On a warm evening this past December, Mitacs Scientific Director Dr. Aftab Mufti, was asked to attend the Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure (SHMII-5) conference in Cancun, Mexico. During this conference Dr. Mufti was not just a face in the crowd. His likeness also looked on from the shining surface of the Aftab Mufti Medal for high achievement and innovation in civil structural health monitoring.

The International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure (ISHMII) honored Dr. Aftab Mufti, a member of the Order of Canada, at its December 2011 conference (SHMII-5) as it inaugurated the Aftab Mufti Medal.

Dr. Mufti is held in high esteem for his lifetime of influential engineering accomplishments and dedication to the development of structural health monitoring as a recognized field within civil engineering.  In addition to his role as Scientific Director at Mitacs, he is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring and has authored or co-authored nine books and more than 200 publications in Bridge Engineering, Finite Element Analysis and Computer Graphics, and several Technical Reports. His international leadership and vision has shaped the field globally.

Dr. Mufti was named to the Order of Canada in 2010 for his contributions to and leadership in the field of civil engineering, notably for researching the use of advanced composite materials and fibre optic sensors in the construction and monitoring of bridges and other infrastructures.

The initial recipients of the Aftab Mufti Medal are Dr. Urs Meier, past-Deputy Director General of EMPA, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, and Dr. Jan-Ming Koh, an Emeritus Professor of Structural Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Congratulations, Dr. Mufti, for this great honour!