Wide Range of Research Areas
The Faculty of Engineering hosts a wide range of research projects in all aspects of Engineering, Architecture and Urban Planning. Departments and Schools list their research areas on their web sites which you can access from HERE. Much of the research conducted by our 150 or so full-time academic staff is highly interdisciplinary in nature. Current strategic research priority areas are listed below.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Agapi Agapitos
Finance Administrator, Grants and Research
Tel.: 514-398-1715
agapi [dot] agapitos [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Email)
ADVANCED & BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
McGill is Canada’s leading university for research in broadband optical and wireless networks (based on ISI publication data). Researchers are developing the devices and systems that will support the network of the future, including 100 Gb/s Optical Communications, Silicon Photonics, Advanced Wireless Networks, and Next Generation Network Architectures. Our researchers include three Canada Research Chairs and three NSERC Industrial Research Chairs and our Broadband Research Laboratories were recently awarded $13.8M in new CFI funding. The Faculty is proud to host both a national network (hSITE, Healthcare Support through Information Technology Enhancements) and a provincial network (SYTACom, Centre for Advanced Systems and Technologies in Communications).
ADVANCED MATERIALS & NANOTECHNOLOGY
Nanotechnology focuses on the behaviour and control of matter at the atomic and molecular scale. Researchers in this area include thirteen Canada Research Chairs and eight internal McGill chairholders. Many of our researchers are also members of the McGill Institute for Advanced Materials (MIAM, and are using nanotechnology to create new and advanced materials for applications such as aerospace engineering, whilst others are investigating nanophotonics and nanoelectronics. Through MIAM, our researchers have access to a wide range of nanofabrication and surface characterization facilities.
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
Montreal is Canada’s aerospace hub, and third largest aerospace city in the world. More than thirty members of the McGill Engineering Faculty are actively involved in research in industrial engineering, many of them with strong industrial collaborations. These researchers include the Lorne Trottier Chair in Aerospace Engineering, five Canada Research Chairs, one NSERC Industrial Research Chair and several other McGill chairholders. Their research covers almost all aspects of aircraft design and production, including Computational Fluid Dynamics for the design of airframes and engines, Vibration Analysis, Lightweight Composite Materials, Aerospace Alloys, Sensors, and Aircraft Manufacturing Techniques.
The McGill Institute for Aerospace Engineering (MIAE) has been recently created and coordinates research and student projects in aerospace.
BIOENGINEERING
Bioengineering concerns the interaction of living systems with technology. This very rapidly expanding research area covers a broad range of topics, spanning biomedical engineering and environmental engineering. Rresearch projects include the Design of Integrated Biosensors, techniques for Tissue Engineering & Repair, Vascular Implants, Biomimetics, Biological Imaging Techniques, Biological Modeling, and Biomechanics, Bioremediation andand Microbial Systems. The researchers in this field are found in almost all units of the Faculty and include seven Canada Research Chairs, and many work very actively with the McGill hospitals and colleagues in the Faculty of Medicine. Much important research in water treatment and bioremediation is coordinated by the Brace Centre for Water Resource Management (Brace website) Through the MIAMthe Faculty hosts the NSERC CREATE Training Program in Integrated Sensor Systems (ISS).
ENGINEERING AND DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Many researchers within the Faculty of Engineering are investigating ways in which we can reduce our impact on the environment and on the planet. This includes research on topics such as the built infrastructure, sustainable urban transportation systems and also aspects such as renewable energy sources and technologies, carbon capture and storage and sustainable mineral extraction. Researchers within this area are found across the five Engineering Departments and the two professional Schools of Architecture and Urban Planning, and include five Canada Research Chairs and five internal McGill chairs. In order to advance public policy in the area of sustainable engineering and design, the Faculty, has created the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design. (TISED). The Faculty also hosts the Stochastic Mine Planning Laboratory (COSMO) which collaborates closely with many key players in the mining industry to develop more efficient extraction techniques, and the Canadian Seismic Research Network (CSRN), an NSERC funded Strategic Research Network which seeks to reduce the vulnerability of urban infrastructure to earthquake risks
OTHER RESEARCH AREAS
In addition to these five areas of strategic growth, the Faculty supports research across a wide range of other areas at a very high level. Please visit the research web pages of the individual departments and schools to learn more: