News

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is proud to announce that the Broadband Communication Research (BBCR) Group led by Drs. Xuemin (Sherman) Shen and Weihua Zhuang, earned top international recognition at the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC) 2025-Fall.

Held in Chengdu, China, from October 19 to 22, 2025, the IEEE 102nd Vehicular Technology Conference brought together global leaders from academia, industry, and government to advance conversations in wireless, mobile, and vehicular communications. At the conference, two BBCR papers were selected for top accolades.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Waterloo joins the global scientific community in celebrating the recipients of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics — John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis. Their pioneering experiments demonstrated that quantum mechanical properties can be realized in macroscopic electrical circuits, laying the foundation for modern quantum computing and sensing technologies.

This recognition holds special significance for Dr. Christopher Wilson, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and faculty member at theInstitute for Quantum Computing (IQC), who completed his postdoctoral fellowship underMichel H. Devoret.

Dr. Raafat Mansour, a professor and University Research Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, has been selected to receive the 2026 Distinguished Educator Award from the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S).

This prestigious international honour recognizes educators who have made exceptional and lasting contributions to the field of microwave engineering and science, while exemplifying the spirit of the late Fred J. Rosenbaum — a visionary who viewed teaching as a calling and dedicated his career to advancing the MTT-S community through mentorship and service.

Dr. Mansour’s award citation reads:

“For Outstanding Achievements as an Educator, Mentor, and Role Model of Microwave Engineers and Engineering Students.”

A professor in electrical and computer engineering has been appointed to an updated Val O’Donovan Chair position that reflects the Faculty’s strategic focus on advancing artificial intelligence through ethical research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and student engagement.

Starting September 1, Dr. Amir-Hossein Karimi will hold an O’Donovan Chair in Trustworthy AI. The five-year appointment comes with $100,000 in annual research support.

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.

Dr. Adel Sedra, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and past Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is among four people with connections to the University of Waterloo included in the list of new honourees.

Dr. Ladan Tahvildari, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, has been named a Golden Core Member of the IEEE Computer Society,—an honour that celebrates her long-standing dedication and impactful contributions to the advancement of the computing field worldwide.

Dr. Claudio Cañizares, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, has been awarded the 2025 IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Ramakumar Family Renewable Energy Excellence Award. This distinguished award recognizes outstanding contributions to the development, utilization, and integration of renewable energy resources in both national and global energy scenarios.

Dr. Catherine Rosenberg, a distinguished professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, has been awarded an Inria International Chair by the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Inria). The five-year appointment recognizes her exceptional leadership in wireless communication and networks.