CACSMA - Timotei Centea Memorial Award for Best PhD Thesis

Details

This award is in honor of the late Dr. Timotei Centea (1985–2019). Timotei Centea obtained his B. Eng. in Honours Mechanical Engineering at McGill in 2008. He then completed a PhD in 2013 in the McGill Structures and Composite Materials Laboratory under the supervision of Prof. Pascal Hubert. After graduation, Tim moved to Los Angeles where he was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Southern California from 2013 to 2016. Since 2016, he has been a Research Assistant Professor at the M.C. Gill Composites Center at USC.

Tim was a rising star in the composites community. He was a gifted engineer technically speaking, but more importantly he was, himself, a natural mentor. Many of the people who worked with him have described him as a phenomenal colleague and teacher. The positive influence he has had on the lives and careers of students will continue for years to come.

The Timotei Centea Memorial Award for PhD Thesis recognizes outstanding dissertations completed at a Canadian institution in the field of composites and closely related areas. The eligible candidate must have his or her thesis accepted during the 15 months preceding the nomination deadline. Nominations shall be submitted by the candidate’s supervisor or co-supervisor by March 31. Membership to CACSMA is not required.

The nomination package must include the following:

  • A curriculum vitae of the nominee

  • A digital professional photograph of the nominee

  • A copy of the nominated PhD dissertation

  • A letter of recommendation from the candidate’s supervisor or co-supervisor

Assessment Criteria:

  • Novelty (40%)

  • Impact (30%)

  • Presentation (20%)

  • Recognitions & Awards (10%)

Prize value: $1,500

Reference

Past winners

2022 − Dr. Derek Harvey, McGill University
Thesis: “Development of a Topology Optimization Approach for Sandwich Structures with Anisotropic Shells”

2023 − Dr. Farzad Sharifpour, University of Waterloo
Thesis: “Micromechanical Modelling of Local Failure and Ply Crack Formation in Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Laminates”

2024 − Dr. Kirzar Rouf, University of Waterloo
Thesis: “Characterizing and Modelling the Strain Rate-Dependent Constitutive Response of a Unidirectional Non-Crimp Fabric Composite Material”

2025 − Dr. Nicholas Elderfield, University of Calgary
Thesis: “Additive Manufacturing of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites Using Discrete In-Situ Consolidation”

2026 − Dr. Peyman Shabani - Postdoctoral Researcher, Aerospace Engineer, Composites, FEA
Thesis: ( Details to come )