News

A team of graduate students from the Department of Chemical Engineering earned an impressive second place in the WEF Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC).

The student team, supervised by Professor Sarah Meunier, first won the Water Environment Association of Ontario (WEAO) competition. The contest, a municipality that provides a current and relevant problem.  After that the team, sponsored by WEAO moved on to a second-place win at WEFTEC.

WEFTEC is the largest water quality exhibition in North America, and they hold an annual international student competition. The University of Waterloo team, which included Joseph Wortman, Rosa Maria Castillo, Maryory Ocana and Jinxuan Zhang competed against students from universities from across North America in the new Circular Water Economy category.

The teams were tasked with optimizing a wastewater treatment plan in Barrie. One of the biggest real-world hurdles is that Barrie expects its population to double by 2051, but the treatment plant itself has no room to grow.

Chemical engineering professors are taking on the problem of plastic waste in the environment by leveraging synthetic biology to turn plastic waste into valuable resources.

“We’re stepping out of our silos to advance sustainability,” says Professor Marc Aucoin. “The question is: can we use biology—or can we tune biology—to aid us in tackling plastic pollution?”

The answer may well be yes. The research group recently co-authored an overview of strategies to leverage synthetic biology, microbial engineering and engineering design to degrade and upcycle plastic waste.

Professor Christian Euler, Waterloo’s lead for the Center for Innovative Recycling and Circular Economy (CIRCLE) in a recent study is investigating whether feedstocks derived from plastic waste could provide the energy to drive carbon dioxide (CO₂) conversion.

Congratulations to Chemical Engineering professor Milad Kamkar for receiving the Igor Ivkovic Teaching Excellence Award!  The Waterloo Engineering Society, a student run group presents this award to professors, lab instructors and teaching stream faculty who excel at supporting student success and advocate on behalf of students. 

“I am over the moon about receiving this award. It is especially meaningful because it comes directly from undergraduate student nominations and votes.” says Prof. Kamkar. 

Building strong foundations 

Kamkar teaches two first year courses, CHE 100 (Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering) and CHE 102 (Chemistry for Engineers). These are core concepts that students will use throughout their journey in chemical engineering and other disciplines.  

“When I see them a couple of years later, they tell me they still use the concepts from these courses and how essential those fundamentals are,” says Kamkar.

 The ScotiaBank Climate Action Research Fund is being awarded to Professor Christian Euler for a groundbreaking approach that aims to use bacteria to transform combined waste streams, including plastic-derived waste and CO2 into sustainable products such as bioplastics.

The ScotiaBank Climate Action Research Fund is granted to scientists and engineers whose research will advance climate-related initiatives.  Euler’s project offers a glimpse into a future where waste is not a problem to solve—it’s part of the solution.

“Innovation and research are important in the transition to a lower-carbon economy,” said Kim Brand, Vice President, Global Sustainable Business at Scotiabank. “At Scotiabank, we believe that research and collaboration can unlock practical solutions for businesses, communities, and individuals alike. The goal of the Climate Action Research Fund is to support initiatives, like the one underway at the University of Waterloo, to come to life in support of solutions for a more sustainable future.”

Euler’s research group could potentially create tailored biopolymers with specific properties by adjusting the bacteria’s feedstock. For instance, biopolymers could be created for use as biodegradable packaging. 

After completing her BASc in Iran, Sogol ShaghaghiAfzali, was eager to enter the exciting world of working in industry as soon as possible. However, a friend was applying to graduate school at the University of Waterloo, and that piqued ShaghaghiAfzali’s interest.

She soon applied and was accepted into the MEng program in the Department of Chemical Engineering. ShaghaghiAfzali started out in the regular MEng program and quickly switched into the MEng Co-op Program.

“I think the MEng Co-op Program is really beneficial. With co-op, you really get to know industry. What are they looking for? It's not all just about knowledge, it's about developing soft skills like communication, especially as an international student,” said ShaghaghiAfzali.

New research shows a smarter way to build artificial muscles for soft robots

A research group led by Chemical Engineering Professor Hamed Shahsavan has developed a method to reinforce smart, rubber-like materials—paving the way for their use as artificial muscles in robots, potentially replacing traditional rigid motors and pumps.

“Artificial muscles are essential for unlocking the true potential of soft robots. Unlike rigid components, they allow robots to move flexibly, safely, and with precision. This is especially important for applications like micromedical robots,” said Shahsavan.

The research group mixed liquid crystals (LCs) often used in displays for electronics and sensors into liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) which are promising building blocks for soft robots.

LCEs are rubbers that experience massive shape-change when heated, in a reversable but programmable manner. When a tiny amount of LCs were mixed with LCEs, they became much stiffer, up to nine times stronger than before.

The Department of Chemical Engineering is proud to announce that Professor Peter Angelo is the recipient of the Igor Ivkovic Teaching Excellence Award. The Waterloo Engineering Society, a student group, bestows the award to lecturers, professors, and lab instructors who advocate on behalf of students and go above and beyond in support of student success.

In just under two years at the University of Waterloo, Angelo has already made a lasting impression.

"It is very rewarding to be recognized by students," Angelo said. "They are the ones who interact with me the most and see my work directly. So, to know that it has not just been helpful to their academic success, but that I’ve been seen as approachable and engaging too — that really means a lot."

Bringing industry experience to teaching

Angelo’s teaching philosophy is rooted in relevance and practicality. He focuses on real-world applications when teaching foundational concepts in first and second year classes, to set the stage for advanced design courses in senior terms. In his teaching style, he connects theory to tangible examples knowing that students go on to professional practice, and will need to apply what they have learned in industry.

Chemical engineering alumni Jacqueline Hanton and Kayli Smith (both BASc ’20) founded a start-up called Friendlier in 2019. The company is dedicated to addressing Canada’s single-use plastic problem.

Hanton and Smith both did a study term in Sweden during their undergraduate degrees. This experience opened their eyes to the power of conscious consumerism and ignited a shared determination to preserve the planet and minimize the effects that humans are having on the environment—leading to the creation of Friendlier.

Since 2019, Hanton and Smith have raised a total of $10 million and prevented 3.7 million food and beverage containers from ending up in landfills. Friendlier has expanded its operations and now has 200 locations in Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and Quebec, quickly building a national presence.

Professor Maxime Van der Heijden is a new faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Her research focuses on electrochemistry and electrochemical systems, using a combination of computational modelling, 3D printing and laboratory experimentation.

She was inspired to pursue this area of research by her PhD supervisor at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.

“At the time, I had no background in electrochemistry or computational modeling. My supervisor, however, was very enthusiastic about both fields. I was not the obvious choice for his project, but I was eager to take on the challenge—and that’s where my passion for electrochemistry began,” said Van der Heijden.

Van der Heijden now has expertise in engineering porous electrodes for redox flow batteries through modeling, optimization and lab experimentation. Redox flow batteries are not well known in Ontario and Van der Heijden hopes to raise awareness about their potential.

The Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo is equipping students with cutting-edge tools to advance research in health and biotechnology. Two new pieces of equipment, an Ambr-15 Automated Micro Bioreactor System and a Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) instrument, are opening doors for exciting graduate-level research in bioprocessing and biopharmaceuticals.

Chemical engineers play a key role in designing and optimizing processes for producing vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and other biologic medicines. They also use synthetic biology to engineer cells that produce therapeutic molecules.

Professor Hector Budman, who collaborates closely with industrial partners in biotechnology, recently received an Ambr-15 Automated Micro Bioreactor System through a donation from Sartorius. This advanced system allows students and researchers to grow cells and optimize culture conditions for producing biologics such as vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, which are widely used to treat diseases.