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- March 19, 2004
U of T physicist toasts home
Came to Canada to taste freedom
Scientific work called significant
by Nicholas Keung
Immigration/Diversity Reporter
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Andreas Mandelis knew that even if he failed to get a job in Canada as a
physicist, he could always survive as a bartender.
Growing up under a military dictatorship in Greece in the 1960s, Mandelis
always wanted to move to a place where freedom was a right, not a privilege.
And North America was a natural choice.
To brush up on his English, Mandelis spent a lot of time hanging out with
American sailors near their military base in Athens. Some full scholarships
helped him through Yale University and later Princeton University for
postgraduate studies.
But like most struggling foreign students, he had to survive on odd jobs —
waiting tables, doing dishes and bartending to keep his head above water.
"You just have to know what you look for and strive for it. As lucky as I was,
I did have to go through that hardship as all immigrants who come to Canada,"
said Mandelis, 52, now an elite scientist at the University of Toronto.
In 1979, he accepted a job offer at an Ottawa telecommunications research
laboratory and became a U of T faculty member three years later, teaching
applied physics. He is currently the director of the university's Centre for
Advanced Diffusion-Wave Technologies.
As a physicist, Mandelis is a pioneer in the field, developing laser-based
instrumental and analytical diagnostic methodologies for a number of areas.
He has published two books and more than 215 papers in international science
journals. He also owns six patents.
Mandelis has also been named a New Pioneers award winner for his contributions
to science.
Despite his achievements, he has never forgotten his roots, and devotes time
to mentoring newcomers from South America, Asia and Eastern Europe — giving
them the precious, and elusive, "Canadian experience."
"Our newcomers are having a tougher time these days. The challenge is we don't
know what to do with people whose qualifications we know so little about,"
said Mandelis, a married father of two who was interviewed by phone from
Bochum, Germany, where he's on a one-year sabbatical at Ruhr University.
"The best way to go about it is to connect them with operations in their
fields."
It may sound like a cliché, but Mandelis is sincere as he describes how
Canada's multicultural society enriches everyone's life.
"By talking to people from all backgrounds," he said, "you really get to have
a different perspective on life and you learn to appreciate it."
