News archive - 2023

Monday, March 20, 2023

Prof turns greenhouse gas into cosmetics ingredient

A new professor at Waterloo Engineering is using biology to produce a green ingredient that is in demand in the cosmetics and personal care industry.

Dr. Christian Euler, a chemical engineering professor, is co-founder of a company that makes the first bio-based glycolic acid from carbon dioxide using a fermentation process. Traditionally, glycolic acid is made from a byproduct of refining oil.

Friday, March 17, 2023

Five alumni make Maclean’s list of ‘changemakers’

Five graduates of Waterloo Engineering are featured on an annual list published by Macleans magazine of the top 100 people shaping Canada.

The Maclean’s Power list for 2023 includes the brains behind a local robotics startup, as well as alumni in the fields of architecture, artificial intelligence (AI) and healthcare.

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Alum startup uses saltwater to boost battery tech

Born and raised in Calgary, Keith Cleland (MASc ‘22, chemical engineering) initially thought he would end up working in the oil industry. Interested in working for a sustainable future instead, Cleland spent his undergraduate degree researching a battery that would use a cheap and available resource — saltwater— to store renewable energy.

Cleland continued developing his technology as part of his master’s degree at Waterloo Engineering where he met Ellsworth Bell (MASc ‘21, chemical engineering), a classmate working in the same lab. Together, they founded Aqua-Cell Energy Inc. with plans to commercialize a saltwater battery.

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Engineering prof says ChatGPT can't be trusted - yet

The release of ChatGPT, a conversational artificial intelligence (AI) created by OpenAI, has refreshed debates on the ethical creation and use of new technologies.

Dr. Alexander Wong, a systems design engineering professor and Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Medical Imaging at the University of Waterloo, describes the tech as a “very big engineering achievement that needs to mature.”

Monday, March 13, 2023

Engineering students exhibit innovative projects

The next big breakthrough in Canadian technology could be among the engineering student projects on display at the annual Capstone Design symposia running until March 30 at the University of Waterloo.

Final-year engineering students will showcase their range of projects including a performance-enhanced lithium battery for colder climates (Nanotechnology Engineering – March 17) and a proposed design for a green long-haul freight corridor along Highway 401 (Environmental Engineering – March 23).