Ten research collaborations between the University of Waterloo and institutions around the world will receive funding to collaborate on projects ranging from environmental sustainability and the threat of water insecurity to flood damage reduction.
More than 70 Waterloo researchers and colleagues in Germany, China, Australia, Sweden, Poland, Vietnam, Korea, the United Kingdom, and United States are involved. The research projects are funded by Waterloo and partner universities:
International Research Partnership Grants are internal seed grants meant to further Waterloo researchers’ global collaborations with leading research institutions. Since 2011, over 151 projects have been funded totalling $2 million and garnering $3 million in matching cash contributions, and subsequently generating over $21 million in new grants.
These projects have also resulted in over 100 new innovations, six patents, and five startups. Aimed at developing new and existing international research collaborations for Waterloo researchers, funding is awarded twice a year.
Newly funded collaborations:
Eihab Abdel-Rahman (Systems Design Engineering) along with Mustafa Yavuz (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering) are partnering with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to advance the design and realization of individual and networks of MEMS that outperform current smart sensors. (IRPG funding: $10,000; Matching funds: $10,000)
Sarah Burch (Geography and Environmental Management) is partnering with Monash University, Swinburne University, Arizona State University, Lund University, and Leuphana University of Lüneburg to host the Transformative Sustainability in Small Business (TSSB) Co-Creation and Knowledge Mobilization workshop. This three-day workshop will explore how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can implement feasible approaches to environmental sustainability. (IRPG funding: $20,000; Matching funds: $33,500)
Catherine Burns (Systems Design Engineering) is partnering with the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology to host two workshops, one in China and one in Waterloo. These workshops will facilitate research collaborations in medical device research and commercialization activities. (IRPG funding: $20,000; Matching funds: $20,750)
Joan Coutu (Fine Arts) along with Michael Drescher (School of Planning), Anne Bordeleau (School of Architecture), and Bojana Videkanic (Fine Arts), are partnering with the University of Oxford and Manchester Metropolitan University to host a research symposium in England focused on politics, the built environment, and the heritage industry.(IRPG funding: $18,034 Matching funds: $22,962)
Susan Elliott (Geography) along with Roy Brouwer (Economics) are partnering with Oxford University and Stockholm Environment Institute to hold an international meeting at Oxford and develop a large-scale research program focused on empowering women threatened by water insecurity in Sub Saharan Africa and Bangladesh. (IRPG funding: $20,000; Matching funds: $20,000)
Elizabeth English (Architecture) along with Brent Doberstein (Geography and Environmental Management), and Sriram Narasimhan (Civil and Environmental Engineering) are with RWTH Aachen University, Warsaw University of Technology, TU Delft, Can Tho University, and Thammasat University to host the Global Amphibious Policy Symposium (GAPS). The symposium will focus on amphibious housing for flood damage reduction and strategies for challenging the policies that limit its implementation. (IRPG funding: $5,450; Matching funds: $5,450)
Pin-Han Ho (Electrical and Computer Engineering) along with Shunde Yin (Civil Engineering) are partnering with Kyungpook University to design a 5G distribution system that will improve broadband coverage indoors and to also host an International Conference on Networks and Network Applications in Daegu, Korea. (IRPG funding: $14,000; Matching funds: $20,000)
Heather Keller (Kinesiology) along with George Heckman (Public Health and Health Systems) is partnering with Adelphi University, UCLA, University of Manitoba, and the University of Alberta to develop and evaluate interventions that will improve hydration rates amongst older adults in residential care. (IRPG funding: $20,000; Matching funds: $25,000)
Sushanta Mitra (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering) along with Kyle Daun (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering) is partnering with the Centre of Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE) and the University of Duisburg-Essen to prepare a proposal submission to the DFG International Research Training Group and NSERC CREATE program to further CENIDE’s and Waterloo’s joint research on 2D nanomaterials. (IRPG funding: $9,000; Matching funds: $9,800)
Scott Walbridge (Civil and Environmental Engineering) along with civil and environmental engineering professors Mahesh Pandey, Robert Gracie, and Carl Haas, are partnering with TH Mittelhessen to assess steel bridges and associated brittle fracture in Canada, an area that is currently lacking Canadian expertise. (IRPG funding: $5,000; Matching funds: $6,700)