Congratulations to Marianna Kontopoulou, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, who has won the Professional Engineers Ontario Engineering Medal in Research and Development.
The Ontario Professional Engineers Awards (OPEA) recognize professional engineers in Ontario who have made outstanding contributions to their profession and their community. The Engineering Medal – Research and Development award recognizes professional engineers for using new knowledge in developing useful, novel applications, or advancing engineering knowledge or applied science, or discovering or extending any of the engineering or natural sciences.
Marianna is internationally recognized for her pioneering research on sustainable polymers and advanced functional materials for technological applications, including automotive and fuel systems, additive manufacturing, thermal management systems and more. Her contributions include innovative methods to produce graphene, electrically conductive polymer nanocomposites and bioplastics as sustainable alternatives to conventional thermoplastics. Her research, which is funded by provincial and federal agencies, and has strong industrial support has resulted in the publication of over 100 papers in high-quality peer-reviewed journals, 39 refereed conference proceedings, 78 conference presentations, 3 patents, and 2 book chapters. She has been an invited speaker for 33 seminars/workshops/keynotes and trained 75 Highly Qualified Personnel.
Her early contributions to research were recognized in 2010 with the Morand Lambla Award of the Polymer Processing Society. She was also the recipient of the 2019 Queen’s University Research Leaders Fund and the 2015 Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS) Way Memorial Trust Award.
Marianna is notable for her service to the profession and community. In her role as Associate Dean (Academic) for Queen’s FEAS, she has been instrumental in improving the quality of engineering education. She is deeply engaged in continuous curriculum improvement, including incorporating concepts of the UN Sustainability Goals, improving accessibility, and developing mental health programming for engineering students. She is the Academic Integrity Lead in the Faculty, she has been a champion for equity, diversity, and inclusion practices in engineering, and she is a FEAS representative for the Engineers Canada 30/30 Initiative.