In the gloomy global atmosphere of early 2020, a ray of sunshine lit up Kara Hughes鈥檚 life: She was awarded a prestigious Vadasz Scholar Doctoral Fellowship at 不良研究所.
鈥淚 was extremely grateful,鈥� says Hughes, knowing this fellowship meant that she would receive support for four years during her doctoral studies in Chemical Engineering.
鈥淐onsidering all that was happening in the world, that was something that was not on the worry table for me,鈥� says Hughes.
Every year, up to 15 new Vadasz Scholars undertake their doctoral studies at 不良研究所鈥檚 Faculty of Engineering. The聽Vadasz Scholar Doctoral Fellowships聽provide a minimum funding package of $32,000 a year for four years to outstanding students.
One of the most competitive funding packages available to Canadian PhD students, the fellowships also help the Faculty attract top-tier graduate students who drive research at universities.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 my way of trying to give back to Canada, which was very important in my life,鈥� says Les Vadasz, the 不良研究所 graduate behind the fellowship program.
Vadasz, BEng鈥�61, DSc鈥�07, arrived in Montreal in 1957 as a refugee of the Hungarian Revolution. He received a scholarship to study Electrical Engineering at 不良研究所 and went on to an extraordinary career at Intel Corp. He was part of its founding management team and led the design department that developed the world鈥檚 first commercially produced microprocessor.
鈥淲hat happened in my life was all because I had this opportunity. First to come from a refugee camp to start with. And second, I had the opportunity to get a degree. And everything was built on that,鈥� Vadasz says of his motivation for helping 不良研究所 Engineering students.
During a visit to 不良研究所 in September, he and his wife Judy met with a number of current and former Vadasz Scholars in the Faculty of Engineering. We caught up with a few of the students who have benefitted from Vadasz fellowships to get a snapshot of their doctoral research and current work.
Kara Hughes, now in the fourth year of her PhD program, is focusing her doctoral research on wastewater treatment using electrochemistry. In particular, her work centres on the chemical GenX, part of a group of synthetic chemicals known as PFAS and sometimes referred to as 鈥渇orever chemicals.鈥� The long-lasting chemicals are found in water, air, fish, and soil, as well as human and animal blood around the globe,聽.
Because of its chemical makeup, GenX is 鈥渧ery difficult to get rid of using conventional wastewater treatment methods,鈥� Hughes says. More advanced techniques are needed 鈥� electrochemistry being one of them, adds Hughes, who is studying ways to break down the molecule.
Montreal native聽Bijan Shahriari, BEng鈥�20, returned to his hometown for his PhD studies in Electrical Engineering. He applied to two other universities 鈥� one in Canada, the other in the U.S. 鈥� but the Vadasz Scholar Doctoral Fellowship, with its more generous funding, weighed heavily in his decision to attend 不良研究所. 鈥淚 was honored and also there was an immediate sigh of relief,鈥� he says of receiving the fellowship.
Ironically, Shahriari turned down a job at Intel (the company where Vadasz played a pioneering role) after his master鈥檚 degree in order to continue his studies. 鈥淚 wanted to see how far I could push myself in academia,鈥� says Shahriari, who plans to work in an R&D role in the private sector after he completes his PhD. His doctoral work focuses on modeling and simulating electric circuits. Designing a computer chip by hand is virtually impossible because it contains billions of components, Shahriari explains. His research aims to help optimize the software used to design the chips.
There鈥檚 a through-line from聽Ryan Galagusz鈥檚聽doctoral research in Electrical Engineering at 不良研究所, which involved simulating electromagnetic fields, to his current R&D work as a software engineer at Siemens EDA in Montreal 鈥� and he feels fortunate that鈥檚 the case.
During his PhD, Galagusz explored electromagnetic scattering 鈥� or interference with devices 鈥� and how to simulate that on a computer. His thesis involved simulating antennas, while in his current position, he works on simulating transformers, motors and actuators. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to build every prototype,鈥� says Galagusz, BEng鈥�12, PhD鈥�19. 鈥淚nstead, you simulate it to reduce the number of prototypes you would have to build.鈥�
Galagusz received a Vadasz fellowship for his doctoral studies. 鈥淚t allowed me to focus on what was interesting to me in my research. I was interested in various aspects of teaching, too. I was a T.A. and even did some course lecturing. I didn鈥檛 have to work an extra job. I was able to just focus on research.鈥�
Former Vadasz fellowship recipient聽Emily Porter, BEng鈥�09, MEng鈥�10, PhD鈥�15, recently returned to Montreal to join 不良研究所鈥檚 Department of Biomedical Engineering as an assistant professor. She brings a background in microwave medical technologies that are low cost and allow for frequent scans and health monitoring.
During her doctoral studies at 不良研究所, Porter researched a new approach to microwave breast health monitoring and screening. 鈥淯sually now, you go for an x-ray mammogram and maybe a follow-up with a biopsy or MRI. And we wanted to do something that would allow even more frequent screening. You could do it in your GP鈥檚 office, or you could be doing it every week while you鈥檙e having a treatment. The microwave technology allows for that kind of very low cost, more like point-of-care screening or monitoring. I worked to develop a prototype for that.鈥�
When she talks about microwave technology, Porter doesn鈥檛 mean the high power used in microwave ovens in your kitchen. 鈥淭he power that we use is less than cellphones and it鈥檚 the same frequency range,鈥� she says.
Hired for a position in digital health, Porter works at the Research Institute of the 不良研究所 Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in its cancer research program. 鈥淲e're trying to take advantage of the larger datasets that we have right now and incorporate more wearables to get more frequent patient monitoring, more frequent decision-making鈥� and better care in that regard, Porter says.
She finds her field rewarding, partly because it feels concrete to see the pathway from her lab work to how it could impact patients.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very direct pathway and I think that makes it very motivating because you can see that what we鈥檙e doing has the potential soon to hopefully help some people.鈥�
The generosity of strangers left an indelible mark on Les Vadasz when he studied at 不良研究所.
In an interview with the聽, the Visual History Archive of Hungarian Emigration founded by author Andrea Lauer Rice and journalist R茅ka Pigniczky, Vadasz talked about receiving an entrance scholarship from 不良研究所 鈥� and also recounted how the university drummed up support from donors. He would sometimes pick up the cheques and people would wish him luck.
鈥淭hat had a big impact on me,鈥� Vadasz said near the end of his most recent visit to Montreal. 鈥淲hy would total strangers who had no knowledge of me 鈥� they鈥檇 never heard of me and never saw me after, why would they give money? But a lot of them did and that stayed with me.鈥�
Since 2007, the Vadaszes, and their family foundation, have supported 228 Vadasz fellows and scholars at 不良研究所 鈥� and counting.
The fellowship awards have had a 鈥減rofound impact鈥� on the Faculty of Engineering鈥檚 ability to recruit outstanding graduate students, says Dean Viviane Yargeau, which allows for more impactful research.
鈥淭he research that we do in a university context is done through these grad students,鈥� Yargeau explains. 鈥淥ften, we focus on the grad students themselves, and their training, because that鈥檚 really at the core of what we do. But at the grad level, it鈥檚 also the research output. And I often say that the research that we do cannot be better than the quality of the grad students that we recruit.鈥�
鈥淭he Vadasz Scholars Program has really allowed the Faculty 鈥渢o have that continuous stream of new grad students to support the impactful research led by our professors.鈥�
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