Derek O. Northwood, Distinguished University Professor and professor of engineering materials in the Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in an awards ceremony on November 18 in Kingston, Ontario.
Election to its academies is the country’s highest scholarly honour. Dr. Northwood is one of 89 new fellows elected this year by their peers in recognition of outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement. He will join the Applied Sciences and Engineering Division of its Academy of Science.
His citation reads: “Derek O. Northwood’s contributions to Materials Science and Engineering focusing on materials characterization have earned him national and international recognition and numerous prestigious honours and fellowships. His productive research career has resulted in 378 papers in refereed journals that have been cited over 5,000 times. Dr. Northwood is a world leader in the area of surface engineering, where he is developing novel methods for improving surface properties of different materials.”
K.W. Michael Siu, UWindsor vice-president, research and innovation, said the honour exemplifies the highest regard that the academic community holds for Northwood.
“Derek has made numerous and significant contributions to engineering over his long and illustrious career,” Dr. Siu said. “I am absolutely delighted that the Royal Society has elected to honour him.”
Northwood is the first member of the UWindsor Faculty of Engineering elected to the Royal Society of Canada.
He has known most of his UWindsor colleagues in the Royal Society, and said he is honoured to join them.
“Certainly these are people who have left their marks on the University and in their fields,” said Northwood. “This is great company to be in.”
Past inductees affiliated with the University of Windsor include artist Iain Baxter&, jurist William Conklin, litterateur Thomas Dilworth, physicists Gordon Drake and J. William McConkey, geochemist Brian Fryer, historian Leslie Howsam, philosopher Ralph Johnson, chemist K.W. Michael Siu, the late author Alistair MacLeod and the late neuropsychologist Byron Rourke.