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In May, the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) announced that Professor Aiping Yu has been elected as a Fellow.

CAE fellows are nominated and elected by their peers in recognition of their outstanding achievements and lifelong contributions to the field of Engineering.

“I’m honoured to join the esteemed Fellowship,” Yu said. “I’m excited and grateful to have been elected as a Fellow by the Canadian Academy of Engineering.”

Yu is a University Research Chair and is widely recognized for her disruptive research. Yu’s current research focuses on developing nanomaterials for energy storage, such as Na-ion, Zn-ion and Li-ion batteries, as well as battery recycling.

As the director of the Applied Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory, Yu is engineering graphene and other 2D materials to increase the power density and performance of batteries.

Yu has expertise in using nanomaterials such as nanotubes for the design of high-energy storage supercapacitors.

MASc student, CT Murphy’s start-up CELLECT is a finalist in the Odlum Brown Forum Pitch, a Canadian program for women entrepreneurs. Murphy’s partner and COO, Ibukun Elebute presented at the event and secured $44K in winnings for CELLECT.

The product is being designed by Murphy with the guidance of her supervisor, Professor Marc Aucoin. They are developing a menstrual pad infused with nanomaterials that will be able to collect bacterial and cervical cells. The pad would then be sent to a lab for processing.

What if researchers could understand how cells grow, adapt and behave using the same tools engineers use to design circuits?

A new tutorial bridges the gap between biology and engineering to unlock novel insights and inspire innovation in biotechnology, health, and environmental science.

Life itself can be considered a technology that has evolved over billions of years. The researchers propose that cellular processes and microorganisms that play critical roles in everything from disease response to digestion function in ways similar to engineered systems.

Professors Christian Euler, Matthew Scott and PhD student Mohammed Zim developed the tutorial based on a synthesis of significant, well-established research.

“You can have very interesting technical, almost like engineering-driven understandings of living systems, and those living systems can teach you something about engineering as well,” Euler says.

Winning a pitch competition is never easy, but it becomes even more challenging when there is no prototype or product ready for market. Despite these obstacles, Capstone Group 4 defied the odds and won $12,000 to advance their project!

The project, called Direct-Li, won the Norman Esch Entrepreneurship Award for Capstone Design. The group proposed a more efficient and eco-friendly process for lithium extraction.

Through engineering innovation, Group 4 developed a two-stage process called direct lithium extraction (DLE). Group members Rachel Kumara, Sophie Campbell, Maeve Seto and Louise Tayzon utilized nanofiltration and ion pump separation to extract 90 per cent more lithium per litre of water in half the time compared to industry standards.

“We were delighted that we were successful in conveying our idea in a way that made the judges see value in something that we do not actually have, a solid prototype. Our ideas are based on simulations and models. We were shocked to win! We were just happy to be there and to be challenging ourselves, especially since we were the only all-women group in the competition!”

Professor Valerie Ward is part of a new global coalition to revolutionize vaccine production with disruptive health technology. The technology is designed to enable local vaccine production, reducing production time from nine days to just one day. A breakthrough that has the potential to save millions of lives and significantly lower the cost of vaccine production.

A research coalition led by the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) received $2.8 million from the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) to fund technology development to combat epidemics and pandemics. The aim is to make small transportable units to manufacture vaccines, making vaccines more accessible and better able to deal with local outbreaks.

Ward is working with researchers and industry partners in Brazil, the UK, and Canada to aid the world in responding more swiftly and equitably to future epidemics and pandemics. 

The grant focuses on developing technology to meet two specific goals. The first is rapid production of vaccines. The second is to decentralize manufacturing so it can be produced at different sites in smaller batches.

Researchers in the Department of Chemical Engineering have developed a new method for engineering bacteria that can be leveraged to improve biomedical applications such as drug delivery, cancer therapy, anti-inflammatory treatments, and vaccine development.

The international research group, led by Professor Yilan Liu, developed a process that enables bacteria to secrete bacterial membrane vesicles (BMVs). BMVs are nanosized bubble-shaped structures naturally released by bacteria. They have significant potential as tools for the development of a variety of therapeutics.  

Currently, the adoption of BMVs has been hindered by low production yields under natural conditions. The technique established by Liu resulted in a 140-fold increase in the secretion of BMVs.

"This advancement in bacterial engineering has the potential to be a transformative platform for next-generation vaccines, therapeutics, and nutrient delivery," says Liu. "This new process could profoundly impact global health by making biomedical treatments more efficient, accessible, and affordable."

The Department of Chemical Engineering is proud to announce the appointment of Professor Evelyn Yim as an NSERC Canada Research Chair in Nanomaterials for Regenerative Medicine.

Yim has also been awarded over $ 1 million to conduct research focusing on understanding and enhancing microenvironments by controlling cell-nanostructure interactions for applications in regenerative medicine.

Her research examines how cells respond to biomaterials, focusing on 2D and 3D systems. The field of regenerative nanomedicine uses nanotechnology to repair or regenerate damaged tissue and organs. She uses principles of engineering and biological science to advance regenerative nanomedicine.

Offering promising solutions for a range of diseases

Yim’s research group is developing different types of nanofabrication materials to mimic natural nanostructures found in the human body to guide cell growth.

Yim conducts pioneering research in nanotopography, cell therapy, and improving the design of neural stem cells.  She has advanced innovations in tissue engineering for vascular and corneal disease.

Professor Milad Kamkar’s research group has developed the first all-graphene water-based ink for 3D printing via direct ink writing. The ink promises to unlock new possibilities for addressing environmental challenges, such as eliminating invisible electromagnetic pollution from our surroundings.

The eco-friendly graphene ink enables groundbreaking applications in advanced fields, including electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, electronics, and environmental protection while providing a scalable solution for next-generation 3D-printed technologies.

Graphene is a material renowned for its remarkable strength, electrical conductivity, and thermal properties. One of the challenges to the widespread utilization of graphene is that it is typically produced in powder form, which is difficult to handle and limits its full application potential.

Researchers overcame this barrier by precisely engineering the nano-scale surface chemistry of graphene nanosheets to make them dispersible in water, creating a room-temperature printable, eco-friendly ink.

Climate change is devastating the world’s coral reefs, and pollution from microplastics in the oceans further damages these delicate ecosystems. Researchers at the University of Waterloo have made a breakthrough in understanding how and why microplastics get trapped in coral reefs. The new study sheds light on the role of mucus naturally secreted by coral reefs in the accumulation of microplastic pollution.

Removal strategies must ensure that detaching microplastics does not worsen environmental impact by floating back into the ocean water. Designing artificial coral reefs to capture microplastics may be the most promising answer in the race to save the planet’s coral reefs.

Coral reefs are diverse and important ecosystems, providing habitat for 25 percent of all marine life. They provide food, shelter, breeding grounds, and nurseries for millions of species. Coral reefs play a role in filtering water and creating oxygen. They also protect shorelines from the impact of storms and floods.

Chemical engineering graduate student Ananya Muralidharan took first place in this year’s GradFlix competition! Three other chemical engineering graduate students were finalists!

GRADflix is an annual competition that invites graduate students to present their complex research in a way that is accessible to a wider audience. Graduate students create presentations using a combination of live footage, slideshows, and animations to showcase their work. A panel of judges from various fields at the University of Waterloo selects the top four videos, which receive cash prizes. Additionally, there is a Finalist’s Choice Award determined by voting from fellow participants.

Launched in 2018 by the University of Waterloo’s Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA), GRADflix is funded by graduate students through the Graduate Studies Endowment Fund. Three other chemical engineering students were also finalists.