Professor Marc Dubé has been awarded for outstanding research in sustainable polymer reaction engineering
Since joining the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering 21 years ago, Professor Marc Dubé has distinguished himself time and again as a forward-thinking researcher. To mark his numerous contributions to the field of chemical and biological engineering, the Faculty has elected to award him with the George S. Glinski Award to recognize his creative and exceptional research.
Professor Dubé’s research excellence has been clearly acknowledged both nationally and internationally by his peers. His interests and expertise focus on sustainable polymer reaction engineering, which includes the synthesis of new polymers from renewable materials as well as the development of sustainable polymerization processes. These materials can be as commonplace as orange peels, yard clippings and cooking oil, and can be used to produce vital products such as paints, plastics, resins and adhesives. Professor Dubé is clearly teaching future generations to recycle the well-known “waste not, want not” motto and to strive to make the world just a little bit greener.
Professor Dubé‚ a native of Welland, Ontario, received his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo in 1995. As well as being a researcher, Professor Dubé is Vice-Dean of Research for the Faculty of Engineering. During his tenure at the University of Ottawa, he has also been actively supervising and co-supervising many masters, doctoral and postdoctoral students and he has been successful in attracting significant external research funding from a variety of national and international funding bodies, including NSERC.
“When I first started at uOttawa, I was proud to attend the Glinski presentation of one of my senior colleagues and thought to myself that one day, receiving the award would be a sign of research success. So, today I am filled with pride about this recognition — not only for myself, but also for the many people who contributed to the work along the way. First and foremost are my graduate students, and then my collaborators and my colleagues; but it doesn’t end there. The entire Faculty team that supports every aspect of research plays a role. This includes our Research Facilitators, our Graduate Office, our Technical Support Staff, our Administrative Staff…the list goes on. I hope they will also feel that sense of pride along with me.”
Engineering Interim Dean, Ioan Nistor added, “As spokesperson for our Faculty community, I wish to sincerely congratulate Marc for this exceptional and well-deserved recognition!”
This award is named in honor of Professor George S. Glinski who was the co-founder of Computing Devices of Canada (1948), which grew into one of Canada’s first publicly traded, export-oriented technology companies that produced such spinoffs as Northern Electric (NORTEL), Gandalf Technologies and Leigh Instruments. He is widely considered to be the father of high-technology in Canada.
The Faculty wishes to congratulate Professor Dubé for winning this award. Interim Dean Nistor also wishes to acknowledge the other excellent candidates who had been nominated: “The members of the Faculty Teaching Personnel Committee and I also wish to acknowledge the two other excellent candidates who were nominated for this award this year: Dr. Mamadou Fall, from the Department of Civil Engineering and Dr. Diana Inkpen, from the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. We were truly impressed by the accomplishments of these deserving colleagues, as well as by the excellent quality of their nomination dossiers. This made our decision a difficult one, which is a testimony to the high level of research performance by some outstanding professors in the Faculty of Engineering.”
