News

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.

Electrical and Computer Engineering MASc student Alicia Pan has won first place at the University of Waterloo’s GRADflix Showcase on March 10, where graduate students present their research through short, engaging videos designed for a broad audience.

Pan’s winning video, “Meet Mirrly: A Social Robot for the Eye Doctor’s Office,” introduces Mirrly, a robot designed to help children with amblyopia (lazy eye) follow their eye-patching treatment.

Electrical and computer engineering PhD student Ahmed Metwally Hegazy, under the supervision of Dr. Raafat Mansour, has been named a recipient of the 2026 IEEE MTT-S Graduate Fellowship by the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S). This international fellowship recognizes outstanding PhD research contributions in RF and microwave engineering. Fellowship recipients are selected annually, with only 12–15 students chosen from around the world (≈20% success rate). Ahmed is the first University of Waterloo student to receive this fellowship since 2012.

Ever wondered what music might look like in motion? Electrical and computer engineering professor Dr. Gennaro Notomista and his team at the University of Waterloo are using swarms of robots to turn sound into stunning paintings of light. By translating musical features like tempo and chords into movement and illumination, the robots create live, interactive works of art that blend technology, creativity, and human input.

This exciting work highlights how robotics, art, and music can come together in unexpected ways.

PhD student Ahmed Shaban Omar and Dr. Ramadan El-Shatshat of the University of Waterloo’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) have received the Best Paper Award at the IEEE Electrical Power and Energy Conference (EPEC) 2025. The award recognizes their innovative research on intelligent energy management for microgrids.

The theme of EPEC 2025 focused on the decarbonization of energy systems, highlighting the importance of smart energy technologies in the transition to a more sustainable electricity grid.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is pleased to announce that Professor Dr. Raafat Mansour has been selected as the recipient of the 2025–2026 Faculty of Engineering Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision.

This award recognizes faculty members who demonstrate outstanding commitment to mentoring graduate students, fostering academic excellence, and supporting the professional development of future researchers and leaders. Dr. Mansour’s dedication to graduate supervision has had a lasting impact on students across multiple generations, many of whom have gone on to successful careers in academia, industry, and research leadership.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is proud to announce that Dr. Weiyi (Ian) Shang, has been named a 2025 Distinguished Member by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the world’s leading computing society.

This year, ACM recognized 61 Distinguished Members from leading universities, corporations, and research institutions across 16 countries, honouring individuals for significant technical contributions and impactful service to the computing community. The ACM Distinguished Member designation highlights up to 10 percent of ACM’s global membership, celebrating leaders whose work is shaping the future of technology.

We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of Dr. Robert (Bob) H. MacPhie, an internationally recognized researcher in antennas and propagation, and a cherished former member of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Dr. MacPhie earned his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1963 and joined the University of Waterloo shortly thereafter as an Assistant Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department (now the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering). He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1966 and to Professor in 1971. After a distinguished career spanning more than three decades, he retired in 1996 and was later named a Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

The University of Waterloo has seen an increase in the number of researchers included in this year’s Highly Cited Researchers™ 2025 list recently published by Clarivate. The list highlights the world’s most influential researchers and scientists.

Those selected have authored multiple Highly Cited Papers which rank in the top one per cent by citations in their field. Citations and peer review are the lifeblood of academic research, ensuring both integrity and innovation. The Highly Cited Researchers™ list recognizes only one in 1,000 researchers from around the world.

While several researchers across the University of Waterloo are featured on this year’s list, this article highlights the honourees from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).