Two Waterloo Engineering professors have been elected fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), among the highest honours the profession bestows in Canada.
Dr. Amir Khajepour and Dr. Boxin Zhao were among 56 new fellows named this year in recognition of outstanding contributions to engineering in Canada and internationally.
"I am delighted to welcome the new fellows to the Academy whose impressive accomplishments and leadership in their respective fields have significantly advanced engineering in both Canada and around the world," said Catherine Karakatsanis, president of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, in a media release. "Their outstanding contributions and dedication to excellence serve as an inspiration for us all."
Khajepour and Zhao will be formally inducted at the CAE’s 2026 annual general meeting, taking place in Edmonton, Alberta on June 1, 2026.
Dr. Amir Khajepour
Khajepour is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and director of the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR) and the Mechatronic Vehicle Systems (MVS) Lab.
He held the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Mechatronic Vehicle Systems from 2008 to 2022 and the Senior NSERC/General Motors Industrial Research Chair in Holistic Vehicle Control from 2017 to 2022. His career has produced more than 180 PhD and MASc graduates, 35 patents, more than 600 research papers, numerous technology transfers and several start-up companies. He has received the Engineering Medal from Professional Engineers Ontario and is a fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, the American Society of Mechanical Engineering and the Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineering.
Go to University of Waterloo team develops system to automate routine hospital tasks for a recent story on Khajepour's research.
Dr. Boxin Zhao
Zhao is a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, the Institute for Polymer Research, and the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology.
His research spans surface science and bionanomaterials — including smart polymers, antimicrobial coatings, hydrogels, biomimetic adhesion and soft robotic devices — with more than 100 peer-refereed papers published in journals such as Nature Materials, Advanced Materials and Macromolecules. His biomimetic work on gecko-inspired adhesives has applications in biomedicine, and his research on antimicrobial coatings has produced self-cleaning surfaces capable of neutralizing bacteria, fungi and viruses.
Go to Boxin Zhao elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering for the full story.