Western Engineering welcomes three new faculty members

Western Engineering News | January 16, 2019

Effective January 1, 2019, Western Engineering welcomed three new faculty members to its team.

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Dr. Michael Boutilier joined the Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering as an Assistant Professor. He is cross appointed to the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. 

Michael’s research interests include advanced materials to the development of membrane nanotechnology, with target applications in sustainable energy and clean water. Michael has contributed to the field through numerous publications including 20 referred publications, 4 conference papers and 2 patent applications. 

Before joining Western, Michael completed his BASc (2009) and his MASc (2011) in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Michael then attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Computations (2017). Michael has been working as a Process Engineer for Lam Research since 2016 and has previously been a Research Assistant (2011-2016) at MIT.

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Dr. Kelly Ogden joined the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering as an Assistant Professor.

Before joining Western, Dr. Ogden was a post-doctoral associate at MIT. She completed her PhD in the MIT/WHOI joint program in physical oceanography. She obtained her masters in applied mathematics and bachelors in mechanical engineering, both from the University of Waterloo.

Dr. Ogden conducts numerical and analytical research to further understand mixing, waves, and hydraulic processes in coastal flows. These flows affect tidal energy available for extraction, water properties (temperature, salinity, and oxygen) that impact the ecosystem, and distribution of contaminants. Furthermore, in a changing climate, changes in coastal flows can have significant impact on society. 

Dr. Chris Power joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as an Assistant Professor.

Chris’ research interests include contaminant hydrogeology with strong multi-disciplinary links to hydrology, subsurface contamination and remediation, soil science, geochemistry and geophysics. His previous position employed him to lead a multi-disciplinary, multi-phased program to work with hydrogeochemical and geophysical methods to monitor remedial performance at reclaimed former mining sites in Nova Scotia. He has contributed to the field through numerous publications including 22 journal, abstracts and papers at professional meetings as well as numerous invited talks, symposiums & seminars.

Before joining Western, Chris completed his BEng / MEng (2007) in Civil Engineering at The University of Edinburgh. Chris then attended Western University where he completed his PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering (2014). Chris has been working as a Senior Research Geoscientist and Project Manager for Verschuren Centre, Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia since 2017.Additionally, he previously was employed as a Research Geoscientist with Verschuren Centre from 2014-2017. Chris was also previously employed as a Research Assistant at Western University between 2008-2014.

Western Engineering is proud to have Drs. Boutilier, Ogden and Power join the Faculty of Engineering as we continue to expand our faculty and strive for excellence in all we do.