The Sasada Award is instituted in the memory of Prof. Tsuyoshi Sasada, Emeritus Professor at Osaka University, co-founder and Fellow of CAADRIA, a prolific researcher and teacher from whose lab over 200 students have graduated, and better known as "Tee" in the community.
The Sasada Award is given to an individual whose sustained record of contributions demonstrates or promises significant impact on the field of computer aided design. In keeping with Tee's spirit, the award recipient will have contributed to the next generation of researchers and academics, to the wider profession and practice in computer aided design and research, and earned recognition in peer community.
The Award is decided annually by a selection committee, which this year comprised: CAADRIA Fellow Prof. Tom Kvan, one representative of the Osaka Lab Atsuko Kaga, a close colleague of Tee represented by Aleppo Liu, and current CAADRIA president - myself.
This year's Sasada Award winner has sustained an exceptional record of excellence as a teacher and a researcher in the field of computer aided design. At universities in Australia, Canada and the United States he has mentored the next generation of researchers in this field; he is internationally recognized for his research and teaching in the field of parametric modeling and generative components; and he has earned the recognition of his peers not just in Canada but throughout the world through his dedication and commitment to community building.
Further, he is also the Scientific Director of the national Design Research Network which is a coalition of academic institutions, government agencies and industrial partners that is addressing critical design issues and particularly advanced design technologies. Through its network of over 100 researchers and close to 1000 graduate students at post-secondary institutions from across the country, the CDRN is investigating issues such as visual analytics, parametric modeling, digital fabrication and computational design. Under his direction the network has held 17 workshops, seminars and conferences with over to 2200 participants, published three books, two conference proceedings, a special issue of Canadian Architect, and a report on Design as an Instrument of Public Policy in Singapore and South Korea among other contributions.
It is my personal delight and privilege on behalf CAADRIA to announce and invite this year's Sasada Award winner Prof. Robert Woodbury. Thank you.