Henry Ford once said, in the days of the Model T, that potential buyers could have a car in any colour they wanted, as long as it was black. Those days are long gone. Not only do today’s consumers want their cars in a rainbow of colour options, but they’re looking for customization of other details as well.
“This is also true in many other industries,” says Prof. Fantahun Defersha, Engineering. “It’s no longer possible in many cases to manufacture in large quantities because customers want things done to their own specifications.”
What companies need is a system that’s both efficient and flexible, says Defersha, and that’s at the heart of his research.
“I study systems design using computer models that can help manufacturers make systems that can be easily reconfigured when needed and that avoid bottlenecks and other problems that reduce efficiency.”
Defersha grew up in Ethiopia and obtained an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at Addis Ababa University. He then lectured at the university for three years before heading to India to do a master’s degree at Roorkee University. After returning to Ethiopia, he lectured at Addis Ababa for another two years.
By 2002, he had decided to do a doctorate and was considering his options. A friend who was studying at Concordia University in Montreal suggested he come to Canada and recommended him to a Concordia professor. Defersha and his family were soon living in Montreal.
“The weather was a big change for us,” he admits. “In Addis Ababa, the weather is mild all the time. It never gets really hot or really cold. Canada has been quite different.”
After completing his PhD, Defersha worked as a research associate at Concordia for three years until joining U of G last month.
He describes his research as having two parts. The first, which was his focus during his doctoral and post-doc research, studies the systems process.
“It’s about how machines are configured, how operators are assigned — that kind of thing — to yield the most efficient results.”
He has studied this using simulations, mathematical modelling and related methods of understanding the processes.
Now Defersha hopes to move his research from systems science to technology.
“The question I want to answer now is, ‘How can we design machines so they can be more easily reconfigured when needed?’”
The principles of design and systems organization will be the same in any manufacturing process, he says.
Guelph is an ideal location for his research because it’s central to many manufacturing companies, says Defersha, who hopes to find industrial partners for his studies.
Teaching is another passion for the engineer. “I have many years of experience as a teacher and lecturer, so it’s an area where I feel very comfortable,” he says.
Away from the classroom and lab, he devotes most of his time to his family and spiritual life. His wife and two young children remained behind in Montreal and were originally scheduled to arrive in Guelph in May, but Defersha says he’s been missing them so much, they’re going to come in March instead.
“Playing with my kids is what makes me happy,” he says. “We all have a child inside us who needs to play.”