News

Professor Tizazu Mekonnen’s research group has developed polymer foam that absorbs and locks in oil, preventing groundwater contamination.

The team designed a novel material that can not only absorb hydrocarbon oil from oil spills but can also lock the oil in, preventing it from leeching into groundwater. The porous material designed from special tri-block co-polymers can absorb eight times its weight or 800% of oil upon direct contact.

Electric transformers and other industries have huge oil storage facilities containing thousands of litres of oil which can leak into groundwater due to unexpected accidents and natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes. Groundwater contamination is extremely difficult to clean up. These accidents can lead to serious environmental damage, posing health hazards to wildlife, and people.

Imagine a coat that harnesses solar energy to keep you warm on a brisk winter walk, or a shirt that seamlessly monitors your heart rate and temperature. Picture athletes wearing smart clothing that tracks their performance, all without the burden of bulky battery packs.

Professor Yuning Li's research group has developed a smart fabric with these remarkable capabilities. The fabric can potentially harvest energy, monitor health, and track movement.

The new fabric, designed by the research team, can convert body heat and solar energy into electricity, potentially enabling continuous operation without the need for an external power source. Additionally, different sensors that monitor temperature, stress, and more can be integrated into the material.

A new reverse osmosis (RO) water system was installed in the Chemical Engineering undergraduate teaching labs in the Douglas Wright Engineering Building (DWE) this summer. The new RO system eliminates the need for a large amount of hazardous chemicals and manual operations required for the outdated existing unit while providing a quality and sustainable supply of deionized (DI) water for teaching and research in DWE. The unit was partially funded through the Sustainability Action Fund.

Researchers from the Universitat Duisburg-Essen in Germany and the University of Cambridge arrived at the University of Waterloo in June to participate in ongoing graduate student training aimed at leveraging 2D materials for various manufacturing applications. This international collaboration is supported by an NSERC CREATE grant, with Professor Michael Pope from the Department of Chemical Engineering serving as lead Principal Investigator. Researchers from the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Science and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology are involved in the collaboration.

The Department of Chemical Engineering is proud to announce the appointment of two of its faculty members as Canada Research Chairs (CRC). The designation of Canada Research Chair is an honour bestowed upon exceptional emerging researchers. Professors Valerie Ward and Tizazu Mekonnen are both trailblazers in their respective fields.

Ward now holds a CRC in Microalgae Biomanufacturing. Her research group uses microalgae to make a variety of products.

Last month, negotiators and interested parties met in Ottawa for the INC-4 to discuss progress on a plastics treaty. A delegation of plastics and microplastics experts from the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo participated with special accreditation from the UNEP. Professor Elisabeth Prince was part of that delegation.

“We had the opportunity to share our expertise in the emerging technologies for mitigating the plastic waste crisis with key decision-makers,” says Prince.

Prince has expertise in synthetic polymer chemistry and polymer science. The delegation from the Water Institute hoped to lend their scientific knowledge to ensure the treaty was well-informed by science because there were many parties with many different interests and motivations throughout the negotiation.

The Chemical Institute of Canada has awarded Professor Luis Ricardez Sandoval the D. G. Fisher Award in recognition of his significant contributions to the field of systems and control engineering. This prestigious award celebrates the lifetime achievements of exceptional researchers in Canada.

Ricardez-Sandoval spearheads research initiatives focused on optimal integration of planning, scheduling, control, and process design decisions for chemical and manufacturing systems in the presence of uncertainty. His pioneering work on CO₂ capture and conversion technologies aims to mitigate carbon emissions thus promoting sustainability and circular carbon economy and employing first-principles modelling couples with multiscale modelling techniques for the design of novel catalyst materials and valuable chemical products, e.g. thin films. This research is supported through the development of theoretical and computational tools aimed to predict the behaviour of complex and emerging systems.

Mohammad Farkhondeh, a University of Waterloo alumnus, embarked on a career journey dedicated to advancing electrification and sustainability.  Farkhondeh began his PhD in the Department of Chemical Engineering in 2011 and successfully completed it in 2016.

Inspired by the mentorship and academic excellence of his undergraduate professors in Iran, many of whom were alumni of the University of Waterloo, Farkhondeh was driven to pursue graduate studies here.

“I did my undergrad project on fuel cells under the supervision of Professor Khodadadi at the University of Tehran, who himself is a graduate of Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. Although too brief, this was enough of an experience to spark my interest in electrochemical engineering and transport phenomena in porous media. This led to my PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo,” says Farkhondeh.

Professor Boxin Zhao is this year’s recipient of the Ontario Professional Engineering Association (OPEA) Research and Development Engineering Medal.

Administered by OPEA, the Research and Development Engineering Medal is awarded to individuals who have advanced engineering knowledge and have developed useful and novel applications. Zhao certainly fits the bill.

Zhao's research is at the frontier of surface science and engineering. His work focuses on innovative soft matter engineering and bionanomaterials research aimed at advancing sustainable manufacturing. This includes the development of smart polymers, advanced adhesives, and coating materials.

Azin Adibi has always had a passion for working in the field of polymer science. During high school, she won the prestigious Khwarizmi Youth Award for a project which developed biodegradable plastics from potato starch. This achievement further ignited her interest in polymer engineering, particularly in sustainable and green materials. As a result, she pursued research opportunities in this field and eventually immigrated to Canada to pursue a graduate degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

“I was drawn to the University of Waterloo's Chemical Engineering program specifically due to the department's strong focus on polymer science and engineering, combined with the interdisciplinary approach of the Institute for Polymer Research and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, which offered me the ideal environment to explore my research interests,” says Adibi.