News

A civil and environmental engineering student team achieved the University of Waterloo’s best-ever result at Canada's premier steel bridge building competition.

Waterloo’s steel bridge team received third-place national and fourth-place overall honours at the Canadian National Steel Bridge Competition (CNSBC) in early May. Over 13 teams competed, including three international teams from Puerto Rico, Mexico and Japan.

Dr. Alexander Wong, a systems design engineering professor at Waterloo, has been selected as a new Institute of Physics (IOP) fellow.

Wong’s election as a fellow is the highest accolade the IOP presents to reflect a person’s exceptional services and contributions to physics in their chosen field. He shares this honour alongside Waterloo Nobel Laureate and physics professor Dr. Donna Strickland, who was named an honorary fellow in 2019.

 The 5G hype cycle promotes the mobile network as the gateway technology enabling next-generation experiences, from immersive virtual reality to life-saving remote surgeries.

Dr. Catherine Rosenberg is one of the world’s leading researchers in 5G and internet technologies and a professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo. She says that while many of these experiences are still a few years away, the global rollout of 5G networks is starting to change many of the ways we live, work and play.

Waterloo student's new web platform makes medical information more accessible to patients. 

When not busy with her Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) degree, Waterloo Engineering student Seun Adetunji is working on her startup MedInclude which uses AI to demystify medical information. 

Systems design engineering professors Dr. John McPhee and Dr. Alexander Wong have been awarded top prizes from Ontario’s leading engineering professional society.

The Ontario Professional Engineers Awards (OPEA), released by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) annually, recognize engineers who have made outstanding contributions to their profession and communities.

Waterloo-based startup Alchemy maintains a mutually rewarding relationship with the University of Waterloo.

Co-founded in 2013 by Waterloo Engineering alumni Khanjan Desai and Chong Shen (both BASc '13, nanotechnology engineering), Alchemy was one of the first nanotechnology startups to emerge from Waterloo. Thanks to support from the University, the company has grown significantly and now employs 25 people locally plus 500 installers in 57 countries to sell its windscreen protection product ExoShield. 

Waterloo Engineering alumnus Amy Charette (BASc ’94, mechanical engineering) remembers how in her first-year of studies she was one of four women students in a class with 76 men. It surprised her but didn’t faze her. She got involved with EngSoc and put her hand up for leadership roles in class and at her residence – mainly because it was a great way to meet people. 

On December 6, 1989, during Charette’s first term, 14 women – most of whom were engineering students – were murdered at the École Polytechnique de Montréal in an antifeminist mass shooting. This horrific event led to the formation of Waterloo's Women in Engineering (WiE) committee and Charette soon became a member. 

Two professors at the University of Waterloo are members of a team representing Canada at this year’s Venice Biennale showcase of architecture.

Adrian Blackwell and David Fortin, both professors at the Waterloo School of Architecture, belong to Architects Against Housing Alienation (AAHA), a collective of architects working to create decent housing for all. The AAHA’s architectural activist campaign, Not for Sale!, opens this week at the Canada Pavilion in Giardini, Italy.

Dr. Jeremy Wang's (PhD '23) ground-breaking mission to prove that planes no longer require humans in the cockpit recently earned him a prestigious national award.  

In recognition of his efforts to advance Canada's first autonomous cargo airline through his Toronto-based startup Ribbit, Wang will be presented the Mitacs Change Agent Entrepreneur Award on May 18 at a ceremony in Waterloo, Ontario. Wang is one of five winners of the Mitacs Entrepreneur Award who are being recognized for their efforts to turn their research into an innovative business that impacts the lives of Canadians.

Michael Braidford (MMSc ’17, Management of Technology), a professional engineer, was working as a production supervisor in the industrial gasses industry when he decided to upskill for a management role. Initially he considered doing an MBA, but he didn’t want to sacrifice the technical aspects of his work to earn a general business degree.

What he wanted was a master’s program that combined business learning with technical know-how. He found what he was looking for in the University of Waterloo’s Master of Management Sciences - Management of Technology program.