Shortreed, Xu inducted into Canadian Academy of Engineering

Western Engineering News | June 21, 2019

shortreed-thumbnail.pngxu-thumbnail.pngOn June 21, 2019,  Western Engineering alumna Sarah Shortreed, BESc’89, and Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Professor Charles Xu were among the 55 new Fellows inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE). The ceremony took place in Quebec, in conjunction with the Academy’s 2019 Annual General Meeting and Symposium.

CAE president, Dr. Eddy Isaacs commented: “Over our past 32 years, Fellows of Academy have provided insights in the fields of education, infrastructure and innovation, and we are expecting the new Fellows to expand upon these contributions to public policy considerably. They are engineers from widely varying backgrounds, from Industry, Academe and Government, but they all have in common the demonstrated desire and ability to go beyond the normal practice of engineering and serve as role models in their fields and to their communities.”

Sarah Shortreed, Western’s Board of Governor’s alumna and 2009 L.S. Lauchland Engineering Alumni Medal recipient, has global experience in many roles including business consulting, complex program management, operations, sales, customer relationship management, and product management. Her leadership as CIO of a $3B corporation, focused on technology implementation in a heavy industrial environment, is responsible for the impact of technology convergence issues, especially cybersecurity. At Blackberry, Sarah served as a VP responsible for strategy, planning, procurement, process improvement and business continuity across four Blackberry (RIM) operating units. She has contributed to the advancement of information technology in the engineering profession and supported community groups through her expertise.

Dr. Xu is an internationally recognized leader and innovator in converting agro-forestry biomass/residues into bio-based chemicals and polymer materials. His contributions are not only generating over 20 inventions & patents in biorefinery/bioproducts, but also in transferring new technologies to industry, such as founding Western Maple Bioresources Inc. for commercialization of VOC-free coatings and formaldehyde-free adhesives. Dr. Xu has received many awards/recognitions from Canada, China, Japan, Demark and New Zealand, including the prestigious Syncrude Canada Innovation Award from CSChE. He is also an outstanding educator, having graduated ~80 PhD/MESc students and published 190+ refereed journal papers.

Western Engineering is extremely proud of Sarah Shortreed and Dr. Charles Xu, and congratulates them both on the great honour of being inducted into CAE. 

The Canadian Academy of Engineering is the national institution through which Canada's most distinguished and experienced engineers provide strategic advice on matters of critical importance to Canada. The CAE is an independent, self-governing and non-profit organization established in 1987. Members of the CAE are nominated and elected by their peers to Fellowships, in view of their distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession. Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering are committed to ensuring that Canada’s engineering expertise is applied to the benefit of all Canadians.

CAE works in close cooperation with other senior academies in Canada and internationally. It is a founding member of the Council of Canadian Academies, along with the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. The CAE is also a member of the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences, which includes some 26 similar national bodies around the world.