Today officials at Memorial University and Vale celebrated the ongoing legacy of one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most outstanding citizens in the field of engineering and research-based innovation by renaming a building on the university’s St. John’s campus in his honour.

            Dr. Angus Bruneau has a close and multi-faceted relationship with Memorial. His tenure as dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science from 1968-74 saw the development of the co-operative education program – one of only two such programs offered by Canadian universities at the time. Upon his 2006 retirement as chair of the board at Fortis Inc., Dr. Bruneau’s colleagues at the corporation contributed $100,000 towards the renovation the main lecture hall in the university’s S.J. Carew engineering building. The lecture hall has since been known as the Angus Bruneau Engineering Lecture Theatre.

 

For further information, please contact Ivan Muzychka, associate director (communications), Memorial University, at 709-864-8665 or ivanm@mun.ca. For a portrait of Drs. Angus and Jean Bruneau, please visit www.mun.ca/marcomm/newsphotos.php.

 

 

Dr. Angus A. Bruneau has had a career of more than 40 years in research, development, technology-based innovation and related policy matters.

He was born in Toronto, Ont., earned his bachelor of applied science at the University of Toronto and attained his PhD in engineering from the University of London. In 1968, Dr. Bruneau became the founding dean of Memorial’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, and served in that capacity until 1974. During his tenure as dean, he led the introduction and development of the faculty’s engineering co-operative education program – one of only two such programs offered by Canadian universities at that time. Dr. Bruneau was also responsible for creating the Centre for Cold Ocean Resources Engineering (C-CORE) in 1975, which he chaired for its initial decade.

Although Dr. Bruneau retired from Memorial in an official capacity in 1980, he continued to be one of the university’s most tireless supporters in a voluntary role. He is a longtime financial supporter of the School of Music. He was recognized with an honorary doctor of Engineering in 1984 for his many contributions to Memorial. Dr. Bruneau’s legacy can most easily be seen upon entering the S.J. Carew Engineering building and by visiting its main lecture theatre named in his honour in 2006. But his generosity can be best felt by the numerous students who benefit from the Angus Bruneau Student Leadership and Innovation Fund in Engineering, also called the Student LIFE Program, which was established in 2007. That program was made possible by a generous donation of more than $1 million by Drs. Angus and Jean Bruneau.

Dr. Bruneau has also been active in the broader community. In 1986 he was named president and chief executive officer of Newfoundland Power and in 1990 he became its chairman. Dr. Bruneau established Fortis Inc. in 1987, where he served as president and chief executive officer from 1988-96 and as chairman from 1988-2006. He served on the board of directors of numerous organizations, including Inco Ltd. when it purchased the Voisey’s Bay asset in 1996.

Dr. Bruneau has been honoured with numerous awards and accolades. He was named to the 2011 Junior Achievement Newfoundland and Labrador Business Hall of Fame, was the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Patron of the Arts winner in 2008 along with his wife Dr. Jean Bruneau and was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1983. 
 

 

Containing some 9,000 sq. m., the Bruneau Centre for Research and Innovation (formerly known as the Inco Innovation Centre) at Memorial University houses a wide range of research, business support and educational facilities on three floors.

 

Opened in 2005, the facility was constructed on the site of the university’s former Thomson Student Centre. The new building was made possible by a $20 million donation from Inco Ltd. The federal government -- through $13.1 million announced in 2003 under the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF) and an additional $10 million under the agency’s Business Development Program -- has invested more than $23.1 million in support of ongoing research and development in the centre.

 

The building is home to Memorial’s major research activities related to the Voisey’s Bay project, specifically in the areas of process engineering and earth sciences. Legacies of the original investments in the facility include an innovative new engineering degree in process engineering and associated graduate and research programs.

 

The centre is also home to the Vale Chair in Process Risk and Safety, and a number of major AIF projects, including the Ocean Networks Seaformatics Project and the Remote Aerial Vehicles Project for Environment-monitoring. 

 

The innovation extends beyond engineering and science to include the work of Memorial’s Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Studies and Canada Research Chair in Natural Resource Sustainability and Community Development. The building also houses Memorial’s multidisciplinary SafetyNet research centre, which focuses on research related to the health and safety of industrial workplaces. The unique pan-university Core Research Equipment and Instrument Training Network, also known as CREAIT, is headquartered in the building. Located on the third floor of the building is Memorial’s Genesis Centre, a business support network for high-potential, technology-based ventures seeking business guidance and capital.