The Department of Chemical Engineering is proud to announce the appointment of two of its faculty members as University Research Chairs. The University Waterloo recognizes exceptional achievement and excellence in a field of knowledge through the designation of University Research Chair. The 2022 University Research Chairs were announced at a meeting of the University’s senate.
Aiping Yu
Professor Aiping Yu became a faculty member in 2009. Her area of expertise is energy storage and polymer composites. As director of the Applied Carbon and Nanotechnology Research Lab, Yu is an expert in applying advanced materials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene and MXene to make next-generation battery and super-capacitors and polymer composites for electronic packing, anti-corrosion and EMI shielding. Yu feels that the designation is an overall recognition of her innovative work over the past thirteen years.
It makes me think about my future, the reduction in teaching hours that comes with this will give me time to raise my work to a higher level. I want to put forward big proposals and work on wider collaborations to include more faculty members.
Professor Yu is involved with several multi-disciplinary projects, this appointment will allow her to increase the impact of her work and expand her network of research collaborators.
Evelyn Yim
Associate Professor Evelyn Yim has achieved groundbreaking results in studying stem cell topography interactions and related applications. As head of the Regenerative Nanomedicine Lab Group, Professor Yim is a lead researcher studying how synthetic materials alter stem cell behavior. Before coming to the University of Waterloo in 2016, Yim was the founding member of the Mechanobiology Institute and the first female faculty member in the Division of Bioengineering at the National University of Singapore. Looking back on the experience Yim commented,
It’s good to have more women in academia to be mentors and share with younger students. Many female students reflect that interacting with women professors makes a career in academia feel possible for them.
With more time available for research, Professor Yim is eager to further pursue infrastructure funding to increase the scope of biomedical research in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She is currently involved in several different submissions and is looking forward to contributing to widely collaborative work with other faculty members.
Congratulations to both new University Research Chairs!