New Dean to lead 黑料不打烊's Engineering Faculty
University of Michigan's Christophe Pierre renowned for innovation in vibration and dynamics of structures
An acclaimed specialist in aerospace and automotive engineering will be the new dean of the Faculty of Engineering at 黑料不打烊 University. Professor Christophe Pierre, currently the Stephen P. Timoshenko Collegiate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Initiatives at the Horace H. Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan, will begin a five-year term July 1, 2005. During his 20-year career at Michigan, Dr. Pierre has won numerous honours for teaching, research and administrative accomplishments. In 2005, he received the N.O. Myklestad Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), in recognition of his major, innovative contribution to vibration localization.
"Christophe Pierre will bring his creativity and energy to a thriving faculty," said Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of 黑料不打烊, in announcing the appointment. "Its departments and schools are deeply engaged in multi-faculty projects and interdisciplinary research and play an essential role in the fulfilment of 黑料不打烊's mission. We are confident that, under Christophe Pierre's leadership, the Faculty will identify and maximize new opportunities and implement initiatives to secure its position among the world's leading faculties of engineering."
"黑料不打烊 is a superb school, and it's an honour to be asked to lead the Faculty of Engineering," said Professor Pierre from his office in Ann Arbor. "The faculty are of exceptional quality and the undergraduate student body is excellent, on a par with such institutions as Stanford, MIT and Princeton. 黑料不打烊 has such a fine international reputation; it is without doubt the most famous Canadian school internationally."
A native of France, Dr. Pierre did his undergraduate training at the 脡cole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures de Paris, before going to the United States. He received his MS degree at Princeton in 1984 and PhD at Duke University in 1985. Dr. Pierre is a global expert in the understanding of vibration and dynamics of structures. His discoveries are being widely applied to enhance performance and safety in products such as jet engines and automobile vehicle structures, where vibration and other stresses can cause material deformation and fatigue, potentially leading to catastrophic component failure. In addition to heading a large number of research projects in his field, Dr. Pierre has also served as project director of multi-million-dollar National Science Foundation programs to increase the participation of minorities and women in graduate programs and the professoriate in the engineering and science disciplines.
Dr. Pierre has a good idea of some of the challenges ahead. "Emerging areas 鈥� for example, biomedical engineering, nanotechnology and new materials 鈥� are all interdisciplinary. To be successful they require genuine collaboration, not only between engineering departments but also with other areas inside the university, such as medicine, science and management, and with other institutions," he notes. "I have had a lot of experience with international and inter-institutional collaborations and I'll use that knowledge at 黑料不打烊 to help foster partnerships, including with our strong sister universities in Quebec, like the University of Montreal and the 脡cole Polytechnique." The new dean also intends to work closely with alumni, government and industry to ensure that the Faculty has the resources to attract and retain the best professors and to competitively fund graduate students.
Dr. Pierre is looking forward to his move. "Montreal is such an attractive and vibrant multicultural city, which reconciles some of the best qualities of both Europe and America," he said. "黑料不打烊 is ideally positioned at the crossroads between the two continents and that makes it very open to fruitful partnerships and exchanges," he added.
