Dr. Wei Qiu, head of the Department of Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering (ONAE) at Memorial, has received the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador’s (PEGNL) Teaching Award for 2016.
Dr. Qiu received the award for his outstanding contributions to engineering education and his guidance of students and researchers to achieve research and learning excellence.
Dedication and commitment
Dr. Qiu joined Memorial in 2004 as an assistant professor of ocean and naval architectural engineering. Three years later he was promoted to associate professor, and in 2013 he was promoted to professor. Since joining Memorial, he has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate level. He has demonstrated a strong dedication and commitment to the training of highly qualified personnel, including the supervision of 33 undergraduate work-term students, 25 master’s students, 12 PhD students, six post-doctoral fellows and four research engineers.
“I am honoured and humbled to be recognized by PEGNL for my contributions to engineering education and the community,” said Dr. Qiu.
Dr. Qiu obtained a B.ASc. in naval architecture and an M.ASc. in ship structural mechanics from Dalian University of Technology in China. He received a PhD in marine hydrodynamics from Dalhousie University. Before joining Memorial University, he worked as a senior hydrodynamicist, a product manager for seakeeping software, and a hydrodynamicist in industry.
Dr. Qiu is currently teaching courses in marine propulsion and dynamics and maneuvering of ocean vehicles to undergraduate ONAE students, and graduate courses on computational marine hydrodynamics.
Dr. Qiu’s research is in the area of marine hydrodynamics and its applications to ships and offshore structures. He specializes in analyzing fluid-structure interaction problems using experimental and numerical methods including CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and potential-flow-based methods. In addition, he has been involved in numerous projects with the marine and offshore industry, government agencies and private sectors. He has published many papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings and holds several patents. He has developed software packages used by the marine and offshore industry.
Outside of his teaching and research, Dr. Qiu serves as chair of the ITTC Ocean Engineering Committee, and is a member of the ISSC Environment Committee. He is the associate editor of several prestigious international journals, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering.
Dr. Qiu is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) and a fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME). He serves as the regional vice-president (Atlantic North) of SNAME and was chair of the 34th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering (OMAE), 2015. He is also a program evaluator for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
‘Outstanding educator’
Dr. Greg Naterer, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, says that Dr. Qiu is an outstanding educator and very deserving of this award.
“Dr. Qiu’s commitment to his students and to the field of ocean and naval architectural engineering is evident in his enthusiastic and innovative approach to teaching and learning,” said Dr. Naterer. “His contributions to teaching and to the faculty as a whole are invaluable.”
When it comes to his teaching, Dr. Qiu is always seeking ways to improve the students’ learning experience.
“I am proud to be part of Memorial’s internationally reputed ONAE program,” he said. “I look forward to continuing to contribute to the program’s excellent reputation.”
