a cold winter morning, your home will heat up, the lights will gradually turn on, and the blinds will go up to let in the sunlight as you awaken and climb out of bed. Whether you wake at dawn or sleep in, you won’t have to do anything to make all this happen at just the right time. Why? Because everyday objects in your home like your bed, pajamas, and coffeemaker will be fitted with sensors that continuously monitor your biological signals, share that information, and intelligently analyze the data to understand and predict your behaviour and preferences to customize interactions with you. Dr. Ali Etemad, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), is creating the building blocks for a world of ambient intelligence in which the objects in a person’s environment are
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Here at Queen’s I get to work on
various multidisciplinary research projects and collaborate with
exceptional and world-leading
researchers. I can think about the
”
big picture and how each small project can help to create the
ultimate new paradigm of how we
interact with and use technology in a super-exciting way.
electronically sensitive and responsive to the presence of people. “My research is about realizing the concept of ambient intelligence through integrating sensors and artificial intelligence into everyday devices with the goal of always understanding what state people are in and interacting with them in a very personalized and adaptive manner,” he
says. Etemad joined the ECE department in July and established the Ambient Intelligence and Interaction Laboratory (Amii) at Queen’s. Etemad uses machine learning and pattern analysis techniques to understand people and identify the best ways of interacting with them. Devices can learn what the user’s physical and mental models are over time and apply that knowledge to adapt, personalize, predict, and interact accordingly with people. “I constantly need to use different types of sensors to understand, analyze, and learn what the person is doing so that proper interactions can be triggered,” he says. “But then I go deeper and use data analysis to understand questions like, ‘How is the person feeling?’ ‘What is he or she perceiving?’ ‘And why is the person doing what he or she is doing?’” Before joining Queen’s, Etemad developed machine learning methods and algorithms to model human walking styles and detect personal characteristics such as gender, age, energy level, and
emotions for his PhD research at Ottawa’s Carleton University. In this innovative project, he hired actors to simulate different walking styles that reflect these characteristics. High-resolution motion-capture cameras were used to track light-reflective markers on bodysuits worn by the actors as they performed sad and happy walks, energetic and tired walks, young and old walks, and male and female walks. “This provided a huge, rich data set, and I was able to develop algorithms to basically model what makes a walk be perceived as masculine or feminine, young or old, energetic or tired, and happy or sad,” he says. “I was then able to use these models to understand more about people just based on data from their walk.” Etemad also gained valuable industry experience developing smart wearables as director of data science and intelligent systems at Myant Inc., a Canadian wearable technology and Internet of Things (IoT) company and a world leader in smart textiles. One project involved the development of a smart garment that monitors heart rate, breathing rate, galvanic skin response, motion, and temperature to assess and track a person’s physical and mental conditions. “If you know you are stressed through objective biological measurements, you’re better equipped to manage it,” he says. His experience leading a research team at Myant taught Etemad the importance of defining real-world problems by identifying and understanding the needs of users. “I learned how to use science and technology to solve real problems and develop real products, and how vital it is to define a research problem by understanding what users want,” says Etemad, who is currently collaborating with Myant on a smart wearables project as a researcher at Queen’s. Etemad sees a variety of applications for his research in physical health, mental health, general wellbeing, and quality of life. For example, he’s collaborating with Dr. Kevin Woo, an associate professor and wound care specialist at Queen’s School of Nursing, on developing a device that would use machine learning to analyze the condition of a person’s skin. “We’re working on a project that would allow nurses to use a basic technology like cellphones to take images of the skin and objectively measure skin dryness for better care of elderly patients,” says Etemad. The future world of ambient intelligence is still in its early stages, and Etemad says he is eager to make it happen faster. “Here at Queen’s I get to work on various multidisciplinary research projects and collaborate with exceptional and world-leading researchers. I can think about the big picture and how each small project can help to create the ultimate new paradigm of how we interact with and use technology in a super-exciting way.”
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MIN E
Around the world in Father-son duo Bob and Steven Dengler circle the globe in a helicopter for Canada 150
PRECISION ENGINEERING: Bob Dengler owns Bell 429 GlobalRanger number 12. “It’s incredible,” he says. “The helicopter performed absolutely flawlessly, never missed a beat.”
Photos by Peter Bregg
“I
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never grew up,” says Bob Dengler (Sc’65, DSc’88). “I’m still a teenager at heart. I’ve had a wonderful life and I’m not done yet.” And it is a wonderful life, one to which many aspire. After graduating from Queen’s, Dengler worked for more than a decade before co-founding Dynatec Mining Ltd. The firm grew over time into a major Canadian mine contractor, with Dengler serving as CEO for more than 25 years. He also served on the boards of more than a few mining companies, authored several technical publications on mining technologies, and earned an honorary doctorate from Queen’s in 1988. It is, on balance, a rich and successful career. But change is constant. “I was running a business with about 1,500 employees, and when I retired I was
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There are real challenges in life and you have to be prepared for that, too. To me, Queen’s equipped me to handle that.
terrified that my brain would atrophy,” he says. So, at 66, more than 10 years ago, Dengler did what came naturally. He earned his helicopter pilot’s licence. Later, while on a tour of the Bell plant near Montreal, he saw an early Bell 429 GlobalRanger under construction. It’s
a state-of-the-art helicopter with room for seven passengers. Perhaps most interesting to Dengler, it’s a twin-engine design capable of flying in a pinch on only one engine. He placed an order. “When I got it, I thought to myself, ‘I would love to fly this helicopter around the world,’” he says. “I had no idea what was involved, but a couple of years ago I broached the subject with my wife and with my son, Steven. The rest is history.” Much of the planning and permitting work fell to Steven in the end, as Bob endured a course of chemotherapy. But it all came together on July 1st, 2017, the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, when the father-andson pair raised the collective on an epic 48-day circumnavigation of the globe. Dubbed the C150 Global Odyssey, the journey led them over some of the most
48 days beautiful and remote landscapes in the northern hemisphere. Highlights included the Pangnirtung Pass on Baffin Island and the Greenland Ice Sheet. “Everywhere we went, people were terrific,” says Bob. “We landed in Iceland, and the media was there to greet us. I have nothing but good stuff to say about people in Russia. And from an engineering perspective, we never had a single problem with the helicopter. We put a year’s worth of flying on it in 48 days and we never had to change a single part. It’s a tribute to the engineering that goes into it.” They were waylaid a few days here and there because of the risk of icing, and crossing against all those time zones unexpectedly robbed them of sleep. Dengler describes the adventure as an exciting and gruelling one. It seems something of a waste to talk with someone who has such a long list of amazing adventure stories without asking for a few secrets. “The most important thing I learned going to university is the ability to solve problems,” he says. “No matter what happens, you learn there’s always a way to extract yourself when you run into roadblocks. Second, most of us are not blessed with great brains but, if you work hard, you can make up for a lot. Finally, it’s critically important that you keep learning. You think, ‘I’ve gone all the way through grade school, high school, and university. I’ve had it. I want to work, make money, and forget about all this studying.’ You can’t do that. You have to keep learning all through your life. As an engineer and entrepreneur, I took courses at the Wharton School of Finance, Queen’s, and Harvard.” Perhaps the most valuable lesson of all, though, is about the value of the prospect of failure, he says. “Back in the late ’80s, early ’90s, the company was really growing quickly and we, in fact, grew too fast,” he says. “There were a lot of sleepless nights and things looked pretty bleak. We managed our way through it in time, but believe me, when you have to ask a group of people to leave the company, it’s really tough. There are real challenges in life and you have to be prepared for that, too. To me, Queen’s equipped me to handle that.”
HOMECOMING: The Bell helicopter facility in Mirabel, Quebec, where Dengler’s GlobalRanger was built, seemed a suitable spot to wrap up the trip of a lifetime.
STUNNING LANDSCAPE: The C150 Global Odyssey crew stops at the St. Lewis River Lodge in remote Labrador.
KINGSTON VISIT: Bob Dengler gives Queen’s Engineering students a tour of his history-making helicopter.
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MIN E
Eureka! Leigha Covell and Robert Bertschi from FEAS’ Engineering Teaching and Learning Team interview Goldcorp Sustainability Manager James Russell at the company’s Red Lake gold mine.
M
eghan Cartwright is a senior mine engineer at Goldcorp Inc.’s Red Lake Gold Mines and the author and instructor of an online course in Queen’s new Bachelor of Mining Engineering Technology (BTech) degree program. BTech is an innovative diploma-to-degree program developed by the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS) which focuses on real-world skills, the application of modern technologies, critical problem-solving, and building managerial capacities. The program is delivered mainly online, and courses can be taken at a part-time or full-time pace, which allows students to keep working while earning their bachelor’s degree. Cartwright truly understands the motivation of students working in the mining industry who enroll in BTech’s flexible online degree program to upgrade their skills, knowledge, and educational qualifications. They’re also looking to advance their careers without having to quit their job, or move away from their home or family. “I feel like I know these students because I’ve been that student. While working at Goldcorp, I took distance learning courses from The
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University of Queensland in Australia to earn a graduate certificate in Community Relations for the Resource Sector. It was a great learning opportunity, and very convenient to do the program from my home in Red Lake,” says Cartwright, who was the subject matter expert and worked with an engineering teaching and learning team to produce the BTech “Introduction to Mining” course.
