Professor Tony Easty has been named a fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) for exceptional contributions to engineering in Canada. He is among two other U of T Engineering faculty members to be honoured at the Institute’s Annual Awards Banquet in Gatineau, Quebec on April 1, 2017.
Professor Easty has had a long and distinguished career as a leader in clinical engineering. Recently retired, he held several senior positions in Toronto hospitals, most recently serving as Senior Director of the Department of Medical Engineering at the University Health Network (UHN). He continues to teach and supervise students as an adjunct professor in IBBME’s Clinical Engineering Program.
Easty’s research has focused on human factors engineering and the use of healthcare technology, with the primary objective of enhancing patient safety. His research team has studied the interaction between users and medical technology, with the goal of suggesting strategies and designs to improve workflow and ensure safe interaction with medical equipment and the safe delivery of medication.
Easty co-authored the Standards of Practice for Clinical Engineering in Canada, the first standards of this kind in the world, which are now used as the basis for peer reviews of departments in Canada and internationally.
A leader in his professional community, he served as President of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society from 1992-1994 and is now a Fellow.
Easty was the inaugural holder of the Baxter Chair in Health Technology at UHN and the inaugural recipient of the ExCEL award for excellence in clinical engineering leadership from the Healthcare Technology Foundation.
—With files from Carolyn Farrell, U of T Engineering