Dr. Cheung Poon

If you ask Cheung Poon to describe composite materials, he’ll recall the children’s story of the Three Little Pigs who foiled the gusty breath of the Big Bad Wolf. Would the third little pig, who nailed down the correct ratio of straw and bricks, be considered a real engineer? “Oh yes, definitely!” laughs Poon.

Instead of straw and bricks, Poon uses materials like carbon fibres and epoxy matrix. And his Big Bad Wolf? The high pressure environment of space.

Poon is familiar with pressure. Before coming to Toronto Metropolitan University, he worked on the Canadarm at the National Research Council where it was his job to outsmart and outmaneuver any potential shock loads. "I really felt the responsibility,” he says. “The Canadarm could not fail.”

Poon credits his own education for his ability to perform under stress, especially his professors who pushed him to master the fundamentals. At Toronto Metropolitan University, Poon strives to do the very same for the students in his own lab. “Education is my number one thing,” he says. “I love to teach.”