Innovation Anthology #119: Development Engineer
Top honours for a star athlete means winning a gold medal at the Olympics.
For Canadian scientists, that stellar mark of excellence comes from winning the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.
During his lifetime, Dr. Herzberg’s many honours included the 1971 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
Well, it’s no surprise then that NSERC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada named this country’s top science award after Herzberg.
And this year’s Herzberg Gold Medal goes to another Nobel Laureate, Dr. John Polanyi.
A professor of chemistry at the University of Toronto, Polanyi is a pioneer in chemical lasers.
His scientific inquiry led to the development of reaction dynamics, a method for better understanding how chemical reactions take place.
At 79 years old, Dr. Polanyi continues to research and publish his scientific discoveries.
But he is also known for his keen social conscience and interest in science policy. He is a founding member of the Committee on Scholarly Freedom of the Royal Society. And he’s written many articles on disarmament and the dangers of nuclear war.
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY,
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
Guest
Ron Cleminson,
Syncrude Canada Ltd, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
Sponsor
Program Date: 2008-03-25