Dear faculty, staff, and students,
We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Frank Gu as the Director, Institute for Water Innovation (IWI) for a three-year term from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026.
Frank joined the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry in 2018. He holds an NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Nanomaterials and Nanomedicine and is a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada. Frank received his BSc from Trent University, Ph.D. from Queen’s University, and postdoctoral training from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. Before joining the University of Toronto, Frank was an Associate Professor and held a Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He has trained over 150 undergraduate and postgraduate researchers, and authored and co-authored over 200 journal and conference publications. His research has brought tangible impacts on his field and industry, including mucoadhesive materials for the treatment of Dry Eye Disease, and photocatalytic water treatment technologies for the Canadian energy sector.
In his new role, Frank will be focusing on fostering research partnership opportunities with the industry, government agencies, NGOs, and research institutions, as well as facilitating the creation and launch of multi-researcher university-industry consortia and collaborative research initiatives to address industrial, commercial, and domestic water challenges.
Please join us in congratulating Frank on his new appointment.
We also wish to take this opportunity to thank Professor Vlad Papangelakis whose vision and dedication was instrumental in establishing IWI (formerly Centre for Water Innovation) and served as its founding Director since 2014. Please join us in wishing Vlad all the best as he continues breaking new grounds in advancing research to address industrial water challenges while supporting the transition to the new IWI Director.
Sincerely,
Ramin Farnood
Professor & Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry