Dr. Raafat Mansour, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), one of the country’s highest academic honours.
Mansour is among eight University of Waterloo researchers elected as Fellows and College Members in the RSC’s Class of 2026. The appointments recognize exceptional contributions to research, scholarship and innovation across a wide range of disciplines.
“Congratulations to Waterloo's new Royal Society of Canada Fellows and new Royal Society of Canada College Member on this outstanding achievement,” says Charmaine Dean, Vice-President, Research & International. “Recognition from the Royal Society of Canada marks an exceptional milestone for Canada’s leading researchers and highlights not only the strength of their research programs but also the significant contributions they make to Canada’s research ecosystem and beyond.”
Dr. Mansour is an internationally recognized leader in radio-frequency (RF), microwave and micro-electromechanical systems engineering. His research has advanced high-performance communications technologies, nano-instrumentation and cryogenic RF hardware for quantum computing.
As founding Director of the Centre for Integrated RF Engineering, he helped establish Waterloo as a leader in RF and microsystems research. Throughout his career, Mansour has supervised 48 PhD students, 35 master’s students and 18 postdoctoral fellows, many of whom now hold leadership positions in academia and industry.
His work has also translated into commercial success through co-founding two companies with his graduate students including AdHawk Microsystems, a pioneer in eye-tracking technology and Integrated Circuit Scanning Probe Instruments (ICSPI-Corp), a company that develops desktop atomic force microscopes that accelerate scientific discovery and technology development. He recently joined QuantumCore’s strategic collaboration to advance cryogenic RF multiplexing microchips for quantum computing applications.
A prolific inventor and scholar, Mansour holds 37 U.S. and Canadian patents and has authored andco-authored more than 450 peer-reviewed publications, as well as a Wiley book that was translated to Mandarin in 2012. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Engineering Institute of Canada. In 2014 he received Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) Engineering Medal for Research and Development, the IEEE Canada A.G.L. McNaughton Gold Medal Award in 2019 and the IEEE MTT Society Distinguished Educator Award in 2026.
Founded in 1882, the Royal Society of Canada comprises the Academy of Arts and Humanities, Academy of Social Sciences, Academy of Science and the RSC College. The RSC recognizes excellence, advises government and the larger society, and promotes a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada and internationally.
Mansour joins this year’s cohort of 159 exceptional scholars, artists and scientists from across Canada who will be formally inducted during the 2026 Celebration of Excellence and Engagement conference in Ottawa on November 13.