Faculty

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Waterloo proudly congratulates graduating student Cait Aitchison on being named a recipient of the 2025 IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Scholarship Plus Initiative. Awarded to outstanding students pursuing careers in the power and energy sector, the scholarship recognizes academic excellence, leadership potential, and a demonstrated commitment to advancing the future of sustainable electricity systems.

Dr. Ladan Tahvildari, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, has once again been named an IBM Champion, earning the distinction for 2026. This recognition highlights her continued leadership and contributions to the global IBM technology community, building on her selection as an IBM Champion in 2025.

The IBM Champion designation is awarded annually to individuals who demonstrate exceptional advocacy, technical expertise, and meaningful engagement within IBM’s technology ecosystem. Recipients are recognized for their contributions to advancing innovation, sharing knowledge, and supporting the broader technology community through research, collaboration, and knowledge exchange.

ECE PhD student Soomin Shin has been awarded a $15,000 scholarship from the Waterloo Data and AI Institute, recognizing her innovative research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and real-world physical systems.

Supervised by Kerstin Dautenhahn, Shin is a member of the Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Lab (SIRRL), where researchers explore how robots can interact with people in meaningful, socially aware ways. Her work focuses on building scalable social robot systems that can operate sustainably in real-world environments by integrating advanced AI capabilities.