Two Waterloo Faculty of Engineering graduate students have received prestigious Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships that will help them pursue and complete doctoral degrees and conduct significant engineering research. The recipients are Ahmed Abdel Aziz of electrical and computer engineering and Mohit Verma of chemical engineering.
Aziz is in his second year of his doctoral program conducting research in nano electro-mechanical system. He has demonstrated excellence in the areas of applied engineering and theoretical and experimental physics and has had his research published in top journals and conference proceedings such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) conference.
Verma, a chemical engineering doctoral student, is conducting research involving engineering nanoparticles for enhancing drug delivery to the back of the eye. He held three NSERC grants as an undergraduate student.
There are 156 scholars at 29 universities across Canada this year. The awards are open to Canadian and international doctoral students, and are worth $50,000 per year for three years.