Posted on May 16, 2016
Three-year term effective July 1
Queen's Civil Engineering Professor Amir Fam has been named FEAS Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies.
Alan Harrison, Provost and Vice Principal Academic, on the strong recommendation of Dean Kimberly Woodhouse, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Amir Fam as the Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science for a three-year term effective July 1, 2016.
Dr. Fam holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Alexandria University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (structures) from the University of Manitoba. From 2000 to 2002, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow and Instructor at North Carolina State University (NCSU), Raleigh, NC. Dr. Fam joined the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science in the Department of Civil Engineering at Queen`s University as an Assistant Professor in 2002, and was promoted to Full Professor in 2009. Dr. Fam held the position of a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Innovative and Retrofitted Structures (2003-2013) and is presently the Donald and Sarah Munro Chair in Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Fam has served as the Chair of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Civil Engineering and is currently term as a Queen’s Senator. In 2009, he was a Visiting Professor at Monash University, Australia and from 2014 to the present he holds the Jinshan Visiting Scholar position at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, China.
An active researcher in the areas of structural engineering using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcements and bio-based composites in new construction and retrofitting aging bridges and buildings, Dr. Fam has over 130 refereed journal papers, 115 refereed conference papers, 5 books and book-chapters, and 40 technical reports. He is a fellow of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering and the International Institute for FRP in Construction (IIFC). He is also the Vice President and Treasurer of the IIFC. In 2015, he became a project leader of a $3.5M CFI-IOF project to develop and build the first Moving Load Simulator for bridges in Canada, at Queen's. He also chairs the Academic Progress Committee of an NSERC-CREATE network on Structural Engineering in Remote Regions (SERA) at Queen's. Dr. Fam is an Associate Editor/Member of Editorial Board of several journals, including the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, ASCE Journal of Composites for Construction and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Journal. He has been invited to deliver keynote presentations in international and national conferences, including conferences in Scotland, Sydney (Australia), and Hong Kong.
Dr. Fam is the recipient of the Ontario Early Researcher Award, Queen's Chancellor's Research Award, the T.Y.Lin best paper award of ASCE J. of Structural Engineering, NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement (DAS) and Civil Engineering Teaching Award. He has trained 14 doctoral and 30 master's students, 10 post-doctoral fellows and visiting scholars, and 24 undergraduate research students.
In his new role, Dr. Fam hopes to use his experience to serve the faculty, building on the excellent momentum established by the faculty in the past few years. He plans to continue promoting research and scholarship and assist in developing large collaborative research projects and attracting top domestic and international graduate students.
In making this announcement, we would like to express our sincere thanks to Vice Dean Brian Surgenor for his exceptional service to the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science over the past eight years.