Goldcorp allowed us the Goldc opportunity to spend an entire week shooting video footage on the site and film interviews with more than 20 employees, including the mine manager.
As an engineer who has upgraded her education on the job and moved into more senior supervisory roles, Cartwright sees a big industry need for mining professionals with strong technical, problem-solving, and project management skills. “At Goldcorp
and across the mining industry, there’s a need for people who are qualified not just technically but have the problem-solving mindset and skills,” she says. “I’ve worked with technicians and technologists from college programs who want to do well and move up in their careers. An engineering technology degree will give them a leg up, not only with the credentials, but because it shows they can learn, problem-solve, and apply those skills to the challenges we have in the workplace.” The BTech program and its stimulating, highly interactive curriculum was designed to meet the needs of both the mining industry and college graduates looking to accelerate their careers and education. The program gives eligible college graduates block transfer credits for the first two years, allowing them to move directly into third and fourth years after completing a customized bridging curriculum. “There aren’t a lot of streamlined pathways like this for college students to get a university degree,” says David Yokom, BTech’s project manager. “A majority of students in BTech are working professionally and doing the program
Innovative BTech program finds a golden opportunity to collaborate with industry and help engineering technologists take their mining careers to the next level part-time. They’re signing up to better themselves. They want to accelerate their careers, and as such we find that our students are extremely passionate and engaged, which really pushes us to create a premium quality program.” With a focus on active learning and student-to-professor interactions, BTech offers a blend of purpose-built videos, tutorials, webinars, team assignments, group projects, and collaborative study. “We’re giving college-educated technologists additional practical, hands-on knowledge with state-of-the-art tools and technologies and broad-based engineering knowledge so they can use technology to solve problems efficiently for their employers,” says Yokom. “Due to the fact many students enrolled in the BTech program are admitted from non-mining diploma programs, when combined with the BTech degree, their multidisciplinary skillset should be attractive to the mining industry, which is facing a retirement crisis and potential skills shortage.” The idea for BTech started when Northern College’s Haileybury School of Mines approached Queen’s about creating an online degree program to expand opportunities for its Mining Engineering Technician (MET) graduates. The BTech collaboration combines the prestige of two renowned mining education institutions and draws on the experience of Northern College in its extensive work with industry to develop their online MET program. The Faculty’s close collaboration with the mining industry in designing, developing, reviewing, and getting feedback on program, curriculum, and courses is a major strength and distinctive feature of the program. “Industry is our end customer, and has problems for us to solve, research for us to conduct, and ultimately hires our graduates,” says Yokom. “They tell us what types of graduates they’re looking for, and provide the experiential component that is so critical to successful learning. One way or another, we’ve tried to partner with industry in almost every course.” Goldcorp, for example, has been a major industry partner. The company has provided extensive access to its Red Lake
Gold Mines site for employee interviews and allowed the shooting of video footage of mining processes and methods. Two employees from Goldcorp sites in Ontario are also students in the BTech program. “Goldcorp allowed us the opportunity to spend an entire week shooting video footage on the site and film interviews with more than 20 employees, including the mine manager,” says Eric Tremblay, Manager of Online Learning and Development with the FEAS. “Taken together, the videos we made give students a wide-ranging appreciation of a modern mining facility, and it brings the real life feel of the mine into the home of the student.” The online courses mix traditional presentations, such as lectures and readings, with a rich variety of enhanced learning objects. These range from purpose-built, 360-degree videos that allow students to virtually move around an area like the machine shop from their computers, to reality-check videos that show how to apply the theory students are learning to practical, real-life uses. Students can watch a long-hole drill in an active stope or a jumbo install ground support in a development face at Red Lake. “We really leveraged video in these courses because that’s what students want and it’s a much better approach than learning from textbook alone,” says Tremblay. “When students can visualize a task, they retain what they learn better.” Cartwright believes Goldcorp and other companies that get involved in BTech can greatly benefit from the exposure and relationships they develop with full-time and part-time students. “All the videos we made are visibly hosted by Goldcorp, which gives our company good exposure to the students who will be looking for jobs or the best career opportunities,” she says. “When BTech students think about where to apply, they’ll think first of companies they see in the program.” The BTech program represents a new kind of education, one that’s built through collaborations with industry to produce graduates that can make an immediate impact when entering the workforce. By working together with BTech, industry can support a student’s
Meghan Cartwright (Sc’09)
Eric Tremblay (BA’01, BSc’92)
David Yokom (Sc’03, MSc’05)
development through their academic career and will be rewarded with highly trained employees who can solve the modern problems faced by today’s mining industry.
