HOME | THE NCE PROGRAM | A tribute to Dr. Thomas A. Brzustowski

One of the most significant events of the past year at the NCE has been the departure of Dr. Thomas Brzustowski as Chair of the Steering Committee. Dr. Brzustowski, who has been a beacon illuminating the importance of robust scientific research, has returned to academia to help two universities establish innovative new programs.

Dr. Brzustowski's career spans academia, government and the making and funding of science policy. He taught and researched aeronautical engineering, serving as the Chair of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo and as its academic vice-president. He then moved to government to become a deputy minister for Ontario. In 1995 he was appointed President of Science and Engineering Research Canada (NSERC) and Chair of the NCE Steering Committee and immediately set to work improving and expanding the NCE program.

Under his guidance, the NCE was made a permanent program by the federal government. In 1998, he made the case that the NCE's budget ceiling of $47.4 million was hampering the creation of new networks and discouraging the best and busiest researchers from undertaking the rigorous application process. The government responded by increasing the budget by $30 million.

On his watch, the NCE extended its reach in health care and social sciences, with networks dedicated to literacy, Arctic climate change, stem cells, allergies, arthritis, and stroke. It has built strong networks in mathematics, geomatics and photonics. He has led the NCE in the creation of what he calls "new groupings of research talent to address emerging issues as well as emerging opportunities for Canada."

Dr. Brzustowski has clearly articulated the connection between intensifying research and development and increasing Canadian-made innovation and Canadian success in the world market. That, he has stressed, leads to more value-added economic activity and wealth creation for Canada. Wealth, however, has never been the end to Dr. Brzustowski. It has always been the means: Prosperity simply gives us more options and more opportunities to invest in health, children, education and the environment.

Dr. Brzustowski is a scientist's scientist. A gifted research engineer in the field of thermodynamics and combustion, he understands the crucial importance of scientific discovery, but also sees the need to make best use of discovery for the greater good. In fact, he draws no distinction between basic research and applied science. To him, there is only good science and bad science – "and the latter isn't worth talking about."

We wish him the very best in his new positions at the University of Ottawa's School of Management, where he will be the inaugural chair holder of the RBC Professorship in Technology-Based Innovation, and at the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing where he is establishing an international strategic advisory committee to ensure the institute becomes a world leader. We thank him for his enormous contribution to the NCE program.