The Bridge
Special Issue 2001/2002
Faculties and Schools
School of Graduate Studies and Research
Researchers at Concordia University
by Deborah MacFadden
The future of Graduate Studies and Research at Concordia looks very bright. We’re hiring many talented young researchers in all academic fields who will join the ranks of our distinguished researchers. The provincial and federal governments are beginning to reinvest in education, especially in research, a trend which promises to strengthen our university and enrich our graduate programs. These activities will result in a much higher level of research activity and enhance Concordia’s standing among research institutions.
In this issue of The Bridge, we are proud to feature two of Concordia’s researchers: Suong Van Hoa from Mechanical Engineering and Irene Whittome from Studio Arts. Dr. Hoa and Prof. Whittome are this year’s recipients of the University Research Fellow awards.
Dr. Suong Van Hoa from Mechanical Engineering and Professor Irene Whittome from Studio Arts
photograph by Christian Fleury
Suong Van Hoa
Dr. Hoa is an internationally renowned researcher in the
field of Composite Materials and Structures. He is the
Director of the Concordia Centre for Composites, which he
established in 1993. From 1994 until May 30, 2000, Dr. Hoa
was the Chair of the Department of Mechanical
Engineering. He has demonstrated a remarkable ability to
maintain an outstanding research performance while leading
the unit through a difficult period and rebuilding it into
a thriving department. During his tenure, apart from extensive
modifications of the undergraduate programs, Dr. Hoa
also spearheaded the establishment of two new Graduate
Certificates in Mechanical Engineering and in Software
Systems for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers.
Dr. Hoa’s research has been funded by the National Research Council, Pratt and Whitney Canada Inc., SPAR Aerospace, NSERC and FCAR, to name a few. He has several NSERC Collaborative Research and Development grants and is the principal investigator of an FCAR–funded research team. In the first year of the Canada Foundation for Innovation program, Dr. Hoa was awarded an infrastructure grant with a total value of $350,000 for the purchase of an MTS tension-torsion servo hydraulic testing machine.
Dr. Hoa has more than 250 articles published in international journals and conference proceedings. His work has been written up in codes published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). He has a patent and has written 2 computer programs which have been distributed widely. He has been Editor, North America, of the Journal of Science and Engineering of Composite Materials. He conceived and founded the Canadian Association for Composite Structures and Materials (CACSMA). He has organized 10 international conferences on Composites and he has been on the Scientific Committee of numerous other international conferences. He has received the Ralph Teetor award from the Society of Automotive Engineers and the G.H. Duggan medal for research in Advanced Materials from the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering. He is now Fellow of both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1996) and the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (1997).
He has also written three books in the field of Composite Materials and Structures and edited 9 conference proceedings which are published and distributed worldwide. Dr. Hoa has graduated 15 PhDs and 20 Masters students and is currently supervising 7 PhDs and 3 Masters. Many of his students are now leaders in their fields in Canada, United States, China, Korea and Jordan, among others.
Irene Whittome
Irene Whittome is a respected leader in contemporary
Canadian Art and continues to set high standards for creative
practice in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Her intensive studio
activity has resulted in the mounting of numerous and
significant solo exhibitions. From February to May 2000,
the Musée du Québec presented 300 works made between
1963 and 1999 in the major retrospective, “Bio–fictions.” In
1998–99 Professor Whittome presented a series of installations
for the Canadian Centre for Architecture entitled
“Departure for Katsura: Irene F. Whittome at the CCA.”
Recent invitations to engage in collections at Montreal’s
Musée d’Art Contemporain, the Musée du Québec, the
Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Glenbow
Museum attest to an appreciation of her ability to bring
something new to the museum setting.
Professor Whittome has received numerous grants and prizes from the Canada Council for the Arts and from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec (Ministère des affaires culturelles). She was recently awarded the Prix de la Fondation Gershon Iskowitz for excellence in the Visual Arts and in 1997, received Quebec’s most prestigious award, le Prix du Québec Paul–Émile Borduas pour les arts visuels.
Her work combines a range of scientific and cultural approaches, from researching ancient Buddhist teachings to the implications of genetic engineering. She examines issues related to duplication, modification, and resistance as she adapts materials through her own natural processes. The work is poetic and evocative. She was the first artist who developed digital prints for the permanent collection at the Musée du Québec.
Professor Whittome has had hundreds of interviews and reviews published in important scholarly Canadian and American periodicals, as well as numerous catalogues and monographs written by critics and authors about her work. “Bio-fictions,” a full–colour 140–page catalogue accompanies the recent exhibition at the Musée du Québec. Professor Whittome has been invited to participate on juries for various art competitions and art councils, and she is currently serving as a jury member for the architectural design for La Grande bibliothèque du Québec. Her work has been collected by all major Canadian art museums, has been exhibited in England, France, Belgium, the U.S., and throughout Canada, and has been acquired by many international public and private collections.
Since her arrival at Concordia University in 1968, Professor Irene Whittome has been a thesis supervisor and mentor to countless students, many of whom feel that her early guidance and input shaped their subsequent careers in crucial ways. Many applicants state that “to work with Professor Whittome” is their primary reason for wanting to study at Concordia. Her creative expertise and high recognition in the field of art make her an excellent role model for emerging artists.
