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Ashraf El Damatty receives Award of Recognition for advancing national leadership and global engagement

Ashraf El Damatty served as Chair of Western’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for 10 years. In his final year in the role, 2024, he continued his efforts to elevate the department’s status and the Faculty is recognizing that impact.

El Damatty has been named a recipient of the 2025 Western Engineering Award of Recognition for the impact he delivered in his last twelve months as Chair, from leading one of the most successful conferences in the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering’s recent history to opening international pathways for Western Engineering students.

For El Damatty, the recognition lands differently than the research honours that have come before it.

“Among the many awards and recognitions I have received throughout my career, which were mainly research-related, this one is especially meaningful to me,” he said. “It comes through the nomination and support of colleagues with whom I have worked closely for many years, and I see it as a recognition of my long-term service and commitment as Chair of the department.”

“In 2024, as Conference Chair, he led and organized our national CSCE conference in Niagara, which resulted in one of the largest revenues for CSCE in history with 800-plus attendees,” said Ayan Sadhu, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in CEE. “I was amazed how he planned and led the entire conference and made it one of the most distinguished and visionary conferences for CSCE.”

A national stage

As the previous chair of the CSCE Heads and Chairs Committee and the Technical Structures Committee and as chair of the 2024 CSCE Annual Conference, El Damatty put Western Engineering at the centre of the country’s civil engineering conversation. Sponsorship at the conference reached the highest level in CSCE history and drew CEOs of Canada’s largest engineering firms, government officials and academic leaders to Niagara.

His national visibility coincided with CEE being ranked #1 in Canada for civil engineering multiple years during his tenure.

He is currently organizing and co-chairing a CSCE Conference in Egypt in collaboration with the department of construction engineering at the American University in Cairo, marking the first CSCE conference in the Middle East and Africa.

Students on planes overseas

Closer to home, 2024 was the year El Damatty realized one of his longest-standing ambitions: providing international experience opportunities for a large number of departmental students. Working with South China University of Technology and industry partners, he facilitated summer placements for 12 Western students in Guangzhou, China. This was in addition to placements for four students in Havana, Cuba, through his collaboration with the Technical University of Havana.

The model is now being adapted for Egypt, Thailand and Kazakhstan. His efforts also expanded Western Engineering’s international footprint through dual-PhD agreements he established with reputable universities in Cuba, China, Brazil, Egypt and Italy, benefiting many graduate researchers.

A culture, not just a calendar

Colleagues describe El Damatty’s leadership style with a consistency that is hard to fake. The phrase that came up repeatedly in support letters was simple: he showed up for people.

In 2024, Saber Moradi joined CEE as a new tenure-track faculty member. Within months, El Damatty had stepped away from his own sabbatical activities to review multiple drafts of Moradi’s research grant applications.

“Dr. El Damatty’s willingness to pause his own sabbatical activities to mentor a new colleague demonstrates a level of dedication that fosters a supportive and collaborative culture within Western Engineering,” Moradi said.

That ethic extends to staff. Aiham Adawi has worked alongside El Damatty for nearly two decades as a student, an instructor and now as CEE Lab Manager.

“Dr. Ashraf has always put the benefit of the department as his priority and was always striving to make it successful at all levels,” Adawi said.

Asked what pulls him toward those quiet acts of mentorship, El Damatty traces it back to the department itself.

“As university professors, I believe we have both an ethical and professional responsibility to support our colleagues and students so they can achieve their greatest potential,” he said. “I was raised within this culture at Western’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and I believe it is one of the main reasons for the success and collegiality our department has enjoyed over the years.”

A model that outlasts the term

Among the quieter achievements of 2024 was the consolidation of CEE’s CEAB Graduate Attribute assessment system — a key accreditation infrastructure that other Western Engineering departments have since adopted as a model.

For nominator Clare Robinson, that lasting institutional impact is exactly the point.

“Western Engineering would be hard-pressed to find a leader who demonstrates the same level of commitment, dedication and impact that Dr. El Damatty brought to his administrative leadership at the Faculty, institutional and national levels,” Robinson said.