News

Electrical and computer engineering PhD student, Laith Alkhawaldeh, was awarded Best Student Paper at the IEEE PES ISGT-Asia 2025 conference, held in Guangzhou, China from October 31 to November 2, 2025.

Alkhawaldeh’s paper titled “Adaptive ADMM for Distributed Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading,” presents a distributed optimization framework for peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading among residential prosumers.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is deeply saddened by the loss of Professor Kostadinka Bizheva, fondly known as Dida, whose pioneering work in biomedical optics advanced both science and clinical practice.

Electrical and computer engineering PhD student, Trevor Blaikie, has been selected as the winner of the NAMBE 2024 Best Journal Paper Award. Trevor’s research, supervised by Dr. Zbig Wasilewski, earned top recognition for the paper titled “Optimizing GaAs/AlGaAs growth on GaAs (111)B for enhanced nonlinear efficiency in quantum optical metasurfaces.”

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is proud to celebrate the outstanding achievement of Dr. Ahmed Sayed, a former PhD student in our department, who has been awarded the Best PhD Thesis Award from Drones. Drones is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by MDPI—a pioneer in scholarly, open-access publishing, supporting academic communities since 1996.

Congratulations to Zhenan Liu, a MASc student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, whose ground-breaking research has earned international recognition. Liu’s paper, “Real-Time 4D Radar Perception for Robust Human Detection in Harsh Enclosed Environments,” has received Honorable Mention in the prestigious 2025 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) Student Paper Competition.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is pleased to announce that Zahra Dehghani Tafti, an incoming PhD student, has been selected as the sole Faculty of Engineering recipient of the Maks Wulkan Graduate Scholarship for Fall 2025.

Each year, the University of Waterloo’s Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Capstone Design program turns the bold ideas of its final-year students into innovations that shape the future. This highly anticipated event is more than just an academic milestone—it's a launchpad for cutting-edge technology, where creativity meets real-world problem-solving. From next-generation hardware to AI-powered solutions, Capstone projects push the boundaries of what’s possible, showcasing the ingenuity, technical skill, and entrepreneurial spirit that define Waterloo engineers.

Oleksandr Hrabar, a Master of Applied Science (MASc) student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Waterloo, has earned top honours in the 2024 International Youth Math Challenge (IYMC), securing a place among the top 1% of all 5280 participants. Hrabar’s outstanding performance has been recognized with the prestigious Gold Honour, along with the 2nd Prize Senior and the 1st National Award for Canada.

Mohammad Abuyaghi, a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Waterloo, has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious Sandford Fleming Foundation (SFF) Teaching Assistantship Excellence Award. This award, presented annually in each academic department, recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional dedication to their students and go beyond in their teaching responsibilities. Abuyaghi’s selection for this award highlights his ability to inspire and engage students, as well as his unwavering support for their academic success.

Gurshaant Singh Malik, an electrical and computer engineering (ECE) PhD student at the University of Waterloo, has been honoured with the prestigious Best-Paper Award at the 2024 International Conference on Field-Programmable Technology (FPT) held in Sydney, Australia.