Dr. André McDonald is the Associate Vice-President of Strategic Research Initiatives and Performance and a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta. He has nearly twenty years of experience in the fabrication, development, and performance assessment of thermal- and cold-sprayed coatings. His current research involves the development of flame-sprayed multi-functional coatings that provide wear and erosion resistance and heating and structural health monitoring to a variety of structures. He has received several awards including the Jules Stachiewicz Medal from the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering for Heat Transfer, Fellow of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Fellow of ASM, the Mentorship Award from the Faculty of Engineering, and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta’s Early Accomplishment Award. Dr. McDonald currently leads the Experiential Learning in Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (ELITE) Program for Black Youth – a funded university-government-industry-community collaboration to support hands-on learning and work-integrated training of Black Youth in STEM fields and in entrepreneurship.