Engineering Alumni Medal
First awarded in 1939, the Engineering Alumni Medal is the highest honour awarded by the Engineering Alumni Association. High achievement is the common thread that links past recipients of this medal. In their diverse careers, these individuals have demonstrated superior accomplishments and have responded with flair and excellence to the challenges they have faced. They are outstanding role models for Engineering students.
Kenneth Charles (K.C.) Smith, EngPhys 5T4
Engineering Alumni Hall of Distinction Award
The Hall of Distinction is an assembly of extraordinary alumni, selected for membership by their peers for their lifelong accomplishments. These are graduates whose performances have ultimately defined what is most exemplary in our graduates and in our profession. The careers of the members stand as examples and add a sense of reality to the aspirations of successive generations of Engineering students. Located in the Sandford Fleming Building, the Hall of Distinction is a familiar daily presence in the lives of students and is often visited by alumni and their families.
Michael Anthony Butt, CivE 6T3
Throughout his career, Michael has championed change in industry through the leadership roles he held in several organizations. As an undergraduate at U of T Engineering, while Michael participated on the engineering football team and boxing, he also delved into what would be his first of various entrepreneurial ventures — starting and running his very own construction company.
Upon graduation, he joined Mitchell Construction in Toronto. Recognized for being tremendously business savvy, he was transferred to Bridgetown, Barbados, to set up their Caribbean Group of Companies. Just two years later, he was promoted to Managing Director.
By 1969, he set up operations in South Africa. Ten years later, he started the Buttcon Limited. By bringing strong business and engineering expertise to his operations, his company grew into a $100 million per year entity, and continues to expand today. The company has completed many high profile projects, such as Novotel on the Esplanade, Queen’s Park restoration, Casino Niagara as well as numerous institutions, including U of T.
He is also one of the two founding members of the Canadian Design-Build Institute (CDBI), has served on the Canadian Construction Document Committee, and from 1996 to 2004, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors at Greater Toronto Airports Authority. Michael is proud of his engineering background, as evidenced by his membership with Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) for more than 45 years.
Lloyd Alexander McCoomb, CivE 6T8, PhD 8T2
Lloyd has consistently distinguished himself as a leader in the engineering profession.
As a young professional, Lloyd made his mark at the World Bank by helping to develop a computer model to optimize road transportation investment in developing countries.
From there, he moved to the Department of National Defence where he carried out a range of engineering assignments at military bases across the country. In 1973, Lloyd joined Transport Canada’s Transportation Development Agency, where he worked primarily in the area of urban transportation.
In 1983, a move to Transport Canada’s Air Administration marked the beginning of his foray into the world of airports. Working in Ottawa and Toronto, Lloyd moved from Director of Statistics and Forecasts to Director General of Airport Marketing, then Safety and Technical Services and finally to Project Services Manager of Major Crown projects. In 1994, Lloyd took on his final assignment with Transport Canada as Airport General Manager of Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport, leading staff through their transfer to the private sector in 1996.
From 1996 to 2007, Lloyd oversaw the planning, design and construction of a $4.4 billion airport modernization and expansion program as Vice President of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). In 2007, Lloyd became the President and CEO of the GTAA and helped to create the strategic plan forToronto Pearson to become the North American airport of choice.
Aside from his countless professional successes, Lloyd also served in the Canadian Armed Forces. In 2010, he was appointed Honorary Colonel of 32 Combat Engineer Regiment.
Denis Mitchell, CivE 6T9, MASc 7T1, PhD 7T4
As an inspirational leader of the structural engineering profession in Canada, Denis has led a 30-year effort to significantly improve the safety and resilience of Canada’s built infrastructure.
Denis has demonstrated to the structural engineering profession that, with deep enough understanding of the traditional approach to reinforced concrete design, it can be replaced by design based on first principles. His approach has met tremendous success and has made a significant difference to industry.
As Chair of the Earthquake Design Provisions Sub-Committee of the National Building Code of Canada and Chair of the Sub-Committee on Seismic Design of the Canadian Highway BridgeDesign Code, he is the key structural engineer for the Canadian seismic design provisions of both buildings and bridges. When the Concorde Bridge in Laval, Quebec collapsed in September 2006, Denis was appointed the lead structural engineer, providing experimental investigation and expert testimony. His research has also helped to form the basis of design methods, adopted worldwide, that could withstand catastrophic seismic events — from reinforcing floor slabs, to improving the ductility and toughness of concrete infrastructure.
As a civil engineering professor at McGill University, Denis leads a research team that conducts nearly $800,000 of research per year. For research concerned with public safety rather than potential industry profit, this is an extraordinary level of activity for a Canadian academic and is a tribute to Denis’s vision and leadership.
Douglas Reeve, ChemE MASc 6T9, PhD 7T1
A recognized leader within the pulp and paper industry, Doug has coupled his talent for industrial innovation with his passion for teaching to make an outstanding contribution to the chemical engineering profession.
Among many of his accomplishments in industry, Doug helped to develop the Rapson-Reeve Closed Cycle Mill — an innovation that inspired more than 25 years of research and advancement in chemical recovery within the pulp and paper industry.
Doug served as Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto from 2001 to 2011 and Director of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering’s Pulp & Paper Centre from 1987 to 2001. During his term as Director, the Centre created more than $25 million in research programs with financial support from 45 companies in seven countries.
