April 27, 2006 Source: :
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/060427-2256.asp New NSERC chair allows professor to indulge passion for teaching Paul Gavreau awarded $1-million grant to foster excellence in design engineering
Apr 27/06
by Nicolle Wahl (with files from Ruth Weinstock) (about) (email) Engineering is about more than building bridges and while Professor Paul Gauvreau has spent decades working for some of the world’s top bridge engineering design firms, his true passion is teaching. Now, a new federal grant will give him the means to develop new structures and explore the uses of new materials for urban construction and to improve the design training of engineers at the university level. Suzanne Fortier, president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), announced a federal grant of $1 million to Gauvreau April 27. An associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto, he will now hold the new NSERC Chair in Design Engineering for the Urban Environment. "Professor Gauvreau is particularly recognized for his development of new structural systems for bridges that make effective use of new materials such as high-performance concrete," Fortier noted. "His many years of experience in the construction industry as well as in academia make him an ideal candidate to meet the design, engineering and training demands of this chair." Gauvreau has earned a reputation for completing projects of unparalleled quality, including structures erected in Vancouver and Brooklyn, N.Y. However, education is his passion. "I love to teach," Gauvreau said emphatically. "Though I am fascinated by research and excited about the results it can produce, by far the greatest impact I can make is through the hundreds of minds I can touch every year. I see teaching as central to my mission and existence here and a means of helping to renew the practice of design." By enabling the creation of a teaching chair, the NSERC grant will allow U of T to strengthen its commitment to enhancing the quality of the student experience. In his new position, Gauvreau will be able to focus on providing students with a multidisciplinary and collaborative learning experience. Gauvreau, whose specialty lies in the design and development of new materials and urban structures that are suitable for northern climates, joined U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering in 2002. His research will take place in partnership with a number of local construction companies to ensure that Canada maintains a leading role in infrastructure technology. The industrial partners include Brown and Co. Engineering, Delcan Inc., Halsall Associates Ltd., Invar Building Inc., Morrison Hershfield Ltd., Schaeffers & Associates Consulting Engineering, Stantec Consulting Ltd. and Rand Worldwide. Gauvreau sees it as his mission to break boundaries in order to enlarge students’ perspectives. Collaboration — across engineering disciplines, across the university, with key urban stakeholders, practising designers, builders and other universities — is a key element in Gauvreau’s plans to raise standards of excellence. Part of Gauvreau’s mandate from NSERC is to act as a design advocate, serving as a resource to his peers. He is also acting as chair of the International Design Conference, to be held at U of T in July 2006.
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