Quanser is proud to announce that its Founder and Chief Technology
Officer, Dr. Jacob Apkarian, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering
degree by the University of Waterloo, of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The award was conferred on June 15th during the
university’s engineering convocation ceremony.
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| In recognition of his achievements in the entrepreneurial and academic worlds, Quanser Founder and Chief Technology Officer Jacob Apkarian was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree by the University of Waterloo on June, 15th, 2013. |
The university described Dr. Apkarian’s achievements in this way: “Dr.
Apkarian is an engineer, entrepreneur and a valued colleague of the University
of Waterloo. He is an authority in the area of control systems and related
fields such as mechatronics, haptics and robotics. Dr. Apkarian's work
contributed to the success of the Canadarm I and II.
“As an entrepreneur, he founded and grew Quanser, which stands today as
a Canadian success story that has transformed the way we study, explore, and
design control systems. His body of work spans involvement in high profile
national projects to developing the very basis of training systems for
engineering students across the globe.”
A number of Jacob's Quanser colleagues attended the ceremonies and, below, offer a personal appreciation.
Jacob has what can only be described as an "overly inquisitive" mind, and his imagination knows no bounds. As a young engineer he made major contributions to many sophisticated projects, including the legendary Canada Space Arm, where he successfully applied his innovative approach and intuitive understanding of Robotics and Control Engineering to develop complex algorithms that are more than likely still in use today.
In
1989 he decided to turn his attention to the academic engineering community and
provide interesting and motivating platforms for the next generation of
engineers to learn how to put theory into practice. For over twenty years
Quanser (derived from QUestion & ANSwER) has continued to develop and
advance this dream and continually break new ground.
As
his friend for almost twenty years, and business partner for twelve, I can say
from the heart that this honour is well deserved and his legacy is that we are
still operating ahead of the curve thanks to his mentoring and guidance for so
many years.
Paul Gilbert
CEO, Quanser
Quanser
is a very open and dynamic organization where the qualities of your ideas and
the conviction in your actions matter more than the number of degrees you have,
or the thickness of your resumé. But this award was a moment where everybody
paused and reflected on a singular member of the team who has achieved what most of us only dream of.
The
accolades expressed about Jacob were many, significant, and genuine. And
characteristically, Jacob accepted the honours with profound gratitude and
humility.
Dr. Tom Lee
Chief Education Officer, Quanser
In addressing the graduates at the convocation ceremony, Jacob
made the observation that "intuition develops as 'tuition', in the
sense of instruction, is applied." Jacob embodies this principle. His
wealth of knowledge and experience is evident in every conversation, along with
the uncanny intuition that stems from it.
Combined with his passion for engineering education and a healthy dose
of humility and wisdom, Jacob possesses those unique qualities that have made
him the successful entrepreneur that he is. But Jacob is more than an
entrepreneur; he is a mentor, an inspiration and a friend and he continues to
touch the lives of many. The honour was well deserved.
Dr. Dan Madill
Chief Scientist, Quanser
1 comment:
Congrats to all of you, those who get awards. keep it up.
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