On Tuesday, April 3, the University of Waterloo's Baja SAE design team unveiled their 2012 all-terrain vehicle in Engineering's Student Design Centre. Designed over the Spring and Fall 2011 school terms and constructed between January and March, the car will take part in a competition in Portland, Oregon, from May 2-5, 2012.
Two recent civil engineering master's students have won the top 2012 American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Awards for their master's theses. Ryan Snider placed first for his thesis entitled "Impact of Design and Operational Parameters on Rapid, Deep Bed Biological Filtration of Drinking Water." El-Hadidy, now a civil engineering doctoral candidate, took second place for his work entitled “Removal of Enteric Viruses by Ultrafiltration.” The prestigious awards that recognize academic excellence in the field of public water supply will be presented at the AWWA’s annual confere
Ravi Mazumdar and his team of electrical and computer engineering researchers, including Shreyas Sundaram, Hiren Patel and Siddharth Garg, have received over $500,000 in funding from NSERC for cloud computing research they’re undertaking with Research in Motion.
Leading scientists from organizations worldwide, including the University of Waterloo, launched a new report on February 19 that offers real-world strategies for addressing the world’s energy challenges. The Equinox Blueprint: Energy 2030 resulted from a gathering on energy organized by the Waterloo Global Science Initiative that took place in Waterloo in June 2011.
Karim S. Karim of electrical and computer engineering has won a $100,000 grant from Grand Challenges Canada to help improve global health by developing an inexpensive tuberculosis test to combat the disease in developing countries. Karim was one of 15 researchers recognized on February 9 by Grand Challenges Canada’s rising stars awards handed out to the country’s most creative innovators to improve global health.
Gordon Stubley, a mechanical and mechatronics professor, has been appointed Waterloo Engineering’s first associate dean, teaching, for a three-year term beginning May 1, 2012. A memo written by Adel Sedra, dean of engineering, says the new position has been created to address a Vision 2015 strategic priority to enhance Waterloo Engineering’s support for teaching.
Five Waterloo Engineering teams placed either first or second in this year’s Ontario Engineering Competition and will advance to the Canadian Engineering Competition to be held March 8 to 11. Dhananja Jayalath, Neil Olij, Chris Wiebe and Ryan Mann, all fourth-year electrical engineering students, took top spot in OEC’s Innovative Design contest with their Muscle Activation Detection Suit entry. In addition, team members also took home the Technical Excellence award presented to the team displaying the greatest consideration and attention to technical aspects of design.
Fathy Ismail of mechanical and mechatronics engineering will serve as interim chair of the department from February 1 to December 31 2012. He will replace Pearl Sullivan who is succeeding Adel Sedra as dean of Waterloo Engineering on July 1, 2012. Sullivan is resigning as chair of MME on January 31 to allow time for the transition of the dean’s position. A full search will take place for Sullivan’s permanent successor.
Waterloo management engineering students won a number of awards, including the overall conference grand prize trophy, at the Institute of Industrial Engineers National Student Conference held January 19-21 in Halifax. The Golden I trophy was awarded based on the points the students earned for winning individual and team competitions, contributing a school video and cheer, and for participating in various conference events.
A Waterloo Region Record article, entitled UW chemical engineering students hope to change the future, takes a look at the wide range of innovative research taking place in the department’s new home in Engineering 6. Undergraduate and graduate students, as well as current faculty and retired faculty members were interviewed for the feature that describes Waterloo’s chemical engineering as “hot stuff.” The department, once housed in the first facility built on Waterloo’s campus, now has 800 undergraduate students, 155 grad students, 35 faculty, 15 staff and more than 4,000 alumni.