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CHEE
Never too old
Bruce Jameson returns to graduate after 70 years
B
ruce Jameson earned a summer internship in the research department at Imperial Oil in Sarnia, Ontario in 1946. He was 22 years old then, with a sharp mind, a strong work ethic, and a fresh, state-of-the-art education in engineering chemistry from Queen’s. All this was buoyed by the post-war optimism of the time. Anything seemed possible. The job was an excellent opportunity for a young man to gain some on-the-job research experience at one of Canada’s largest petroleum companies. It worked out well. Jameson’s managers were pleased enough to offer him full-time work starting the following autumn, after he completed his final year at Queen’s. But more than that, it was that first summer in Sarnia when, at a regular bible study group, he met Annabelle. Then life happened: marriage to his sweetheart, six children, 39 industrious and successful years at Imperial Oil, grandchildren, retirement, and greatgrandchildren. It’s the kind of story anyone would be lucky to live, but there was at least one loose end. One of the course requirements for graduation with the class of Sci 1947 was German II. No German II, no degree. Jameson doesn’t have German II. “It was a different time, and there was no pressure by my company to get the formal degree,” says Jameson. “We were married immediately after I left school. We had a child the next year. We were busy with a family and building a house.” “I work in the petrochemical industry, and, though he didn’t seem to talk much about himself, he always seemed knowledgeable about the technical work I was doing,” says Jameson’s grandson, David Currie. “It turned out that he held some Canadian patents and did some really important development work, so I started prying a little more.” It just didn’t seem right to Currie that his grandfather, now 93, hadn’t earned his degree after such a long and accomplished career as an engineer. So, he decided to ask administrators at the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS) at Queen’s if the university could grant Jameson his degree now, even without German II. Currie reached out to his industry contacts to find records of his grandfather’s career. It was a tall order
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Queen’s engineer Bruce Jameson will at long last receive his engineering degree at convocation at Queen’s on November 14th. Arranging it was all the work of his grandson, David Currie.
considering Jameson retired in 1986. The trail led eventually to Doug MacLaren, Applied Process Research Section Head at Imperial Oil. Though Jameson’s personnel records have long since been destroyed, MacLaren was able to piece together much of Jameson’s work history by sifting through department publications and technical reports. “Mr. Jameson had a long, productive career as a chemist at Imperial Oil Research,” writes MacLaren after a long list of citations in a support letter to Queen’s. “As a chemist, he was able to participate in the development and implementation of several pivotal processes and techniques that transformed the petrochemical industry in the mid-20th century. Some of this
work remains referenced today in the petroleum industry.” It was enough to convince FEAS Dean Kevin Deluzio and Associate Dean (Academic) Lynann Clapham to waive the extra credit and grant Jameson his degree in engineering chemistry. Jameson, Currie, and some of their extended family are planning to attend convocation at Queen’s on November 14th so Jameson can receive his degree in person. “It would never have come about if I had to do it,” says Jameson. “David did it all. I enjoyed my time at Queen’s immensely. Even though I didn’t get the degree, my time at Queen’s prepared me for my working life. I had 39 years in industry and 31 years of retirement, so I’m doing all right.”
CIVIL
To the top of her field
From Bell Media to the NFL, Mary Ann Turcke’s star continues to rise
M
ary Ann Turcke (Sc’88, MBA’97) has so far had a career trajectory that might best be described as stellar. She has worked as an engineer, consultant, and senior executive across large organizations in several sectors. Perhaps most notably, she rose through the ranks at Bell Canada, beginning as a senior manager in 2005 and becoming President of Bell Media in 2015. Here at Queen’s, she sits on the advisory boards for the Smith School of Business and was a cabinet member for the Inspiring Greatness campaign for Queen’s Engineering. Earlier this year, she moved to Los Angeles to tackle a new role as President, Digital Media and NFL Network for the National Football League.
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Engineering gave us a really good approach for working together to take problems apart and build workable solutions.
