News

The University of Waterloo Robotics team came within a hair's breadth of successfully completing the Level 1 of the Sample Return Robot Challenge, a part of NASA's Centennial Challenges prize program.

The event, hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute from June 5-7 in Worcester, Mass., drew robotics teams from the United States, Canada and Estonia to compete for a total of $1.5 million in NASA prize money.

The 2012 Waterloo Engineering Awards dinner held on November 22 honoured engineering's exceptional students, alumni and a friend of the faculty. More than 2,500 students received awards this year for everything from top marks to extracurricular activities such as leadership, community engagement, and involvement in athletics.

A number of awards were distributed at the event, including:

Willem Petersen, a Waterloo systems design engineering doctoral candidate, won the best presentation award at the recent 2012 International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems conference held in Pretoria, South Africa. Petersen presented the work he's collaborated on with John McPhee, his doctoral supervisor, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). They have developed advanced models for planetary rovers and wheels on soft (Martian) soils to help the CSA design, control, and plan for future rover missions.

Winners of the 2012 Waterloo Engineering awards were celebrated at  the annual Faculty of Engineering dinner held October 4.

Sanjeev Bedi of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, Mark Pritzker of chemical engineering, and Mark Smucker of management sciences received the Faculty's Teaching Excellence Award, which recognizes outstanding teaching and commitment to the enrichment of Waterloo Engineering education.