Professor Thomas Coyle, whose term as Vice-Dean began in April 2015, joined the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering in 1989. He has served as Associate Chair, Graduate Studies (2013-2015), and as Acting Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies, for the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. For a number of years he was Chair of the Faculty’s Examinations Committee, and previously the Scholarship Committee. He has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, and enjoyed teaching first year students as course coordinator and lecturer for MSE101 from its introduction in 1995 to 2010.
He is the Associate Director of the Centre for Advanced Coating Technologies (CACT), a multidisciplinary research centre established in 1998. The CACT team was awarded the NSERC Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science & Engineering in 2009. His professional contributions include terms as President of the Canadian Ceramic Society (2001-2002), Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian University-Industry Council on Advanced Ceramics (1991-1994), editor of the Journal of the Canadian Ceramic Society (1999-2003), and co-editor of conference proceedings for the 17th International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry (2005) and the 1st International Ceramics Congress (2006).
His research activities are currently focused on the development and characterization of ceramic, metallic, and composite coatings. Other research interests include powder processing of ceramics, metal alloys, and composites, microstructure development, and brittle fracture behaviour.
