News

A health-tech startup founded by two Waterloo Engineering graduates hit an impressive milestone recently when the total number of steps taken by people using its robotic exoskeleton topped one million.

Trexo Robotics was launched in 2016 by Manmeet Maggu (BASc ’13, mechanical and mechatronics engineering) and Rahul Udasi (BASc ’14, mechanical and mechatronics engineering). The company helps people, especially children, with cerebral palsy, spinal muscular atrophy, muscular dystrophy, brain injuries and other conditions beat the odds and walk.

Dr. Reinhold Schuster, a retired civil engineering professor and a pioneer in cold-formed steel engineering, was awarded the Alfred F. Wong Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this month by the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC).

This national honour award recognizes individuals whose transformative contributions have advanced the structural steel industry through design, fabrication, construction, or academia.

The Faculty of Engineering is excited to announce the winners of the 2024 Art of Engineering and Architecture research photo contest.

Now in its second year, this contest celebrates the intersection of art and research across the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering by providing faculty, students and staff to showcase their research, scholarly, and artistic work in a creative and visually compelling way.

 University of Waterloo researchers have developed an AI-powered app that tracks our caloric and nutrient intake while we eat.

Dr. Yuhao Chen, a research assistant professor in the Department of Systems Design Engineering’s Vision and Image Processing (VIP) Lab, said the new tech is aimed at tackling malnutrition in aging populations to ensure that older people get the food they need to support a healthy and active lifestyle.

The Waterloo Engineering community came together to celebrate the exceptional achievements of three alumni at this year’s Engineering Awards Dinner. 

Hosted by Dr. Lisa Aultman-Hall, Professor and Chair of Systems Design Engineering, the event recognized leaders in thermal management, community service and computational fluid dynamics.

An interdisciplinary research team at the University of Waterloo has developed a method to convert food waste into biodegradable plastics using bacteria. The plastics are soft and flexible, making them suitable for applications like food wrap, drug delivery systems and tissue engineering.

Led by Dr. Tizazu Mekonnen, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and Dr. Trevor Charles, a professor in the Department of Biology, the team produced polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a type of plastic that decomposes into harmless byproducts.

University of Waterloo engineering graduate Julia Baribeau (BASc ’23) is addressing global water and sustainability challenges through intrapreneurship – bringing entrepreneurial innovation to her role at sustainability consulting firm Enviro-Stewards and its social venture, Safe Water Social Ventures.

Baribeau’s journey began in Waterloo’s mechatronics engineering program, where co-op placements honed her technical skills and sparked her interest in the social impact of technology.

Nine incoming students to the Faculty of Engineering have been awarded prestigious Ted Rogers scholarships.

These scholarships recognize academic excellence, leadership, and a commitment to driving positive change, while supporting underrepresented groups in engineering and technology.

Kwaku Owusu Twum (PhD and MBET in progress) is revolutionizing agriculture with his platform, Mapmate. Born and raised in Ghana, Twum's exposure to the impacts of climate variability on food security sparked a lifelong mission to improve agricultural systems through technology.

Before coming to Waterloo, Twum honed his expertise in the food and manufacturing sectors and in land management consulting. Seeking a dynamic entrepreneurial environment, he joined the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, where he is now an Entrepreneurial PhD Fellow.

An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Waterloo is building systems that mimic the human brain to improve the power efficiency and performance of artificial neural networks like those used in autonomous vehicle (AV) technology.   

Dr. Chris Eliasmith, a professor jointly appointed to the Departments of Systems Design Engineering and Philosophy, leads Waterloo’s Computational Neuroscience Research Group (CNRG), which focuses on replicating human brain function to create more efficient and powerful artificial systems.