Krishan Dayal Srivastava (KD), former Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, as well as Vice President of Student and Academic Services, passed away on October 20th. He will be dearly missed.
KD came to Canada from England in 1966, where he was professor and later Chair of Electrical Engineering at University of Waterloo. He arrived at UBC in 1983, serving as Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, and later began as Vice President of Student and Academic Services in 1986.
KD was one of the key individuals behind the founding of the Centre for Integrated Computer Systems Research, now ICICS. This institute now helps to drive pioneering interdisciplinary research between Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering. In his work, he made important contributions in the power area, in particular in the study of high-voltage engineering. He was instrumental in a UBC committee that planned a Kuwaiti university, and founded a new university in Trinidad after his retirement.
He was an early supporter of diversity initiatives, and championed female engineers in their careers. In his role as VP, he cared deeply about the well-being of students and worked to support them. In addition, KD was a Thunderbirds football fan.
KD was a vital part of our Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, as well as UBC as a whole. His many contributions to engineering, both at UBC and abroad, will be well-remembered, and his kindness, wisdom, and intelligence will be greatly missed.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
