The Jasbir Singh Hanspal Memorial Scholarship in Engineering was endowed in 2019 by Teresita Escandor in loving memory of her late husband Jasbir (Jesse) Hanspal, MEng/68. Jesse received a generous scholarship to attend Carleton but ended up arriving in Canada a month late. Because of this unexpected travel delay Jesse had to persuade the Dean to accept him and accepted the challenge of losing the scholarship if he failed to meet the grade. Jesse submitted his 1st assignment — a CORRECT handwritten Fortran solution 40 pages long on 8.5” x 11” paper. The astonished Professor called him to confirm Jesse actually did the work and asked why he did not use the computer. To this Jesse replied that he had never seen a computer before! But nothing would stop him from completing his academic pursuits. His strong work ethic, love of learning and desire to succeed propelled him through university and defined his distinguished career.  Jesse was the Director of Development Technology Services at BMO and retired in 2009 after a long and successful career of 37 years.  Under his leadership, BMO was the first to be ISO9000 certified for Project Management within the financial industry in Canada – a great accomplishment! Jesse established the Information Warehouse and Data Mining practice at the Bank and was instrumental in establishing the International Institute of Business Analysis and the accreditation programs for various groups such as Project Managers and Quality Assurance Analysts.

His passion for life-long learning and post secondary education was evident in his personal life and volunteer activities. As the Chair of the Education Committee at the York Technology Association and member/Chair of the Computer Studies Program at Seneca College, Jesse was integral in facilitating the upgrading of diploma programs to degree curricula. Jesse served on many committees such as the Customer Advisory Committee for IBM, Knowledgeware and Seers Technology and has been a keynote speaker at international Conferences on Technology in North America and Europe.  His exceptional talents were known across his industry and will be deeply missed.

Generations of future students will benefit from the Jasbir Singh Hanspal Memorial Scholarship in Engineering so that they too can follow their dreams and succeed thanks to the generous support provided by this scholarship.

Awarded annually by the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs on the recommendation of Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering to outstanding students entering a graduate program in Mechanical Engineering.  Preference will be given to students studying controls and robotics.  Endowed in 2019 by Teresita Escandor in loving memory of her husband Jasbir Hanspal, MEng/68.