Dean's Messages

Latest information for Engineering students, faculty & staff from Dean Chris Yip

External Review of the Faculty’s Undergraduate Minors and Certificates and Cross-Disciplinary Programs Office

July 23, 2025

An external review of the Cross-Disciplinary Programs Office and the Faculty’s under-graduate minors and certificates has been scheduled for November 20-21, 2025. Four eminent colleagues with experience managing cross-disciplinary programs at peer institutions have agreed to form the review team:

  • Wesley Burghardt
    Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering
    Associate Dean, Undergraduate Engineering
    Northwestern University
  • Oscar Dubon
    Professor, Materials Science & Engineering
    Associate Dean of Students
    University of California, Berkeley
  • Ahmad Ghasemloonia
    Professor, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering
    Associate Dean, Student Success & Interdisciplinary Academic Programs
    University of Calgary
  • Roni Khazaka
    Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
    Associate Dean, Academic Programs
    McGill University

Members of the Faculty who would like to offer comments toward this review are asked to send them via email to governance.fase@utoronto.ca.

Please circulate this memorandum to any member of the Faculty who may not have received it through the general distribution.

Announcement Appointment: Acting Vice-Dean Graduate

June 27, 2025

I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Associate Professor Craig A. Steeves as Acting Vice-Dean Graduate for a term of six months, effective July 1, 2025.

Professor Craig Steeves joined the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) in 2009 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015. He served as Associate Director, Graduate Studies at UTIAS from July 2016 to June 2020. Additionally, he served as Acting Vice-Dean Graduate from January to June 2023 and served as the Associate Director of the Centre for Research in Sustainable Aviation since July 2015.

Please join me in in expressing gratitude to Craig for serving in this important role and providing leadership to the graduate portfolio over the next 6 months.

I extend my deep appreciation to the following members of the Advisory Committee for this search for their time and thoughtful input:

  • Professor Christopher Yip, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering (Chair)
  • Professor Joshua Barker, Vice-Provost, Graduate Research & Education and Dean, School of Graduate Studies
  • Helen Bright, Faculty Registrar
  • Professor Marianne Hatzopoulou, Chair, Civil & Mineral Engineering
  • Professor Hani Naguib, Chair, Materials Science & Engineering
  • Professor Markus Bussmann, Chair, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
  • Tess Seip, President, The Graduate Engineering Council of Students (GECoS)
  • Roger Francis, Executive Director, Engineering Career and Experiential Learning

Speaker of Faculty Council, 2025-2027

May 30, 2025

I am pleased to announce that Professor Ning Yan of the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry has been acclaimed as the Speaker of Faculty Council for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 academic years, beginning July 1, 2025. Professor Yan served as interim Council Speaker in 2023-2024. We are grateful to Professor Yan for her continued commitment and leadership within the Faculty.

We express our deep gratitude to Professor Jun Nogami for his exemplary service as Council Speaker since 2022.