INNOVATION September-October 2018

P R E S I D E N T ' S A W A R D S

2018 PRESIDENT’S AWARDS RECIPIENTS

Our annual President’s Awards recognize excellence in professional, technical and community service by Engineers and Geoscientists BC members. Here, we honour eight recipients in the following categories: the R.A. McLachlan Memorial Award, the C.J. Westerman Memorial Award, the Meritorious Achievement Award, the D.C. Lambert Professional Service Award, the Young Professional Award, and the Award for Teaching Excellence in Engineering or Geoscience Education. Dr. Elizabeth Croft has contributed significantly to the advancement of robotics in the field of engineering and human-robot interaction for over 25 years. Elizabeth is the Dean of Engineering at Monash University in Australia and previously held the position of Senior Associate Dean, Faculty of Applied Sciences at UBC. There, she was director of the Collaborative Advanced Robotics and Intelligent Systems Lab, where she led large-scale collaborative research projects with major industry partners to investigate how robotic systems efficiently operate in partnership with humans. She has authored numerous highly-cited peer-reviewed articles on human-robot interaction, and the application of her work has been instrumental in advancing robotics in collaborative settings. Dedicated to her professional community, and the next generation of engineers, Elizabeth has an exceptional record of accomplishment in advancing women’s representation and participation in engineering. Most recently, as Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Chair for Women in Science and Engineering, she worked with academic, industry, and government stakeholders on strategies to improve women’s participation in STEM disciplines. Her outstanding contributions to research and education have been recognized with numerous awards, including the NSERC Accelerator Award, and the Women of Distinction Award in Education, Training, and Development from the Vancouver YWCA. Elizabeth was also recognized by the association in 2005 for her remarkable professional service contributions. A creative visionary and inspirational role model, Elizabeth is unlocking the potential for people and robots to work together productively and safely. DR. ELIZABETH CROFT, P.ENG., FEC R.A. MCLACHLAN MEMORIAL AWARD

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