News archive for June 2012

Five of the eight inductees into the 2012 Provost's Circle of Distinction come from the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science. The prestigious award is Concordia's way of recognizing outstanding faculty members whose contributions have already garnered external acclaim.

"This year's inductees were nominated on the basis of their outstanding accomplishments and the external recognition they have received for those accomplishments," said Concordia Provost David Graham. "They demonstrate the extraordinary combination of talents and abilities that we are fortunate to have at Concordia."


The five inductees from ENCS are:

Andreas Athienitis, scientific director of the NSERC Smart Net-Zero Energy Buildings Strategic Research Network and the founding director of the NSERC Solar Buildings Research Network; holds a Tier I Concordia University Research Chair in Integration of Solar Energy Systems into Buildings. He has also been named Concordia University Research Fellow (Senior) in 2010 and is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He was associate editor of the ISES Solar Energy and profiled as one of the top 25 innovators in Quebec by Actualité magazine in 2009.


Rama Bhat, professor at Concordia University for 33 years. Among his duties at the university, he was the graduate program director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1988 to 1990, and from 1992 to 1994. He was the undergraduate program director from 1991 to 1992, and department chair from 2000 to 2003. Between 1998 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2008, Bhat served as associate dean, graduate studies and research in the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science and was appointed vice-provost, academic relations from 2008 to 2011.

Ahmed Kishk, a Tier I Canada Research Chair (Senior) in Advanced Antenna Systems. Kishk is an international expert in electromagnetics and has published more than 230 refereed journals and more than 240 conference papers, as well as contributed to 13 books. Among his acknowledgements, Kishk was named Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers in 1998.




Oscar Pekau, served as chair of the civil engineering department from 1989 to 1994, and is now a professor in the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering. His areas of research include structural dynamics and earthquake engineering. Pekau received an award from Tsinghua University in Bejiing in 2001 for outstanding contributions to modeling the behaviour of dam foundation reservoir systems. In 2011, he was named a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.

Pragasen Pillay, NSERC Hydro-Québec Senior Industrial Research Chair. An international expert on power engineering who has published 94 refereed journal papers and 181 conference papers.  Among his accomplishments, Pillay became a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in 2005, and has won the Order of Mapungubwe, Silver Level by the President of South Africa, an award that was once won by Nelson Mandela.


Find out more: http://www.concordia.ca/now/university-affairs/academicawards/20120612/professors-honoured-for-outstanding-achievements.php

Hyder Khadim, a graduate student in Concordia's industrial engineering program, has won a prize from the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec. The prize, called the Prix universitaire du mérite, recognizes students "whose academic results and social and community commitment reflect the values of the profession."

The prize was presented by the National Bank and is worth $3,000.

Find out more

All engineering programs offered by the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science have been granted accreditation status for six years, the maximum possible term awarded by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. This is the result of several years of hard work by the former Associate Dean of Academic Programs, Lata Narayanan, and numerous faculty members and staff.  

"Across North American engineering schools, full accreditation of all programs is actually quite rare," noted Dean Robin Drew, "So I am delighted that our Faculty has achieved this important goal. It is a sign of the top-notch engineering instruction we offer here at Concordia."

The accreditation process is a requirement for any university offering engineering programs. It ensures that graduates have technical competencies that are recognized across Canada and around the world. To be successfully accredited, a Faculty must provide detailed program descriptions and host site visits by members of the accreditation board.

All aspects of the academic program are considered, such as the student admissions process, the curriculum content, the program environment - taking into account morale among faculty, students and staff  and the quality of instructional and laboratory facilities - as well as the attributes of the graduates.

The accreditation result was shared with Dean Robin Drew in late May. The new Associate Dean, Ali Akgunduz, now assumes the role of overseeing future accreditation initiatives.

The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science is recognizing with profound gratitude the contributions of Lata Narayanan, who has served as Associate Dean, Academic Programs, for more than three years. She is stepping down and is succeeded by Ali Akgunduz, effective June 1, 2012.

Narayanan holds a PhD and MS in Computer Science from the University of Rochester and completed her undergraduate training at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India. She has conducted extensive research in the areas of mobile computing and wireless networks, routing in all-optical networks, parallel and distributed computation, and randomized algorithms.  She has over 60 journal and conference papers to her name, as well as two book chapters.

In 1993, Narayanan joined the Faculty as an Assistant Professor and advanced swiftly, both as a prolific leader and academic. She has received grant funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) continuously since 1994. She has supervised over 20 graduate students and is held in very high esteem by all those she teaches.  As Associate Dean, she coordinated the accreditation of all seven engineering programs. She also gave many hours to numerous additional duties that have moved the Faculty forward.

Robin Drew, Dean of Engineering and Computer Sciences, said, "Lata has dedicated herself to the ongoing success of our Faculty with passion and poise, and we will be reaping the benefits for many years to come."

Please join us in expressing our sincere gratitude to Lata Narayanan for her admirable service and in welcoming Ali Akgunduz to the position of Associate Dean.