On October 16, 2012, Tuesday, CSBE member and the University of Guelph's Biological Engineering Professor Dr. Suresh Neethirajan was in Ottawa to testify at the Canadian Senate Standing Committee of Agriculture and Forestry at a hearing on nanotechnology and applied research in agriculture. He discussed research and innovation efforts in the Canadian agricultural sector. Dr. Neethirajan is involved in numerous projects at Guelph involving developing nanoscale devices, technologies and methods to study biological and agricultural systems. The proceedings are available on the Senate committee's website at http://tinyurl.com/bnu7dgh and the full video can be watched online at http://tinyurl.com/9g4f27x

The SoE is Expanding!

The School of Engineering has embarked on an ambitious expansion strategy that will see a doubling in undergraduate student enrolment and faculty in the coming years.
Phase 1 of the expansion, which is now complete, has added new space to the Thornbrough Engineering Complex in terms of a new student shop, undergraduate laboratories, design studios, an outdoor rooftop lab as well as additional office and administration space. Phase II, currently under way, will see the old labs and offices in Thornbrough refurbished and the Richards Building completely gutted and equipped with dry labs, office space and a 200 seat lecture hall.

The new main entrance and atrium for the Engineering Complex at the University of Guelph

New Faculty

Dr. Brajesh Dubey joined the SoE in December 2011 from the East Tennessee State University. His research focuses on integrated solid waste management issues and on sustainable environmental technologies including beneficial reuse and resource recovery.

Dr. Suresh Neethirajan, P.Eng., joined the SoE in August 2011 from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His research focuses on studying the nanoscale aspects of biosystems through bio-instrumentation and bio-imaging through an interdisciplinary approach to research in studies covering diverse topics of food, biological and agricultural systems. Visit www.bionanolab.ca for more details.

Biological Engineering Club

The Biological Engineering club has been extremely active this past academic term with field trips to Sleeman’s Brewery and a Niagara based winery. The club has also hosted several guest lectures on campus that focus on careers and opportunities for biological engineers.

Awards and Recognitions 

SoE students Lindsay Mooradian, Amanda Rhodes, Nirmal Shah and Stuart West placed 1st in the Consulting Engineering category at the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC) held at the University of Toronto, February 3-5, 2012. They will be traveling The Guelph Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) has announced that their Junior Fellow is Emily Nickerson, a student in Water Resources Engineering. Emily will be traveling to Ghana this summer to work on EWB's Agriculture Value Chains (AVC) team. The AVC team works to unlock the potential of Ghana's agriculture sector through improving markets. Currently, the team is focusing on the potential of Market Facilitation to connect key actors within the agriculture sector with the end goal to better service farmers.

On October 22, 2011, Ron MacDonald, president of CSBE, was recognized with the Engineering Alumni Volunteer Award. This award recognizes an alumnus that has made a significant difference through longstanding volunteer work and involvement and honours their loyalty and commitment to the School and the larger community.

Dr. Ramesh Rudra, a long time member and fellow of the CSBE, was awarded the Fellowship of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE) in February 2012 in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of agricultural engineering.

Bionanotechnology - What is it? "Bionanotechnology is essentially the study of biological ideas with nanotechnology...a miniaturized version of biotechnology, a field that centers on the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering...an emerging interdisciplinary field..."Got that?

Read on: http://e-ditionsbyfry.com/http://e-ditionsbyfry.com/Olive/ODE/RES/Default.aspx?href=RES/2012/03/01

Article written by CSBE member Suresh Neethirajan, University of Guelph, Ontario. http://bionanolab.ca/