Dean's Messages

Following the recent announcement of Professor Ramin Farnood’s appointment as Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Stark Draper as Interim Vice-Dean Research for a 6-month term, from January 1 – June 30, 2022. During the course of this 6-month appointment, we will be conducting a search to appoint a continuing Vice-Dean Research.

Professor Stark Draper joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as an Associate Professor in 2013 and was promoted the Full Professor in 2018. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Stark has served in administrative roles within the Faculty, as Chair of the Standing Committee on Admissions (2016-18); and Chair of the Machine Intelligence major in Engineering Science (2018-19; 2020-present) including contributing to the creation of the major program. He currently serves as a Governor on U of T’s Governing Council, and is a member of Academic Board, Academic Policy and Programs, and Academic Appeals.

His research areas include information theory, optimization, and error-correction coding and the application of tools and perspectives from these fields in communications, computing and learning. He has extensive collaborative research experience with industry, including with Mitsubishi Electric, Huawei Technologies, Disney Research, Bell Labs, HP Labs, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Please join me in welcoming Stark to this important position for the Faculty.

I am very pleased to formally announce the appointment of Professor Ramin Farnood as Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry for a 5-year term from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2026.
Professor Ramin Farnood joined the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry in 2000, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006, and to full Professor in 2011.

Ramin is a leading researcher with expertise in biomass utilization and wastewater treatment technologies. He has extensive experiences in working with industry, government, and academic
partners and has led multiple research consortia. Ramin has established a broad network of global collaborators, including leading an international doctoral cluster (IDC) with the National University of Singapore on Urban Water, Waste, and Energy Solutions and collaborating with researchers at IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay on sustainable rural development.

Ramin is a passionate teacher with an excellent record of mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. He is the recipient of the Faculty’s TEAL Fellowship for technology enhanced active learning and Department’s Teacher of the Year Award. He is also the co-author of a textbook, The Art of Modeling in Science and Engineering with Mathematica, that he uses for teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels.

Ramin has an outstanding record of administrative service to the Faculty, as well as to his home Department. He has served as Associate Director of the Pulp and Paper Centre (2001-2010), as well as the Associate Chair of Research in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry (2009 – 2017).

He currently serves as Vice-Dean Research, a position he held in an interim capacity for 6-months (March 1 – August 31, 2017) prior to his full appointment to the role on September 1, 2017. Just some of his accomplishments as Vice-Dean Research include, establishing the XSeed program, a tri- campus initiative to foster multidisciplinary research, and supporting the launch of extra- department units (EDUs), such as the Institute for Water Innovation (IWI), the Centre for Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Engineering (CARTE), and CRANIA Neuromodulation Institute (CNMI).

He has expanded the mentorship programs for early career researchers through organizing orientation sessions and grant writing support, and promoted equity, diversity and inclusion in our research. During Ramin’s tenure as VDR, the Faculty surpassed $100M in its total research funding and nearly tripled its industry research support, while U of T Engineering placed among the top 20 globally in the most recent QS World University Rankings.
I would be remiss if I did not make a special acknowledgement of Ramin’s leadership of the Faculty’s research portfolio over the course of the pandemic. Through some exceptionally challenging times, Ramin expertly stewarded the reopening of our research labs over the summer months of 2020 and since that time, continues to work closely with all of our academic units to ensure the ongoing and safe operations of research labs throughout the Faculty. For this extraordinary service, I extend heartfelt thanks on behalf of the entire Faculty.

Please join me in congratulating Ramin on his new appointment.

I’d also like to take this opportunity, to recognize and thank Professor Grant Allen for his 10.5 years of exemplary service as Chair of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry. Grant has provided dedicated and thoughtful leadership of the Department, which has been very much appreciated by faculty, staff, students and alumni. He has been an amazing role model for colleagues who have moved into leadership roles and I know that his advice and mentorship has been sought out by colleagues from across the University. He always seems to find the time to provide support and guidance when asked. I certainly have really appreciated his sage perspective and wise counsel.

Please join me in thanking Grant and wishing him all the best as he embarks on a very well-deserved administrative leave.