News

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.

Today, in E7 from 10am to 3pm, the next big breakthrough in Canadian technology could be among the Waterloo Electrical and Computer Engineering student projects on display at the annual Capstone Design symposia at the University of Waterloo. Our students will showcase the projects they have spent months designing and building.

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.

Toronto-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Ideogram has raised $80 million in Series A funding to accelerate the company’s growth in generative AI.

Waterloo Engineering alum William Chan (BASc ’11, computer engineering) co-founded Ideogram in 2022 “to help people become more creative”. The company officially launched just six months ago with $22.3 million in seed funding.

Ideogram is an AI text-to-image generator — much like DALL-E. Users type a prompt, click “generate” and within 30 seconds can choose between four image interpretations of the prompt. Users can generate more images using refined prompts until they get the one they like. All generated images are downloadable and users can use them freely.

Congratulations to ECE PhD student, Nada Gohider!  Out of 162 entrants in the GRADflix competition, Nada took fourth place! 

GRADflix is an annual competition that gives graduate students an opportunity to communicate their amazing and complex research to a broader public audience. They can create a video, moving slide show or animation of no longer than 60 seconds. 

 

Originally published on the Faculty of Engineering website.

Biomedical Engineering student Christy Lee’s experience volunteering at busy hospitals and long-term care homes inspired her startup venture PatientCompanion, a communication app meant to improve patient experience and help reduce workload and stress for nurses.

Originally published December 20, 2023 on CTV News Kitchener 

University of Waterloo researchers say they’ve developed a method to detect breast cancer in women early enough for them to receive lifesaving treatment.

The technology aims to be more accurate, cheaper and safer than common diagnostic tools used now, such as X-ray mammography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

“Mammography is not fully effective, especially for women with dense breasts,” said Omar Ramahi, lead researcher and a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering.

Ramahi has been looking at ways to enhance early detection since 2001. He’s noticed the gaps that exist in current practices. For starters, he says X-ray mammography can only be performed on a patient once a year or every other year.

Watch the full story.

Electrical and computer engineering professor and Assistant Vice-President, Research and International, Alfred Yu, has been elevated to Fellow of the IEEE for his contributions to ultrasound imaging technology and therapy.

Each year, Clarivate™, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation, identifies a small fraction of global research scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research. This select group contributes disproportionately to extending the frontiers of knowledge and gaining for society innovations that make the world healthier, more sustainable and more secure.

Electrical and computer engineering professor, Shesha Jayaram, received IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Outstanding Achievement Award. This award honors an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the application of electricity to industry in accordance with the scope of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. This award was first presented in 1969. She is the first female to win this award in 54 years!