CivMin’s Israel Castro (CivE 2T4+PEY), a CivMin MASc candidate under the co-supervision of Prof. Aryan Rezaei Rad and Prof. Oya Mercan, has received the University of Toronto Donald Tong Graduate Scholarship in Structural Engineering from DIALOG.
The annual award was presented by DIALOG’s Principal Daria Khachi and Partner Cameron Ritchie (CivMin PhD 1T7) at a ceremony in the company’s downtown Toronto office on Wednesday, March 18. Castro is the seventh recipient of this award since its inception in 2019.
Castro was selected for the scholarship based on his strong academic record and his undergraduate research, which was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). He has also served as Chair of TimberFever, an interdisciplinary design-build competition where architecture and engineering students create innovative timber structures under the mentorship of industry professionals. We had a chat to learn a little more about him and their work.
Can you please tell us a little about yourself?
I am a first-year civil engineering MASc student at the University of Toronto, co-supervised by Professor [Aryan] Rad and Professor [Oya] Mercan, focusing on prefabricated and modular mass timber systems. My research explores improving the efficiency and constructability of these systems through digital fabrication, utilizing CNC machining with a KUKA robot to develop interlocking wood-to-wood connections, while accounting for manufacturing constraints. This work aims to integrate these solutions into conventional systems to enhance structural efficiency, simplify assembly, and reduce reliance on traditional metal connectors while minimizing waste, ultimately contributing to a more streamlined and standardized approach to mass timber design.
I have been working for a year (and still am part-time) at Moses Structural Engineers as a Structural Designer, focusing on timber structures. I did my PEY co-op at WalterFedy, as structural engineering assistant. I’ve always geared my courses towards structural coursework and, also, extracurriculars such as Troitsky Bridge Building Club and TimberFever. I’ve always just been interested in structures. Towards the latter half of my undergrad I just got really passionate about mass timber and timber design, which is kind of now my niche in terms of work and my graduate studies.
What does this mean to you to receive the Donald Tong scholarship from DIALOG?
I think it’s amazing. It’s always nice to be recognized for all the hard work we put in, and it’s nice to be rewarded in relation to Donald Tong and all the things he did throughout his career. Like me, he seemed to really touch a lot of different fields and really push himself to learn different aspects of everything [structural engineering]. I just think it’s an honour to be associated with his legacy.
You’ve completed first term and now are partially through second term, are there are classes or professor you recall as standing out or making an impact?
I’ve been lucky that my professors have been really flexible in the kind of coursework that I take. I think it’s very important for an engineer to obviously know their basics of structural engineering, and engineering in general, but also to broaden their understanding of other areas. I’ve been able to take data analysis and AI course in Mechanical Engineering. This semester, I’m taking a topology optimization course in Aerospace [UTIAS]. Again, just taking courses that really opens your eyes, from a different perspective, and can be used in terms of other disciplines,
back to structural engineering. So there’s a lot of kind of data processing that I’ve learned from the mechanical department that I wouldn’t have been able to see if I didn’t take that course. And same with topology, kind of how to optimizing structures from an aerospace perspective, and bring that back to timber. It just it sparks a lot of ideas I didn’t have before.
Professor Mercan has a lot of experience with modular and pre-fabricated steel buildings, and Professor Rad is obviously the timber prof. So they’ve come together, and I’m their brain child, I guess.
Do you have any place on campus you really like to visit?
I like my grad office, as I’ve really set it up well with my three monitors at my desk. It’s off in the corner, tucked away and quiet – I can really just sit there and get my work done.
My hidden treasure on campus is the hot dog stand outside of Sydney Smith. The one that you can pay with e-transfer is pretty good.
Do you have any hidden talent, or fun facts about yourself, that you’d want to share with us?
I can function with very little sleep – very little sleep. I find myself often on European time. Also, I can write with both hands. I’m left-handed, but I’m ambidextrous for most sports with either hand.
By Phill Snel
(Photo courtesy of Dialog)
The award is named for Dialog’s long-time structural team member Donald Tong, who tragically passed away in 2018 after a courageous battle with cancer. In an online description, Dialog provides insight into the motivation for the award: Donald epitomized the integrated design culture at the heart of DIALOG. He started his career as an interior designer, followed by a stint as an architectural technologist, before he found his passion in structural engineering. It is our hope that future structural engineers will embody Donald’s creative, wide-ranging design spirit.
Jane Tong, Donald’s daughter also present for the event, is continuing the family legacy of engineering as a career.