Researchers awarded $4 million in federal funding

Friday, June 23, 2023

Researchers at Waterloo Engineering are leading three projects that were awarded a combined total of close to $4 million last month for their research addressing critical sustainability challenges that have the potential to play a pivotal role in Canada’s economy.

The funding is part of a multi-million-dollar declaration of support for Canadian projects over three years through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s (NSERC) Mission Alliance Grants program. Over $5.3 million in funding was announced for four projects led by Waterloo researchers.

Mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor Dr. Hamid Jahed has been granted close to $1.5 million to drive advances in remanufacturing technologies by building predictive models that capture the data-driven benefits of a remanufacturing-based decarbonization strategy.

Dr. Kyle Daun, a mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor, received $941,000 for his project compiling accurate year-over-year methane emissions inventories from Canada’s landfills, oil and gas operations and wetlands using new imaging technology.

Dr. Mehrdad Pirnia, a professor in management engineering, received over $885,000 to develop atmospheric modelling, monitoring and analysis of electric planes as a sustainable alternative option for the Canadian transportation industry.  

Electrical and computer engineering professor Dr. Mahla Poudineh was awarded $650,800 to investigate the development of a smart gas sensing technique that enables the portable, low-cost, highly selective, and efficient detection of greenhouse gas emissions.