Syncrude Canada Innovation Award

The 2012 winner is:

Edgar Acosta
University of Toronto
Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry

Edgar Acosta received his Bachelor in chemical engineering (Summa Cum Laude) from University of Zulia, Venezuela in 1996. He completed his MASc and PhD degrees at the University of Oklahoma in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Acosta’s PhD work received the 2005 Provost Dissertation Award, and the Ralph Pott’s Award of the American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS) in 2002. Acosta joined the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry of the University of Toronto in 2004. His group of colloid and formulation engineering has conducted research on lung surfactant replacement therapies, transdermal, oral and ophthalmic drug delivery, surfactant-based remediation technologies, crude oil emulsions, extraction of value-added products from waste biomass, and the thermodynamics of surfactant-oil-water systems. Acosta has trained 21 graduate students, 36 undergraduate students, and published 60 peer-reviewed articles and seven book chapters on these topics. In 2009, Acosta received an Early Researcher Award from the Province of Ontario, and a best paper award from the Surfactant and Detergent Association. In 2010, he received the Young Scientist Research Award from AOCS for his contributions to the advancement of the field of surfactants and detergents.

View the complete list of current and past winners

Nomination Form: Submit your nomination package as a PDF

Terms of Reference

The award shall be presented to a resident of Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of chemical engineering while working in Canada. Nominees for this award shall not have reached the age of 40 by January of the year in which the nomination becomes effective.

Deadline: December 1 of each year.

Sponsor: Syncrude Canada Ltd.

Award: A certificate and $2,000 cash.

All nominations will remain in force for three years. Nominators are responsible for keeping the record of the nominee up to date and complete.

The recipient may become eligible for the award in a subsequent year, provided that he/she has made new significant contributions to chemical engineering or industrial chemistry in Canada.

Membership in the Institute is not a prerequisite for this award.

The award shall be presented annually unless the committee considers that no suitable candidate has been nominated.

The award shall be presented annually at the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference. The recipient will be asked to present an award lecture.

The recipient of the award is encouraged to submit to the Editor of The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering a manuscript based on the award lecture, having contents appropriate to the journal's objectives, for consideration of publication.