The Engineering Newsletter
         
 

New staff appointments

  
   
 

A warm welcome to all new administrative staff and to those who have assumed new roles within the Faculty.


Grant Bonin

Grant Bonin | Research Associate, UTIAS
Grant is one of the newest staff engineers at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies' Space Flight Laboratory, where he designs power systems for advanced Canadian nanosatellites and microsatellites. Grant holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University. His studies focused on orbital mechanics and aerospace materials. His Master of Applied Science in Aerospace Science and Engineering from the University of Toronto involved spacecraft power, thermal and systems engineering.

Gina John

Gina John | Director, EngSci
Gina joined the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering October 13, 2009 as the Division of Engineering Science's new Director. Her position encompasses student services and program delivery, human resources, financial resources, operations, and strategic planning. She works closely with the Chair, Professor Will Cluett, to help ensure that all support services that impact the student experience are being delivered effectively, efficiently and are of high quality, and that the infrastructure exists to support all the activities of the Division.

Prior to joining EngSci, Gina was with the Rotman Commerce Career Centre as their Associate Director since 2007. She had been with the Career Centre since 2005. Prior to this, she worked with the Certified General Accountants of Ontario.

Gina hold a Bachelor of Education and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta and an MBA from the University of Windsor.

Ian Marquez

Ian Marquez | Information Assistant, Registrar's Office
Reporting to Khuong Doan, Associate Registrar, Student Services, Ian's major responsibility at the Registrar’s Office includes attending to student inquires at the front desk.

Ian graduated from U of T Scarborough in 2007 with a Major in anthropology and neuroscience. Prior to starting his new role as Information Assistant on October 13, 2009, he worked at the Advancement Office from July 2008 to September 2009.

Nalina "Ali" Nadarajah

Seyed "Ali" Nabavi Niaki | Research Associate, ECE
Reporting to ECE Professor Reza Iravani, Ali began his term position as Senior Research Associate in October 2009. His research interests include analysis, operation and control of power electronics in power systems.

Ali is a Senior Member of IEEE and a professional engineer in the Province of Ontario, Canada. He received BSc and MASc degrees in Electrical Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1987 and 1990, respectively, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from U of T in 1996. Upon graduation he joined the University of Mazandaran, Babol, Iran as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Since then he has been actively engaged in research and development in the general area of power system, power electronics and teaching and supervising of graduate students. He was elevated to Associate Professor in 2003. Since 2004, he has been with the Energy Systems Group, Department of ECE, U of T, as a visiting professor and has been actively collaborating on several research projects with various utility and aerospace industries including ABB, Honeywell and US Hybrid.

Matthew Nelson

Matthew Nelson | Healthcare Engineering Project Lead, MIE
Matthew joined the Centre for Research in Healthcare Engineering (CRHE) in October 2009 as a Healthcare Engineering Project Lead, and manages project requests coming into the centre. His role is to evaluate projects to determine the appropriate approach and resources required while maintaining the relationships between the CRHE and its members.

Matthew has a background in Industrial Engineering and a Masters in Operations Research and worked in a business analysis role in British Columbia for a regional health authority prior to joining U of T.

Elenita Palmiano

Elenita Palmiano | Chemistry and Testing Support Specialist, ECE
Elenita joined Professor Ted Sargent's group in June 2008 as Chemistry Support Specialist, and works with the principal scientist on the synthesis of nanocrystals. She is also involved in wet chemistry and laboratory management. She holds a Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from Far Eastern University, Philippines.

Prior to U of T, Elenita worked as Research and Development Technician at IFire Technology Inc., where she was responsible for development of a flat panel display with a new thick-film dielectric electroluminescent (TDEL) display which is based on inorganic electroluminescent (IEL) technology. She is also involved in phosphors pelletization, material synthesis and materials characterization.

Tom Vosper

Tom Vosper | Senior Development Officer, Advancement Office
As Senior Development Officer, Advancement, Tom's responsibilities include Skule™ Society leadership gifts between $1,200 – $24,999 and the Class Giving Program. His priority is growing Skule™ Society membership and increasing the amount of dollars raised for the Faculty through leadership giving. Tom assumed this role on September 24, 2009, and reports to Vanessa Abaya, Executive Director Advancement.

Tom's previously worked for the YMCA in a number of capacities over a span of close to 20 years, the last three years of which were spent working in Financial Development doing major gift fundraising.

Tom says he is inspired in his new role in the Faculty and to make a difference in the world by the legacy of his engineer father. "Engineers make a difference everyday – I am driven to do the same through my work as a fundraiser."

Renee Walkom

Renee Walkom | Admissions and Awards Assistant, Registrar's Office
 Renee's newest role at the Registrar's Office is Admissions and Awards Assistant. Duties include administering admissions advice through in-person interviews, telephone and email inquiries, as well as assisting with all aspects of the admissions process. Prior to that, she developed the International Student Mentorship and Coaching Program for Engineers at the Registrar's Office, and has gained experience in a variety of roles with Student Housing and Residence Life at UTM prior to coming to St. George campus. Renee started her new position November 2, 2009, and reports to Helen Bright, Associate Registrar of Admissions.

Jiao Zhao

Jiao Zhao | Research Associate, ChemE
Reporting to ChemE Professor Krishna Mahadevan, Jiao began his term position as Research Associate in September 2009. His current research involves the application of multi-scale modeling of metabolism at different time and length scales for the design of efficient bioremediation strategies.

Jiao received a PhD in Biochemical Engineering at East China University of Science and Technology. From 2001-2008, he worked at Keio University, Japan and University of Alberta, Canada as postdoctoral research associate on both experimental and computational systems biology.

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