Six University of Waterloo academics - all women - are helping The Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) address the challenges facing Canada's aviation sector.
Part of this team is Dr. Mihaela Vlasea, an associate professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering. Her expertise in metal additive manufacturing — popularly known as 3D printing — could be key to building better plans for a better aviation sector.
Vlasea believes the parts made through metal additive manufacturing might outperform what’s being made by more conventional methods. For instance, lowering the weight of various parts while producing them more efficiently and increasing their durability could reduce costs for the industry. Such advances could also reduce the aviation sector’s heavy environmental footprint, something that has become a prerequisite for doing business in the global climate crisis.
Vlasea knows she can’t get the job done alone. “From powder all the way to parts, you need experts,” she says. That includes specialists in metallurgy, design, production, modelling, sensors and instrumentation, and data science.
“We have the opportunity through the Waterloo ecosystem of researchers to leverage and showcase what we do for Canadian industry,” she says. “WISA brings together the university network and transfers knowledge from it to external partners.”
Go to Six women, six reasons why WISA's a game-changer for the full story.