Researchers awarded NSERC funding to partner with industry

Eight Waterloo Engineering researchers are among the 11 campus-wide to receive $5.3 million in funding from the Natural Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to work with industry on strategic research.

William Wong, an electrical and computer engineering professor, is working with MW Canada to create electronic fabric, where UV lights are integrated directly into fabric, to be used in water filtration systems. Drawing on the unique strength of MW Canada to develop custom fabrics, Wong is enhancing two unique technologies by combining electronic devices with textiles for new applications in order to use Canada’s resources more efficiently and keep water safe.

The other Waterloo Engineering researchers chosen by NSERC for a Strategic Project Grant are: 

• Dayan Ban (Electrical and Computer Engineering) partnering with TeTechS, Norcada, and COM DEV International. Ban is developing novel THz devices for high-speed optical wireless communication systems.
 

• Slim Boumaiza (Electrical and Computer Engineering) partnering with Keysight Technologies and Focus Microwaves. Boumaiza is creating efficient bridges between flexible 5G radio frequency devices and circuit levels, as well as circuit and system levels.

• Zhongwei Chen (Chemical Engineering) partnering with Ballard Power Systems Inc. and Grafoid. Chen is working on making proton exchange membrane fuel cells a commercially viable technology.

• Krzysztof Czarnecki (Electrical and Computer Engineering). Czarnecki is working with industry to create a safety extensible automotive systems and software architecture (SEASAR) to enable post-manufacturing vehicle upgrades through smart apps and devices.
 

• Guang Gong (Electrical and Computer Engineering) partnering with DBJay Ltd., IBM Canada, and IBM United States. Gong is increasing the security and efficiency of mobile cloud computing with new mechanisms for securely combining compression and encryption.

• Amir Khandani (Electrical and Computer Engineering). Khandani is improving the transmission rate, networking, and security of communications networks for IoT, interference alignment, and physical security layers.

• Bruce MacVicar (Civil and Environmental Engineering) partnering  with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Parish Geomorphic Ltd., and City of Toronto. MacVicar is assessing the response of channel bed sediment and benthic invertebrates to floods in urban creeks under different management scenarios.