Two outstanding university researchers are the winners of the 2012 Queen’s Prizes for Excellence in Research. Rena Upitis (Faculty of Education) and Praveen Jain (Electrical Engineering) are being honoured for their major contributions to research in recent years.

“It’s humbling to be the first person to receive this award from the Faculty of Education,” says Dr. Upitis, who has been a professor at Queen’s since 1986, also serving as Dean of Education from 1995 to 2000. “I have so many colleagues who are equally deserving of this award, and I am honoured to have been selected.”

A leading international scholar in arts education and the relatively new field of educational architecture, Dr. Upitis has a long record of researching and developing innovative teaching tools – including digital – and techniques for mathematics, science and learning.

Dr. Jain is the Canada Research Chair in Power Electronics and director of the Queen’s Centre for Energy and Power Electronics Research (ePOWER). He is known worldwide for his advancements of power conversion methods, which have improved the use of power electronics for practical real-life applications, including the space, telecommunications and computer industries.

“This award recognizes the excellence in research done by over 100 graduate and undergraduate students who have worked with me over the years,” says Dr. Jain.

The $5,000 Prizes for Excellence in Research are the highest form of recognition from Queen’s for research conducted at the university. It may be awarded to people in any fields or discipline where research is conducted.

“The contributions of Drs. Upitis and Jain have far-reaching impact and advance the reputation of Queen’s as a world-class, research-intensive university,” says Vice-Principal (Research) Steven Liss. “The awards present an opportunity to recognize, on an annual basis, the outstanding accomplishments of our leading researchers and the work they have conducted at Queen’s that has led to significant discoveries, scholarly achievement and important innovations.”

As the recipients of this year’s Prizes for Excellence in Research, Drs. Upitis and Jain will present public lectures on their research on March 7th, 2013 (Location TBD).