Photo of Cynthia Cruickshank

Cynthia Cruickshank

Director and Principal Researcher

Degrees:B.Eng. (Queens), Ph.D. (Queens), P.Eng
Email:cynthia.cruickshank@carleton.ca
LinkedIn:Connect

Dr. Cynthia Cruickshank is a professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University. She received her Ph.D. (2009) and B.A.Sc. (2003) degrees at Queen’s University. She is the Principal Investigator and Director of the $5.1M Carleton University Centre for Advanced Building Envelope Research (CU-CABER). Her research focuses on the optimization of advanced building energy systems for high-performance buildings, including energy-efficient insulation materials, solar-assisted heat pumps, and thermal storage. With many collaborations with industry and government, since 2010, she has been a member of the Canadian Home Builders Association Technical Research Committee.

A list of Dr. Cruickshank’s career achievements and contributions can be found below.

  • Recognized world leader in building energy systems and thermal storage
  • Published 39 articles in high impact, peer-reviewed international journals
  • Published 57 articles in reputable, peer-reviewed national and international conference proceedings
  • Secured over $7.5M in sustainable and diversified external funding to support my research program
  • 17 graduated M.A.Sc. students and 2 graduated Ph.D. students
  • Currently supervising or co-supervising 2 Ph.D. students, 8 M.A.Sc. students, and 1 postdoctoral fellow
  • Principle Investigator and Director of the $5.1M Carleton University Centre for Advanced Building Envelope Research (CU-CABER)­, funded by Ontario Research Fund ($2.1M) and NRCan’s Energy Innovation Program ($3.0M)
  • Delivered 45 invited talks and seminars at workshops, conferences and universities
  • Active collaborations with government, industry and academia including but not limited to Natural Resources Canada, the National Research Council, the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University
  • Carleton Ambassador for 30by30 (Engineers Canada). 30 by 30 Ambassadors commit to: investing in the creation and maintenance of programs and partnerships that lead to an improved experience for women in engineering; sharing and applying best practices; collecting metrics on the number of women in engineering in their jurisdiction; and implementing policies that support the increased participation and retention of engineers who are women.

Research or Academic Awards

  • Research Achievement Award (February 2021) – Best Use of Coconuts: Pina Coladas or Saving Energy?
  • First Place Finish in the Engineering category at the 2013 Solar Decathlon Competition in Irvine, California. In total, Team Ontario (a partnership of students and faculty from Carleton University, Queen’s University and Algonquin College) received four awards: First place in Engineering, Energy Balance (tie), Hot Water (tie), and second place in Affordability. The applicant was the Lead Faculty Advisor at Carleton University for the Team Ontario Solar Decathlon Project.
  • Best Poster Award, 2nd Workshop on Recent Advances in Fuel Cells, Oshawa, Ontario (2011)
  • Queen’s University Graduate Award (2004-2008)
  • Best Paper Award, ISEC 2006, Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Denver, CO (2006)
  • W. King Graduate Fellowship (2003)
  • Governor General’s Award (1998)

Teaching Awards

  • Carleton Housing and Residence Life Services ‘Favourite Faculty Award’ (2020)
  • Student Engineering Society’s ‘Best Professor Award’ (2019)
  • Students’ Association Teaching Excellence Award (2018)
  • Teaching Achievement Award (2016)
  • Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Excellence in Education Award for Promotion of Sustainable Practices (2014)

Awards Achieved by Supervised Students

  • 1 Ph.D. student (C. Treichel) was awarded the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship – Doctoral (PSG–D) (2021-2024)
  • 2 undergrad. students (C.Ward and A.Nichol) were awarded I-CUREUS research award (2021-2022)
  • 2 undergrad. students (C. Ward and A. Nichol) were awarded NSERC USRA awards (2021)
  • 2 undergrad. students (T. Seguin and C. Ward) were awarded I-CUREUS research award (2020-2021)
  • 2 undergrad. students (T. Seguin and T. Kirton) were awarded I-CUREUS research award (2019-2020)
  • 2 undergrad. students (A. Tanner, C. Ward) were awarded NSERC USRA awards (2019)
  • 1 undergrad. student (T. Seguin) was awarded I-CUREUS research award (2018-2019)
  • 1 Ph.D. student (C. Baldwin) was awarded Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2018-2019)
  • 1 M.A.Sc. student (C. Treichel) was awarded the NSERC Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (2018-2019)
  • 1 M.A.Sc student (M. Brown) was awarded the Best Student Paper Award at the ASHRAE 2018 Winter Conference (January 2018)
  • 1 undergrad. student (J. McNally) was awarded I-CUREUS research award (2017-2018)
  • 3 undergrad. students (C. Sutherland, J. McNally, T. Ulmer) were awarded I-CUREUS research awards (2016-2017)
  • 2 undergrad. students (D. Grey, D. Bardy) were awarded I-CUREUS research awards (2015-2016)
  • 1 Ph.D. student (C. Baldwin) was awarded the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship – Doctoral (PSG – D) (2015-2018)
  • 1 Ph.D. student (D. Ouellette) was awarded Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2015)
  • 2 Ph.D. students (C. Baldwin, D. Ouellette) were awarded Ontario Graduate Scholarships (2014)
  • 2 undergrad. students (A. Romard, J. Wood) were awarded I-CUREUS research awards (2014-2015)