Chairholders

Profile

Kamran Behdinan

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
University of Toronto

Chair title

NSERC Chair in Multidisciplinary Engineering Design

Chair program

Chairs in Design Engineering Program

Role

Senior Chairholder since 2017

Summary

This renewal of Chair in Design Engineering (CDE) strengthens the capabilities of graduates of the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering (FASE) in the marketplace through creative and practical value-added engineering design, using a variety of approaches that expose students to multidisciplinary experience with industry and/or research personnel.

The initial NSERC Chair in Multidisciplinary Engineering Design, established at the University of Toronto in March 2012 for a five-year term (through to March 2017), has forged and maintained effective partnerships with industry under the leadership of professor Kamran Behdinan. The Chair focused on establishing client-based Multidisciplinary Capstone Projects (MCP) with industry participation and support. Much has been achieved in these initial four years that can be further elevated and entrenched in the next five years. The approaches and deliverables have inspired the very best achievements by our students, with direct benefit to our industry partners. The efforts of the Chair have also resulted in the creation of the University of Toronto Institute for Multidisciplinary Design and Innovation (UT-IMDI), which will be relocated to prime space within the new Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CEIE). The building will also include facilities that support many of the concepts nurtured during the first five-year term of the Chair.

The early mandated design foundation courses introduced at the FASE at Level 1, namely Engineering Strategies and Practice (ESP) I and II and Praxis I and II, have continued to strengthen, becoming fully institutionalized and allowing for the development of program-specific design spines culminating in discipline-specific capstone projects at Level 4 in all nine undergraduate programs. The CDE program will further enhance the curriculum design spines, the creation of design spaces, integration of fabrication and marketspace operations, development of educational information modules, expansion of community outreach, and consolidation and growth of innovative subsets of MCPs as well as a Hub for design engineering and innovation. Each of these items are critical pillars in the integrated enterprise. The Chair, working with the Dean, her leadership team and departmental chairs, and supported by the various steering committees put in place during the first four years, will provide the leadership to fully realize these objectives.

Partners

• Bombardier
• Defence Research and Development Canada
• Honeywell
• SPP Canada Aircraft
• Drone Delivery
• BionX

Contact information

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
University of Toronto
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering

Tel.: 416-946-3631
Fax: 416-978-7753
Email: Behdinan@mie.utoronto.ca

Website:
imdi.mie.utoronto.ca