“Every time I go back to Queen’s I’m grateful,” says Turcke. “I’m grateful that I went there, that it was what it was for me. It was a fantastic experience. I wear a Queen’s hoodie around LA and often get stopped on the street by alumni. It feels good when that happens.” It’s been a long road since her undergrad days at Queen’s, but Turcke says her education as a civil engineer is the solid foundation upon which she continues to build her career. “When I look at anything we’re trying to solve—whether it’s watching the marketing people working to solve pricing dynamics, or analyzing big data to prove or disprove our hypotheses—it’s all quantitative. It’s all analysis. For me, that’s the undergrad I took. Engineering gave us a really good approach for working together to take problems apart and build workable solutions.” Today about 23 per cent of graduating Queen’s engineering students are women. That number is a lot higher
than it used to be—an increase Turcke credits largely to her friend, former dean Kimberly Woodhouse—but it’s still conspicuously low compared with some other fields. “I don’t quite know how to get around that,” says Turcke. “It might be that high-school students applying to university have a better understanding of business as a career than they do of engineering as a career. I don’t know if engineering schools are as deliberate about explaining what an engineering education is and where it can lead. I believe business schools are competing harder to get the best Canadian students. It’s important because things have not
moved as far as they should have for women, not just in engineering but also in business.” To engineering students who wonder how best to leverage their education, Turcke advises each to choose their own road. “For me there was no grand master plan,” she says. “Just go where it looks like it’s going to be fun and where you’re going to learn something. Don’t mortgage yourself to your job, so if you need to move laterally or even move down in salary for a bit to get to where you want to be, you’re prepared to do that. You have to cultivate as many open doors at one time as you possibly can.”
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15
CHEE
A new approach Dr. Lindsay Fitzpatrick explores the frontier between innate immunity and materials design
INNATE IMMUNITY AND MATERIALS: “As the lab becomes more established, we would love to collaborate with industry characterizing device-specific responses, and developing strategies to achieve a desired host response,” says Queen’s engineering professor Lindsay Fitzpatrick.
O
ne of the best modern techniques to treat diabetes is continuous glucose monitoring (CGM): the realtime, around-the-clock measurement of a patient’s blood sugar levels. It allows doses of insulin to be administered via a small insulin pump precisely as needed, rather than in system-shocking doses every few hours. It also helps doctors and patients build a better understanding of how diet, exercise, and stress affect blood sugar levels on a moment-by-moment
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basis. There’s at least one big limitation, though. The CGM sensors used to measure glucose levels must penetrate the skin, or even be implanted within the body, and they just don’t last very long. They need to be changed and moved; in most cases, every few days. It’s a repetitive process that can be uncomfortable, even painful, for patients. It’s all because the CGM sensors below the skin trigger the body’s immune
response. The very inflammation and encapsulation processes our bodies employ to protect us from disease quickly degrade a sensor’s ability to make accurate measurements. And it’s not just CGM sensors. Almost any softtissue implant carries with it the risk that the body’s immune response will alter its function or render it useless. It’s a problem medical science has wrestled with for decades, and it’s just the kind of puzzle—where inflammation,
LONGER LASTING: Continuous glucose monitoring sensors like this one need to be changed and re-sited often because the body’s immune system degrades their function. Fitzpatrick aims to design materials that change all that.
innate immunity, and materials intersect—that Queen’s Assistant Professor Lindsay Fitzpatrick aims to help solve with her research work. “People have been looking at how to control the foreign body reaction since doctors started implanting materials more than 50 years ago,” says Fitzpatrick. “We’re trying to look at this old problem by pulling in new information from the world of immunology as well as bringing in new models that will allow us to look mechanistically at what’s going on at the cell-material interface. Our goal is to design materials that cause minimal immune response and use them to build devices that can last much longer in the body.” Imagine: a CGM sensor, or any implant, that works nominally for months, years, or perhaps one day even indefinitely. These materials will be a huge contribution to medical science and engineering, and will almost certainly improve the daily lives of millions of people.
