News

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.

Pearl Sullivan, chair of Waterloo’s mechanical and mechatronics engineering department, will become Waterloo’s eighth dean of engineering on July 1, 2012. Sullivan, an award-winning professor and accomplished researcher, joined the university as a professor of mechanical engineering in 2004. She will succeed Adel Sedra whose second term as dean ends June 30, 2012. “The exemplary reputation of Waterloo Engineering fueled a lot of international interest in this position,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president of the University of Waterloo.

Apurva Narayan, a systems design engineering doctoral candidate, received the best paper award at the recent 35th Annual National Systems Conference organized by the Systems Society of India, and jointly by Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and Indian Institue of Technology, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India. His paper entitled “Neuro-Fuzzy (m-ANFIS) based Technique for Short-Term Load Forecasting in Large Geographical Area: Ontario, Canada” was co-authored by systems design engineering professors Fakhri Karray and K. Ponnambalam, who is also Narayan’s graduate studies supervisor.

Waterloo School of Architecture professor John McMinn and graduate Melana Janzen of McMinn + Janzen Studio located in Toronto have won a 2011 North American Wood Design Citation for their CP Harbour House project. CP Harbour House is a vacation home shared by two families on the shores of Georgian Bay. McMinn and Janzen’s project was one of 16 honoured by the North American Wood Design Awards Program out of over 100 entries.

Andrew Clinton (BASc ’05, Comp) is among the 28 recipients of scientific and technical achievements for the Academy Awards 2012 Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation to be held February 11 in Beverly Hills, California.

Tom Jenkins, chair of Open Text and a member of Waterloo Engineering’s Dean’s Advisory Council (DAC), has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada for his work in industry, commerce and business. DAC’s members, leaders from industry, academia and the public sector, advise Waterloo Engineering on many matters, including research and educational partnerships, philanthropic partnerships, academic programs, and advocacy and government. Jenkins and other inductees will be presented with their awards by Governor General David Johnston, past president of the University of Waterloo. 

A group of engineering students from the University of Waterloo campus in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) made history when they started the Canadian portion of their studies at the main Waterloo campus this month. The 12 students from Dubai are enrolled in undergraduate programs in chemical engineering and civil engineering, the first two programs offered at the UAE campus. The campus opened in September 2009 to extend the University of Waterloo’s highly acclaimed co-op education model internationally.