In addition to his work in the technical and professional realm, Doug’s contributions to engineering education are extensive. In 2002, he established the Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) program in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry. LOT expanded across the Faculty in 2006, and is now a curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular program that helps young engineers develop their leadership skills through courses, workshops, seminars and special events. The success of LOT led to the launch of the Troost Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering (ILead) in 2010, with Doug serving as Director. Through programming, research and outreach, Troost ILead aims to realize its vision: “Engineers leading change to build a better world”.
J.E. "Ted" Robertson, MechE 7T1, MEng 7T7
Ted is one of Canada’s pre-eminent automotive engineers. Throughout his career, he has held the most senior engineering executive positions in his profession, and has been responsible for multibillion-dollar annual budgets and for the design and production of 15 million vehicles on the road.
He began his engineering career in 1968 at General Motors (GM) of Canada Ltd. There, he rose to the position of Chief Engineer before moving to the U.S., where he took on senior leadership roles which culminated in his appointment to Chief Engineer at General Motors Corp.
He was then promoted to Chief Engineer for mid-sized trucks and was responsible for a $2.2 billion engineering budget and $15 billion annual revenue. In 2002, Jack Smith, Chairman of GM, gave Ted the title of Chief Engineer Emeritus upon his retirement. He was the longest serving Chief Engineer at GM and is the only person to be awarded the title of Chief Engineer Emeritus in the corporation’s 100+ year history.
Following his retirement, Ted served as Vice Chairman of ASC Inc., and then President of SAE International, where he was the first automotive leader from Canada in that prestigious role. He then joined Magna International Inc. in 2006 as Executive Vice President, and was later promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer.
Ted is now Vice Chairman & President, North America, of Magna E-Car Systems, and Chief Technical Officer the Americas for Magna International. He leads Magna’s activities in electric vehicle propulsion, including the highly promising Ford e-Focus program.
Tony Shen (EngSci 8T0) and Francis Shen (EngSci 8T1, AeroE MASc 8T3)
Francis and Tony Shen are true leaders in the business world. They are builders of businesses and recognize the need to constantly evolve. From aerospace and consumer telephony products, to enterprise communication systems, they credit a large part of their success to the engineering education they received from U of T.
In 1983, Francis and a partner purchased a small aircraft consulting firm that ultimately became the Aastra Technologies Limited known today. Tony Shen joined the company in the late 1980s after a successful nine-year career that covered everything from product development to marketing at Owens Corning Fiberglas Corporation. Together they grew the business in the aerospace and defense market.
Recognizing the decline of the defense market and rapidly growing telecom industry in the early 1990s, the brothers started developing and marketing ring tone devices for fax machines, as well as caller ID units. By 1999, sales grew to nearly $100 million and they became the largest provider of caller ID units in North America. The following year, the company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Their company continued to grow significantly in the 2000s, beginning with the acquisition of several Nortel divisions. By 2003, growth reached the European market with the acquisition of a Swiss-based enterprise communications company. This began Aastra’s consolidation of the market with several other acquisitions of enterprise communication businesses in Germany and France. In 2008, they purchased Ericsson Enterprise Communication Business, their largest acquisition. This move firmly established the company — and the brothers — as a major player in their field, giving Aastra a global footprint in all emerging economies in the world. The company now employs approximately 2,000 people, and generates more than $700 million in revenue a year.
In 2007 and 2008, the Financial Post named the brothers as one of the top 200 CEOs, while Francis was named Ontario’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the Technology & Communications category by Ernst & Young Canada in 2000. Francis also served on the Dean’s Advisory Board within the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering from 2003 to 2005.
2T5 Mid-Career Achievement Award
The Class of 2T5 was the first class in Canada to receive iron rings at The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer. Since 1975, the Class of 2T5 annually presents the 2T5 Mid-career Achievement Award. This award recognizes a graduate (11 to 25 years from undergraduate graduation) who has earned respect within the profession as well as the broader Canadian community.
Nicola J. Caccavella, CivE 8T6
7T6 Early Career Award
The Class of 7T6 annually presents the 7T6 Early Career Award to engineering graduates who have attained significant achievement early in their career and shows promise of further contributions. The award is presented to an individual who is distinguished early in their profession, community, university and other related fields.
Dwayne R. Shirley, 1T1
Malcolm F. McGrath Alumni Achievement Award
Named in honour of Malcolm McGrath on his retirement as assistant dean — alumni liaison, this award recognizes contributions of personal service to the Faculty, the University or to the community. McGrath was the first assistant dean responsible for alumni affairs and development in the Faculty. Among his many accomplishments are the growth of the Annual Fund, the Engineering Open House, the introduction of the Skule™ Stage Band, and the establishment of the Graditude Campaign.
John Voss, ChemE 8T2
L.E. (Ted) Jones Award of Distinction
This award was established to acknowledge the contributions of Professor Emeritus L.E. (Ted) Jones and is in recognition of the contributions over his long and distinguished career to students, alumni and the Faculty. It also pays tribute to his continuing support and dedication to the Engineering Society and the Engineering Alumni Network (EAN) of the University of Toronto. The award endorses Jones’ great appreciation of the arts and his love of music.