Alumni

Congratulations to Maclean’s on publishing an article highlighting the need to encourage more top Canadian engineering students to pursue graduate studies in Canada. (“Engineering: The home advantage),” Maclean’s magazine, September 19, 2011)

It should be noted, however, that many Ontario engineering schools have already begun to make significant progress in this regard under the Government of Ontario’s “Reaching Higher” program.

Waterloo Engineering achievements were recognized October 6 at the Faculty of Engineering dinner. The Faculty of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award was presented to Christine Moresoli of chemical engineering, Bob McKillop of civil and environmental engineering and Ehsan Toyserkani of mechanical and mechatronics engineering.

A memorial service for Donald Grierson to celebrate his long career as a distinguished engineer, researcher and educator will take place Thursday, October 27 at 2 p.m. at Trinity Evangelical Missionary Church on Conservation Drive in Waterloo. Grierson, distinguished professor emeritus in civil and environmental engineering, died on August 25. A Waterloo Engineering faculty member for 37 years, he had earned his BASc in civil engineering in 1964, master’s in 1966 and PhD in 1968.

To help receive financial assistance for a new innovative medical device the associate director of Waterloo’s Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology is requesting that people check out his online video proposal and give it a thumbs up. Karim Karim, also an electrical and computer engineering professor, says that approval of his research team’s inexpensive ($1000) tuberculosis X-Ray imager intended to save lives in developing countries will play a large part in whether the proposal receives the funding from Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Bill Gates Foundation.

Waterloo Engineering is tied for the 48th spot in the Times Higher Education Top 50 Engineering and Technology Universities for 2011-2012 released this month. THE’s rankings of the top 200 universities in the world use 13 performance indicators designed to capture the full range of university activities, from teaching to research to knowledge transfer. The top 50 institutions by subject are based on criteria and weightings that are selected after extensive consultation.

Engineering graduate students and alumni are invited to attend Engineering Connections on November 8, 2011 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Best Western hotel in Orangeville. The free networking event for engineers of all disciplines, experience levels, and graduate students exploring employment opportunities is sponored by the Workforce Planning Board of Waterloo Wellington Dufferin.

The ribbon cutting has taken place and the doors of Engineering 6 are now officially open. The celebration of Waterloo Engineering’s newest building place took place this morning hosted by university president Feridun Hamdullahpur and dean of engineering Adel Sedra. On hand to mark the opening were faculty, staff, students and others including donors, owners and employees of Diamond and Schmitt Architects, the architects of the building, and federal and provincial government officials.

About 2,900 potential Waterloo Engineering students, family members and others checked out our Waterloo and Cambridge campuses on November 5 as part of the campus-wide annual fall open house. The day offered tours of engineering buildings and the School of Architecture, residence viewing, demonstrations, including a dissection of a car engine, and even a “Parents’ Lounge” to answer questions.

The University of Toronto is offering an Advanced Skills in Journalism for Engineers program for engineering alumni and engineering graduate students who wish to work in media. The program will provide up to 10 engineers with eight months of mentored experience as freelance business correspondents to major news organizations in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. including: the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Postmedia Network , the Thomson Reuters Foundation, The Financial Times, the BBC and The Washington Post.