David Westwick appointed the head of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Professor David Westwick has been appointed the new head of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) effective October 1, 2014 until June 30, 2019.

“I am honoured to be given this opportunity to both lead and serve the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,” says Westwick. “I look forward to working with all of my colleagues in the department, and across the school, in this new role.”

Westwick joined the University of Calgary as an assistant professor in 1999 and was promoted to professor in 2011. Westwick served as associate head (graduate studies) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 2005 to 2010. He then moved into an associate dean position in the Faculty of Graduate Studies from 2011 to 2013, where he oversaw the graduate programmes in the Schulich School of Engineering and the Haskayne School of Business. Westwick has been the interim head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering since July 2013, and has served on the APEGA Board of Examiners since 2007.

Westwick’s research is devoted to system identification, parameter estimation and other applications of nonlinear optimization. His publications include 45 journal articles, 72 conference papers, and the text Identification of Nonlinear Physiological Systems: Theory and Practice, part of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Book Series. In 2001, he spent a research and scholarship leave at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and has returned each year since then.

In addition to his commitment to graduate studies and research, Westwick is also a passionate teacher. He is currently supervising two MSc and four PhD students. He has twice been awarded the Professor of the Year Award by the students in the ECE graduating class.