James Blatz
Associate Vice-President (Partnerships)

Dr. Blatz received his PhD in 2000 in Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba and completed an NSERC Post-Doctoral award at the GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s-RMC.  He was previously the Associate Head of the Department of Civil Engineering and most recently served as Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Programs) in the Faculty of Engineering.  Dr. Blatz is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering conducting research in the areas of risk management for Civil Engineering infrastructure and technical aspects of temporary and permanent flood protection works.

Dr. Blatz has served on numerous boards and committee’s for technical societies and other organizations; most notably, he was appointed to serve on the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, which he continues to serve on currently. He also serves on NSERC’s Executive Council, is Chair of the NSERC National Committee on Grants and Scholarships and is a member of the NSERC Prairies Advisory Council. In 2011 he was appointed by Engineers Canada to the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board that is responsible for accreditation of Engineering programs nationally.

The Associate Vice-President (Partnerships) reports to the Vice-President (Research and International) and assists the Vice-President (Research and International) in all matters related to research, partnerships development, intellectual property management, technology development, administration, and promotion.  Working closely with deans/directors, associate deans (research)/research liaison officers, the directors of affiliated research organizations/institutes and members of government and business/industry, community organizations, non-government organizations, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, the Associate Vice-President (Partnerships) is responsible to build and promote the University’s research strengths and achievements through developing local, national and international partnerships.  Specific responsibilities include providing oversight of the Office of International Relations and the Technology Transfer Office.