Jesuans awarded Canada Research Chairs
We are pleased to announce that Dr Shoshanna Saxe (2012) and Dr Claudiane Ouellet-Plamondon (2008) have been awarded Canada Research Chairs.
Established in 2000, the federal program invests in recruiting and retaining top minds in Canada. It supports research in engineering, natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social sciences. The Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) stands at the centre of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world's top countries in research and development.
Chair-holders aim to achieve research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences. They improve our depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthen Canada's international competitiveness, and help train the next generation of highly skilled people through student supervision, teaching, and the coordination of other researchers' work.
Dr Claudiane Ouellet-Plamondon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Construction Engineering at École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS) in Montreal. She completed her PhD at Cambridge University on the characterization and modification of geomaterials for environmental applications. She then completed a postdoctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, on advanced bioinspired materials and on sustainable materials for construction. At ETS she researches and teach in construction materials. Her current research is on the valorization of industrial by-products into supplementary cementitious, geopolymers, and 3D printing, robotics of cementitious materials, and indicators for measuring and managing living within the earth’s carrying capacity. She participates in committees of the Rilem, ACI International and Annex 72 of the International Energy Agency. In May 2021, she will start the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Multifunctional Construction Materials.
Dr Shoshanna Saxe is Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering. She investigates the relationship between the infrastructure we build and the society we create to identify opportunities – and pathways – to better align infrastructure provision with sustainability. Dr Saxe is a former Action Canada fellow, sits on Waterfront Toronto’s Capital Peer Review Panel and the board of the International Society for Industrial Ecology. She has been recognised by Clean 50 as one of Canada’s emerging environmental leaders and was awarded a 2019 Engineering Medal – Young Engineer. Her research and commentary have been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, The BBC, The Toronto Star, The Financial Post, and Wired, including “What We Really Need Are Good ‘Dumb’ Cities” (New York Times, July 2019).
