The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo has named its Student Design Centre in honour of former dean, Adel Sedra.
WATERLOO, Ont. (Friday, October 18, 2013) – The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo has named its Student Design Centre in honour of former dean, Adel Sedra.
The centre was named the Sedra Student Design Centre at a ceremony at Waterloo today.
The 20,000-square-foot Sedra Student Design Centre is the largest facility of its kind in North America. It is home to more than 20 teams of students, who compete internationally and work on design projects including a new Formula One car, an autonomous robot, a flying quadrotor and a hybrid vehicle.
“The Sedra Student Design Centre is a home for stident driven innovation,” said Pearl Sullivan, dean of engineering at Waterloo. “Like our co-op program, which is the largest co-op education program in the world, the Sedra Student Design Centre has become a model for experiential learning. At least two other similar centres have emerged in Canada since the Sedra Centre opened.”
The Sedra Student Design Centre also plays an important role in fostering entrepreneurship, the hallmark of Waterloo Engineering education.
Matt Stevens, CEO and founder of CrossChasm, a company that develops next generation vehicles, completed both his undergraduate degree and Ph.D in engineering at the University of Waterloo and was heavily involved in international competition with the University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT).
“CrossChasm exists because of UWAFT”, says Stevens. “Combining uWaterloo's academics with the coop program and the student team experience generates an entrepreneurial trifecta, giving students the technical fundamentals, business exposure, and real-world experience to launch successful start-ups.
Professor Adel Sedra served as dean of engineering at Waterloo from 2003 to 2012. During his nine years as dean of engineering, Waterloo introduced its world-renowned programs in mechatronics engineering, management engineering and nanotechnology.
Professor Sedra played a leading role in strategic planning, spearheading efforts to build leading new facilities including Engineering 5, Engineering 6, the Energy Research Centre and the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre. He was instrumental in establishing the Student Design Centre.
“The Student Design Centre symbolizes what is best about Waterloo Engineering”, says Sedra. “To have my name permanently attached to the SDC in perpetuity is a great honour for which I am grateful.”
A specialist in microelectronics, Professor Sedra is the co-author of three textbooks, including Microelectronic Circuits, now in its seventh edition, with more than two million copies in print in 10 languages.
“Waterloo Engineering is Canada’s premier engineering school, recognized in global rankings as one of the top 50 engineering schools in the world” says Geoff McBoyle, vice-president academic and provost. “We are delighted to name this fantastic facility for experiential learning in honour of Adel Sedra. He was a force of nature in establishing the Student Design Centre to bring new energy, efficiency, and prominence to our Waterloo design teams.”
Adel Sedra with Hongwei Liu and Ron Kwok, who collaborated to create the interactive kiosk
An interactive wayfinding kiosk was unveiled at the ceremony that illustrates to visitors the work of the Sedra Student Design Centre. The kiosk is programmed and designed by the two Waterloo Engineering students who founded MappedIn and P.O.D. Designs. MappedIn is an interactive indoor navigation system currently operating out of the VeloCity Garage.
In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's technology hub, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit www.uwaterloo.ca.
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Nick Manning
University of Waterloo
519-888-4451
226-929-7627
nmanning@uwaterloo.ca
www.uwaterloo.ca/news
@uWaterlooNews
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