Shirley, Dwayne R.

Shirley, Dwayne R.

Dr. Dwayne R. Shirley | MSE 0T1, MASc 0T3, PhD 0T9, PEng
Senior Engineer, Advanced Packaging, Qualcomm


  • 7T6 Early Career Award, Engineering Alumni Association, University of Toronto (2011)
  • Engineering Medal, Young Engineer Category, Professional Engineers of Ontario (2009)

In his young career, Dr. Dwayne R. Shirley, has achieved great academic success and demonstrated tremendous dedication to realizing an inclusive engineering profession.

Dr. Shirley has established expertise in the deformation of the lead-free solder used extensively in the electrical connections in modern computers and microelectronics devices. For his PhD dissertation, he developed a novel approach to accurately account for creep and thermal fatigue, which are major factors affecting the reliability of microelectronic devices. Dr. Shirley is now engaged in materials and package development for the next generation of semiconductor devices.

This follows an exceptional student career in which he maintained a 4.0 grade point average, served as a course instructor and graduate teaching assistant, authored four refereed journal articles and delivered numerous technical presentations. He was the first student to win the Best International Paper Award at the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) International conference for microelectronics.

Dr. Shirley is a passionate promoter of engineering as a career for high school and postsecondary students, in particular those from groups that are under-represented in the profession in relation to their representation in the general population. He was founding president of his Alma Mater’s student chapters of the SMTA and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Dr. Shirley was recognized for his volunteer work and technical achievements with NSBE’s Mike Shinn Distinguished Member of the Year Award. As a further measure of his success as a promoter of the profession, Toronto hosted NSBE’s annual convention in 2010.

He has been a leading contributor to professional groups that promote engineering careers, including PEO’s  Equity and Diversity Committee, the National Society of Professional Engineers’ Mentorship Taskforce, and FIRST/VEX Robotics design competitions.

— Article courtesy of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, www.peo.on.ca.