George S. Glinski Award for Excellence in Research
Majid Mohammadian, Department of Civil Engineering
The Faculty is pleased to announce this year’s recipient of the Glinski Award for Excellence in Research, Professor Majid Mohammadian. Since joining the Department of Civil Engineering in 2009, Professor Mohammadian has rapidly distinguished himself as a researcher and as an engineer.
Several letters of recommendation highlighted Professor Mohammadian’s widespread recognition, and the strength of his research within the field of civil engineering. In his time at the University of Ottawa, he has established an impressive research program; he procured research grants of over $2.4 million from various funding sources to study high performance computational methods and mixing processes.
Early establishment of his research program has generated exceptional research productivity. Professor Mohammadian has at present a total of 54 journal papers published in high quality refereed journals, including papers published in journals such as the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and the Journal of Computational Physics. Of these papers, 40 have been published in the past 5 years, which is astonishing for an emerging scholar. Most of these papers have been first-authored by graduate students under his supervision, which is an indication of the quality of his supervision. Additionally, Professor Mohammadian has supervised 6 Ph.D. students, 16 Master’s students and 2 post-doctoral fellows; his students have received several research awards.
By evidence of his performance as a researcher, the committee has determined Professor Mohammadian a highly deserving candidate of the Glinski Award.
J.V. Marsh Award for Excellence in Teaching
Magdi Mohareb, Department of Civil Engineering
The Faculty is pleased to announce this year’s recipient of the Faculty of Engineering J.V. Marsh Award for Excellence in Teaching, Professor Magdi Mohareb. Since joining the University of Ottawa in 2000, Dr. Mohareb has established himself as an exceptional professor in the Civil Engineering department.
Due to his exceptional course evaluation scores, Dr. Mohareb has received six letters of commendation from the Dean for excellence in teaching, as well as three letters from Dr. Colin Rennie, the Civil Engineering Department Chair. These letters were issued when all students in a given course evaluated Dr. Mohareb as an excellent or a good teacher.
Since 2000, Dr. Mohareb has delivered courses in both English and French. As graduate coordinator for 7.5 years, he proposed and delivered a mandatory graduate seminar series for MASc and PhD students to give them an opportunity to practice and improve their oral presentation skills.
Dr. Mohareb has supervised 12 fourth year capstone engineering design projects. He has graduated 8 Ph.D. students and 18 Master’s students. Remarkably, five of the Ph.D. theses and five of the M.A.Sc. theses he supervised were nominated for awards. He is currently supervising an additional four Ph.D. and two post-doctoral students.
By evidence of his outstanding course evaluations and his strong commitment to student success, the committee has determined that Professor Mohareb is a highly deserving candidate for the Faculty of Engineering J.V. Marsh Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Frank Giacobbi Award for Outstanding Service
Alan Steward
Lab technician Alan Steward is recognized for years of support lent to professors and students of EECS.
After years as a member of the technical staff at EECS, Alan Steward is regarded a valuable asset to staff and students working on projects in electrical and computer engineering. The quality of his work has earned him the 2018 Frank Giacobbi Award for Outstanding Service, which will be officially awarded in June during the Faculty’s annual BBQ.
The director of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Claude D’Amours wrote on Mr. Stewart’s contributions, “I recently visited the lab while students were working. All students in the lab know Alan well. This is because he is approachable and available to help them with any questions they may have regarding the equipment they are using or the projects they are working on. Being good at one’s job, however, is not what sets a person apart from his or her colleagues when being considered for an award like the Frank Giacobbi Award. Those fit for consideration are people who go above and beyond their job descriptions for the benefit of the Faculty as well as the University. In Alan’s case, he certainly goes above and beyond his role, and he has been doing so for many years.”
He further writes to illustrate another example among many of Mr. Stewart’s exceptional dedication to staff and students: “Back in 2013, he received a microscope from the Faculty of Science. The microscope was in disrepair and deemed too old for use. Mostly on his own time, Alan repaired and improved this microscope, and donated it to the high school L’Escale in Rockland Ontario in the name of the Faculty of Engineering and EECS. The donation was received and we were invited to give a presentation on how to use the microscope; Alan was on hand to demonstrate how to use it during a half-day event at L’Escale.
The event was well received and certainly did much to improve the image of the Faculty and the University of Ottawa in a school in our own backyard.”
Mr. Stewart has facilitated other collaborations with organizations. He negotiated a partnership between the University and the RCMP related to capstone projects. From this collaboration, numerous student groups have gone on to complete projects alongside the RCMP and some students have subsequently found employment.
The Faculty of Engineering extends its gratitude to Mr. Stewart for his dedication and its congratulations for this much-deserved award.