James A. Olson, PhD, PEng, FCAE, is a professor of Mechanical Engineering and the dean of the UBC Faculty of Applied Science. He was the past associate dean of Research and Industry Partnerships, director of UBC’s Pulp and Paper Centre and is an internationally recognized forest products researcher who has been actively involved in the transformation of the forest sector into a vibrant diversified bio-products industry. He currently leads a $4M research consortium focused on industrial energy conservation, as well as a research group focused on the development of novel biomaterials. His research has been the recipient of 2 NSERC Synergy Awards, the 2008 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Innovation, the 2009 Fundamental Research Committee’s Van den Akker Gold medal and several best paper awards.