News

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.

Eric Croiset, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, aims to turn CO2 into sustainable aviation fuel to achieve net-zero emissions. The study proposes to upend the perception of CO2 as a harmful greenhouse gas and instead view it as a valuable new feedstock for producing green fuels.

 Croiset’s research group, including PhD student Mohammadali Emadi, is exploring an innovative idea to capture CO2 gas directly from the air and turn it into sustainable aviation fuel. This idea has the potential to create a financial incentive to treat CO2 as a resource, bringing a circular carbon economy a step closer to becoming a reality.

The study combined two emerging technologies, Direct Air Capture (DAC), taking CO2 from the air and using Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC) to change CO2 and steam into syngas, a mixture of primarily CO and H2. Syngas can then be processed into synthetic chemicals or fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel.

Congratulations to Trevor Van Den Heuvel, a third-year student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, along with his teammates Jeff Qiao Wang (Math) and Denis Goubkine (Math), who achieved first place and a $500 prize in the 2025 Wharton Undergraduate Consulting Club Case Competition.

This competition took place virtually and challenged undergraduate student teams to provide strategic advisory for a legacy department store experiencing challenges with customer loyalty, inflation, and margin pressures.

Van Den Heuvel and his team developed a strategy to increase the revenue and profitability of the department store by leveraging AI price matching and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) tactics to appeal to a younger generation that is sensitive to prices.

Their innovative solution took first place. By participating in the contest, they gained valuable insights into deal execution, stakeholder management, and data analysis.

These are uncertain times for industry, as it navigates survival with geopolitical changes looming, inflation, and supply chain issues.

Chemical Engineering researchers are developing innovative methods to harness machine learning (ML) for industrial applications, helping industries plan production more effectively in the face of unpredictable conditions.

A research group led by Professor Luis Ricardez-Sandoval is using ML methods to train “smart agents” to make production scheduling decisions in chemical and manufacturing systems where there is uncertainty.

The agents are trained through simulations of plant processes that include unexpected events, for example, equipment failure or a sudden change in production demands.

Mohamed Wanas is a technical leader for Nuclear Island Hydraulic Systems at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy- a role that caps an interesting career path. His journey brought him to Canada, where a pivotal decision to pursue an MEng degree in the Department of Chemical Engineering helped lay the foundation for his current role in clean energy production.

Wanas completed his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at the University of Alexandria in Egypt.  He worked on design, commissioning and normal operation phases in the oil and gas industry for eight years while he completed a Master of Applied Science (MASc) degree in Egypt.

Wanas had family in Canada and often travelled to Canada as a child and always hoped to return as an adult. In 2017 he returned with plans to pursue a PhD, however he had a strong desire to return to work in industry and began considering doing an MEng degree to return to work sooner.

Wanas initially considered applying to several Canadian universities; however, he was ultimately drawn to the University of Waterloo—not only because of its renowned engineering program, but also due to a connection he established with Chemical Engineering Graduate Studies Manager Judy Caron.