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a great laboratory analogue for human physiological systems. Though they seem so different from people, zebrafish have about 70 per cent of human genes in their genome. There are zebrafish lab strains bred specifically for different types of experimentation, including examining the pattern recognition pathways in which Fitzpatrick is interested. Zebrafish also breed quickly, have humananalogous tissue and organ systems, produce embryos that are relatively easy to collect and modify, love to live with lots of other zebrafish in compact places, and are much cheaper to care for than, for example, lab mice. “We really haven’t used zebrafish much yet in biomaterials because it’s very challenging to implant material into them due to their small size,” says Fitzpatrick. “We’re developing techniques to overcome that. We’ll be
able to do a lot of work at the embryo stage using microscopy that will help us to understand biomaterial interactions at a deeper level.” It’s still early days, though. Fitzpatrick has been building her lab and research group at Queen’s for three years now. In the future, she says, she’d like to add more graduate students and bring in a polymer chemist and possibly an expert in zebrafish biology. “I think the material host response is a really big puzzle,” says Fitzpatrick. “The immune system is fascinating and complex, and we are constantly learning new things about it. There is so much potential for working where materials and living tissues meet, and I’m able to make use of my engineering background to tackle some of these big medical problems.”
There is so much potential for
working where materials and
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living tissues meet, and I’m able to make use of my engineering background to tackle some of these big medical problems
So, how are Fitzpatrick and her research group proceeding? “We’re trying to tackle this by looking at the involvement of pattern recognition pathways that are used by our bodies to defend against pathogens,” says Fitzpatrick. One way to do that is by testing new materials on zebrafish. It turns out the ubiquitous aquarium fish Danio rerio is
TINY RESEARCH PARTNERS: Zebrafish are becoming increasingly popular among biomedical researchers as human analogue test subjects. Fitzpatrick is using their unique attributes to learn more about how materials interact with living tissues.
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ALUMN I NE WS
Alumni engagement Farewell to Dean Kimberly Woodhouse: Mike Norris, Sc’75 and Engineering Campaign Chair, hosted a farewell event to honour Dean Woodhouse. Benefactors and campaign volunteers attended the event held at the Rosedale Golf Club.
Toronto: June 5, 2017
Dean Woodhouse, Robert Buchan MSc’72
David Pakrul Sc’69, Dean Woodhouse, Steve Laciak
Peter Kenny Sc’55, Michael Norris Sc’75, Joanne Kenny
Jane Clapp Artsci’63, Robert Clapp Sc’64, Dean Woodhouse, Provost & VP Academic Benoit-Antoine Bacon 18 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER
VP Advancement Thomas Harris Sc’75, Joan McGeachy, Lynn Sinclair-Smith
Yvonne Peterson, Marilyn Beamish, Robert Beamish Sc’60, LLD’11, Michael Norris Sc’75
ALU M NI NE WS
Engineering Dean’s Reception: Dean Kevin Deluzio hosted an alumni reception at the Estates
of Sunnybrook to connect with alumni and share his plans and priorities.
Toronto: October 17, 2017
Michael Chiu Sc’82, Lily Gearin Sc’12
Dean Deluzio Sc’88, MSc’90, PhD’98, Mervin Dewasha Sc’71, Bert Wasmund Sc’61, MSc’63, DSc’08, Birgit Lange
Dean Deluzio Sc’88, MSc’90, PhD’98, Robert Beamish Sc’60, LLD’ 11
Kelsey Ricard Sc’11, Jonathan Norris Sc’11, Janet Norris, Michael Norris Sc’75, Andrew Norris Sc’07
Peter-Paul Bloemen Sc’81, David Bellamy Sc’79 Sandra Onufryk, David Pakrul Sc’69, Emily Edwards Artsci’04, Paul Yang Sc’09, Vikram Bhatia Sc’13 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 19
ALUMN I NE WS
Alumni engagement Homecoming: October 14, 2017 Engineering and Applied Science alumni, guests, faculty, emeritus professors, and current students connected at the Dean’s Reception in Beamish-Munro Hall. Mathematics and Engineering celebrated their 50th Anniversary with a celebration held at The University Club.
Ilmari Komulainen Sc’77, Dean Deluzio Sc’88, MSc’90, PhD’98, President Engineering Society Nathaniel Wong Sc’18, Dennis Bordin Sc’77
Mathematics and Engineering 50th Anniversary Breakfast
Andrew Spriet Sc’57, Helen Mary-Anne Spriet, Civil Engineering Department Head and Professor Kent Novakowski
Mathematics and Engineering 50th Anniversary
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ALU M NI NE WS
Class of Sc‘67 at football game parade
Dean Deluzio Sc’88, MSc’90, PhD’98, Robert Phipps Sc’72
Donald Anderson Sc’67, Arnold Midgley Sc’57
Formula SAE Team member Mattias Mehta, Edward McDorman Sc’57 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER 21
Our History Our Future
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE – Development and Alumni Relations Beamish-Munro Hall, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 www.inspiring.engineering.queensu.ca 613-533-6000 Extension 75248 inspiring.greatness@queensu.ca