News

The University of Waterloo has secured $345,000 from the Ontario government to run three outreach projects designed to connect the next generation of workers to the province’s growing automotive sector.

Delivered by the University’s Faculty of Engineering, these projects form part of the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network’s (OVIN) Regional Future Workforce (RFW) program. The projects will engage young and underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds with activities focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and introduce them to potential career paths in the automotive industry.

A Waterloo Engineering professor has recently been awarded a prestigious prize for his contributions to Canadian telecommunications research.

Dr. En-Hui Yang, an electrical and computer engineering professor and Canada Research Chair in information theory, is the 2023 recipient of the Canadian Award for Telecommunications Research, an elite biennial award presented by the Canadian Society of Information Technology. He is the third University of Waterloo recipient since the award was established three decades ago.

Autonomous airline Ribbit has signed a $1.3 million contract with Transport Canada to start testing its commercial cargo aircraft to deliver goods to northern Canada, starting in 2024. 

Waterloo Engineering alumnus and company co-founder Jeremy Wang (PhD '22, mechanical engineering) says the concept behind Ribbit is fairly straightforward. The company converts small aircrafts from pilot-flown, to self-flying by removing back passenger seats and adding in the appropriate software and hardware.

Waterloo Engineering alumnus and co-founder of ApplyBoard, Martin Basiri (MASc '12, mechanical and mechatronics engineering), announced the launch of his new company called Passage.

Backed by $40 million in venture capital financing from Drive Capital, Passage will help international students get the financing they need to attend universities and colleges in Canada.

Dr. Veronika Magdanz, an assistant professor in systems design engineering at the University of Waterloo, is researching the potential of sperm-templated soft magnetic microrobots to treat cancer, infertility and more.  

By uniting bovine sperm with microtubes, Magdanz found that the sperm could effectively move the microtubes around. This discovery laid the groundwork for the creation of IRONSperm.

Rola Dagher, global channel chief at Dell Technologies and an appointed member of the Order of Canada, received an honorary doctorate in engineering from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo, on June 16, 2023.

In her acceptance speech, she drew on her life experiences as a teenager surviving the war in Lebanon and fleeing to Canada with her baby in 1989. Dagher's rise up the ranks of tech leadership is an impressive example of hard work, grit, luck and resilience.

Chris Rennick, a management engineering doctoral candidate and key Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic leader, has been elected into Canada’s top engineering education association as a 2023 fellow.

Rennick is one of three new fellows to be elected by the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACEG) for his noteworthy service to furthering engineering education, leadership and design education. He was inducted at CEEA-ACEG’s 2023 annual conference, hosted at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus.

Dr. Frederick Cheng (PhD ‘22, MASc ‘17 and BASc ‘15), holds three back-to-back degrees in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Waterloo.

In this Q&A, Cheng, a proud Waterloo Engineering alumnus, discusses why he chose to stay for his graduate studies – and how his student career set him up for his professional one.

The University of Waterloo made a big move in the global rankings for 2024, released by global education analyst Quacquarello Symonds (QS). Waterloo climbed 42 spots to capture 112 place overall and is now listed among the top five universities in Canada. 

QS evaluates approximately 1,500 universities around the world. In a new ranking indicator on sustainability, QS recognizes Waterloo as 36th in the world. The inclusion of this new indicator in the ranking reflects how students prioritize sustainability in their choice of higher education institutions.  

Kitchener-based robotics company, Cobionix, has developed an AI-powered robotics system to improve healthcare delivery.

Co-founded by Waterloo Engineering alumnus Dr. Tim Lasswell (MASc '17, mechanical engineering and BASc '14, mechanical engineering), the company's robot, called Codi, aims to reduce costs and procedure times and increase access to diagnostic imaging.