News

Today, fifty-four new Fellows were elected to the Canadian Academy of Engineering - two of those new Fellows are University of Waterloo electrical and computer engineering professors – professors Ladan Tahvildari and Alfred Yu.

The Academy's President, Dr. Soheil Asgarpour commented: “Over the past 37 years, Fellows of the Academy have provided engineering leadership in the fields of education, infrastructure, innovation, energy, transportation, and many more. New Fellows have been selected for their outstanding contributions to engineering in Canada and around the world and for their service as role models in their fields and to their communities.”

Electrical and computer engineering professor, Claudio Cañizares, has been elected Fellow of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering (CSEE) for his outstanding contributions in the field of electrical engineering science and technology. Founded in 1934 in Shanghai, the CSEE's members include over 120,000 individual engineers and over 1000 organizations.

New collaboration will allow quantum researchers to study effects of solar radiation on quantum computing

A new collaboration between researchers from the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo, SNOLAB near Sudbury, Ontario, and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has been awarded a new grant to investigate the impact of radiation and cosmic rays on quantum technologies.

This grant, “Advanced Characterization and Mitigation of Qubit Decoherence in a Deep Underground Environment,” sponsored by the Army Research Office, a directorate of the U.S Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory, has been awarded to Dr. Chris Wilson, a faculty member at IQC and professor in Waterloo’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, alongside Dr. Jeter Hall, Director of Research at SNOLAB and adjunct professor at Laurentian University, and Dr. Per Delsing, professor at Chalmers University of Technology and director of the Wallenberg Center for Quantum Technology.

Researchers track the personalities of social robots to improve how they interact with humans

An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Waterloo's Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Lab (SIRRL) has found that people prefer interacting with robots they perceive to have social identities like their own.

This finding was made by a pair of Waterloo professors: Dr. Moojan Ghafurian, based in the Department of Systems Design Engineering and Dr. Kerstin Dautenhahn, from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who worked together to conduct new research on human interactions with social robots. These robots possess social abilities and can interact with humans in interpersonal and social manners.

Electrical and computer engineering professor, Xuemin (Sherman) Shen, has been elected an International Fellow of The Engineering Academy of Japan (EAJ). The EAJ is composed of leading experts from academia, industry, and government institutions who possess a wide range of knowledge and have made outstanding contributions in engineering and technological sciences, and closely related fields.
 

A research team from the University of Waterloo is using radar technology to monitor people’s health while at the wheel, turning the ordinary car or truck into a mobile, medical hub.

Dr. George Shaker, an adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, and Ali Gharamohammadi, the lead PhD student on the project, have integrated radar with evolving vehicle technology to make health checks easier—without the need for any type of wearable.

The radar, smaller than a USB thumb drive, is integrated into the vehicle cabin and sends out signals that detect human vibrations, which are then sent back to the radar. The technology can detect tiny movements like the rise and fall of a chest from breathing or heartbeats. 

Dr. Sebastian Fischmeister, a professor in the Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering, and his team are working to safeguard Canada's economic future by bolstering its critical infrastructure against the threat of cyber attacks.

Their research develops new security controls that shield against potential threats within the energy sector's vital supply chains.

As various industries rely on increasingly complicated global networks, the likelihood of potential vulnerabilities increases. Visibility into supply chain security can wane as systems become more complex, heightening the urgency of these protective measures.

Electrical and computer engineering professor, En-Hui Yang, has been designated "University Professor" by the University of Waterloo's Tenure & Promotion Committee. 

The University of Waterloo owes much of its international reputation and stature to the quality of its eminent professors.  The designation "University Professor" is the way Waterloo recognizes exceptional scholarly achievement and international pre-eminence. Once appointed, a faculty member retains the designation until retirement. Not counting retirees, it is anticipated there will be one University Professor for approximately every 60 full-time regular faculty members, with at most two appointments each year.

Electrical and computer engineering is pleased to welcome two new first-year students to its cohort, through the Schulich Leader Scholarships program. Awarded annually to 100 high school students across Canada, the Schulich Leader Scholarships are granted to exceptional students who show great entrepreneurial promise in the field of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) and its Members have elected this year’s new Fellows and named the incoming class of the RSC College.

One hundred and one new Fellows have been elected by their peers for their outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement. Recognition by the RSC for career achievement is the highest honour an individual can achieve in the Arts, Social Sciences and Sciences. One of those newly elected Fellows is electrical and computer engineering professor, Kerstin Dautenhahn.