November 10, 2017
Two graduates of The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering were recognized Thursday, Nov. 2 at the 2017 Engineering Alumni Network awards ceremony. The reception and dinner was hosted in the Great Hall of Hart House.
Engineering Alumni Hall of Distinction Award
The Hall of Distinction is an assembly of extraordinary alumni, selected for membership by their peers for their lifelong accomplishments. These are graduates whose performances have ultimately defined what is most exemplary in our graduates and in our profession. The careers of the members stand as examples and add a sense of reality to the aspirations of successive generations of Engineering students. Located in the Sandford Fleming Building, the Hall of Distinction is a familiar daily presence in the lives of students and is often visited by alumni and their families.
Jonathan Rose (EngSci 8T0, ECE MASc 8T2, PhD 8T6)
Professor Jonathan Rose has had a profound impact on both the academic research community and industry. He was instrumental in organizing a group of professors and graduate students at the University of Toronto to do research on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology, which ultimately led to U of T being recognized as one of the foremost academic institutions in the world for research in this area. He co-founded Right Track CAD Corporation, as president and CEO, which had the goal to develop novel FPGA device architecture and the computer-aided design software needed to design systems based on these devices. Right Track’s business was to sell these innovations to existing vendors. In 2000, Right Track was acquired by Altera Corporation — one of two dominant providers of FPGAs — and became part of the Altera Toronto Technology Centre. Rose served as the senior director of Altera Toronto Technology Centre until 2003.
2T5 Mid-Career Achievement Award
The Class of 2T5 was the first class in Canada to receive iron rings at The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer. Since 1975, the Class of 2T5 annually presents the 2T5 Mid-career Achievement Award. This award recognizes a graduate (11 to 25 years from undergraduate graduation) who has earned respect within the profession as well as the broader Canadian community.
Tom Chau (EngSci 9T2, ECE MASc 9T4)
A double graduate of U of T Engineering, Tom Chau is a leader, innovator and community champion. He is currently the vice president of research at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, director of the Bloorview Research Institute, the Raymond Chang Foundation Chair in Access Innovations, and a full professor in the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) at the University of Toronto. In addition to his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, he also holds his doctorate from the University of Waterloo in the area of pattern analysis and machine intelligence and received post-doctoral training in pediatric rehabilitation engineering as a Duncan Gordon Fellow. From 2004 to 2014, he held a Canada Research Chair in Pediatric Rehabilitation Engineering. He was graduate coordinator of the Master of Health Science Program in Clinical Engineering from 2006 to 2011 and was the leader of the NSERC CREATE: Academic Rehabilitation Engineering doctoral training program from 2009 to 2015, both at the University of Toronto. Chau’s contributions to pediatric rehabilitation are world renowned with numerous significant awards and accolades to recognize his great achievements. Chau is also an extremely active and dedicated volunteer both within his profession and his community.
More information:
Jessica MacInnis
Senior Communications Officer
The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
416-978-7997; jessica.macinnis@utoronto.ca