This national award honours Burak Kantarci’s leadership in AI‑driven systems, intelligent networks and hands-on learning. It also recognizes his commitment to sharing technical and professional expertise with students and the broader engineering community.
Kantarci is a professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Ottawa. He holds the University Research Chair in AI-Enabled Secure Networking for Smart Critical Infrastructures. And he’s the founding director of both the Smart Connected Vehicles Innovation Centre and the Next Generation Communications and Computing Networks Lab. In these roles, he supervises a large team of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and research associates, who lead their own research in the field.
The Smart Connected Vehicles Innovation Centre exemplifies Kantarci’s research impact. It’s the first university lab in the Kanata North Technology Park, so his research and the opportunities he offers his team are linked to leading tech companies. Over the past few years, he’s fostered collaborations with organizations such as Ciena, Nokia Bell Labs and BlackBerry. This has helped bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world applications.
Established in 1994, the J.M. Ham Outstanding Engineering Educator Award honours Canadian engineers who have made a significant and lasting impact on engineering education across academia, industry or government.
The Faculty of Engineering is proud of the positive influence Kantarci’s mentorship has had on our community and the way his approach to research has strengthened connections between academia and industry.
