Graduate student researchers in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo will present 54 research projects across various disciplines at the annual WE INNOVATE conference in Waterloo tomorrow, November 14 in the Sedra Student Design Centre.
WE Innovate is the year's biggest showcase of Waterloo Engineering innovation. World-class researchers at the university will display current research in chemical, civil, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical and mechatronics, software and management engineering - cutting edge technologies that will shape the world of tomorrow.
“In many cases,” says Dave Dietz, Director of Research for the Faculty of Engineering, “our research projects lead to product breakthroughs and advances that improve the human condition.”
Waterloo has been named Canada’s most innovative university by Maclean’s magazine for 22 consecutive years.
Cost savings in digital X-ray machines
This year, WE INNOVATE will feature a low cost digital x-ray system for tuberculosis screening and new signal based technology to recognize hand and arm gestures.
Ryan Mann, a master’s student in electrical and computer engineering and his team will present Pneumavision, a low-cost, digital X-ray system for tuberculosis screening using a small, flat-panel, digital X-ray detectors. Pneumavision research paves the way for cost savings in digital X-ray systems and opens the door to treatment for 60% of all tuberculosis cases reported in 2011, largely in Southeast Asia and the West Pacific. In 2011, tuberculosis killed 1.4 million people.
Another team of researchers will present a new electromyographic (EMG) signal based technology to recognize dynamic hand and arm movements (gestures). The technology, developed in collaboration with Thalmic Labs, will be implemented in a novel interface device for machines such as computers, mobile devices, or robots, thereby creating a new, intuitive and convenient method of user input based on natural gestures and movements. Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in a user study to help collect data, performing common gestures using the device.