News

Students from Waterloo Engineering impressed the audience and judges with their business pitches at this week’s Velocity $5k event for aspiring entrepreneurs held at the Student Life Centre.

Eight teams made three-minute presentations and four were declared the winners, with each winning team taking home $5,000. Three of the four winning teams featured engineering students.

Two projects led by Waterloo Engineering researchers were awarded almost $4.2 million in funding today through a federal program created to tackle climate change by achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Dr. Nandita Basu, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, as well as earth and environmental sciences, will receive $3.7 million through the Climate Action and Awareness Fund for a project called Solutionscapes: Designing climate and water-smart agricultural solutions in complex working landscapes.

Past and present students, donors, faculty and staff gathered to celebrate the exceptional achievements of eight alumni and a long-time supporter of the Faculty.

Hosted by Mary Wells, dean of engineering, this year's event recognized the developer of innovative wearable technology, the founders of a fully integrated and reusable packaging program, two alumni leaders and co-class representatives, an advocate for equity and diversity, a leader of distributed control technology and systems, the CEO of a company that specializes in PVC recycling and waste reduction, and a valued friend of the Faculty.

Painting, poetry, science, curiosity, patience – it all came together in a striking photograph that has earned a Waterloo Engineering researcher national recognition.

Dr. Zhao Pan, a professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, and Dr. Floriane Weyer, a collaborator from the Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, won one of three jury prizes this week in Science Exposed, an annual contest that showcases images captured by Canadian researchers.

Waterloo Engineering recognized 132 recipients of the Engineering Excellence Fellowship at a special reception this month.

Dr. Mary Wells, dean of engineering, and Dr. Siva Sivoththaman, associate dean of graduate studies and postdoctoral affairs, attended the event in E7 to celebrate the Faculty’s highest achieving graduate students.

Two professors at Waterloo Engineering were announced this week as new Canada Research Chairs. A third has had their funding through the federal program renewed for a further five years.

Dr. Nandita Basu and Dr. Carolyn Ren are tier one chairs and Dr. Stephen Smith is a tier two chair. All three chairs are supported through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Communitech adds Clearpath Robotics, a Waterloo Engineering alumni company, to its list of Canadian tech firms expected to generate a billion dollars in annual revenue.

The Kitchener-based company is expanding its industrial division, OTTO Motors, to meet increased demand for its autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that move equipment and parts around factory floors and production lines.

Costas Tzoganakis, a professor of chemical engineering, is a winner of the 2022 En-Hui Yang Engineering Research Innovation Award. The award is bestowed by Waterloo Engineering to outstanding faculty members each year.

Professor Tzoganakis’ research has significantly advanced sustainability within the global tire industry. He developed a unique chemical-free process for rubber devulcanization which can break down end-of-life tires turning them into Tire Derived Polymer (TDP), a value-added rubber compound.

Pearl Sullivan, a beloved former dean of Waterloo Engineering, left a lasting legacy on the Faculty and its students. Her dynamic leadership was recognized at an event yesterday in Engineering 7 with the designation of the building’s IDEAs Clinic in her honour.

The space is now named the Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic to commemorate the accomplishments of the eighth dean of Waterloo Engineering and the first woman to hold the post. 

Professor Philip Beesley from the School of Architecture has been shortlisted for a prestigious award recognizing his work in building more harmonious relationships between people, buildings and environments.

Beesley has been named one of three finalists for the 2022 Partnership Award, one of 12 impact awards granted by Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). He is one of three finalists selected for this award by a national jury.