News

Three professors at Waterloo Engineering were awarded close to $1 million in feceral funding today through a program supporting small modular reactors (SMRs) research using nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment. 

The funding is part of $15 million in support announced for projects across the country through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) - Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Small Modular Reactors Research Grant. Four projects are set to receive a total of $1.3 million campus-wide.

Dr. Alexander Wong, a systems design engineering professor at Waterloo, has been selected as a new Royal Society of Public Health fellow.

Wong’s election as a fellow recognizes his contributions to global public health. He joins a prestigious group of health-care professionals, food safety specialists, environmental health experts, policymakers and academics who are passionate about advancing public health interests.

Keval Tripathi, a third-year electrical and computer engineering student at the University of Waterloo is on a four-month study abroad experience at Griffiths University in Queensland, Australia – the furthest from home he’s ever been – and loving it. 

To help him pay his way, Tripathi applied for the Kothari Family International Experience Award and received $2,000 to assist with flights and accommodation.

Completing a PhD is at once the end and the beginning of a journey of exploration and discovery in a student’s academic career.

One of Waterloo Engineering's new cohort of doctoral graduates at the 2023 Spring Convocation is Dylan Jubinville who completed a PhD in chemical engineering. His research project and dissertation, “Highly filled, durable, and sustainable wood-plastic composites from recycled thermoplastics,” was completed under the supervision of Dr. Tizazu Mekonnen.

Two Waterloo Engineering faculty members have been elected fellows by Canada’s most distinguished engineering academy.

Dr. Monica Emelko and Dr. Carolyn Ren are among the newest cohort of 55 fellows to be elected to the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) by their peers. Fellows have been selected because of their "outstanding contributions to engineering and for serving as role models in their fields and communities,” said CAE’s president Dr. Soheil Asfarpour in a media release. 

A team of researchers led by Dr. Boxin Zhao, a professor in chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo, has made significant strides in developing intelligent hydrogel materials for use as a reusable wound dressing.

Using advanced polymers, this new programmable 3D printed wound dressing could enhance the healing process for burn patients and have potential applications for drug delivery in cancer treatment as well as in the cosmetic industry.

Several wildfires in the Canadian province of Quebec have caused hazy skies and sent air quality plunging in parts of Ontario and the northeastern United States. The most harmful air pollutant worldwide is fine particular matter, with the biggest natural source of this pollutant being wildfires.

Dr. Rebecca Saari, a professor in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Waterloo, discusses the immediate and long-term threats to our health from poor air quality currently being experienced. 

The Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic recently hosted an Engineering Design Day activity for first-year mechanical engineering students that focused on gravity cars.

With the support of Faculty members and industry partner Magna International, 26 student teams designed and built their own energy conversion systems to power their vehicles along a straight path to a location two meters from the starting position within a fixed time.

Dr. Yimin A. Wu, a professor with the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo, is the inaugural recipient of the Tang Family Chair in New Energy Materials and Sustainability.

Wu will receive $1.2 million over five years to support his research in designing energy materials for solar fuels and solar windows to assist society’s transition to renewable energy.

An undergraduate design team of 12 students was awarded a top prize at a recent international carbon removal competition in New York.

The team, Engineers Without Borders Waterloo, received first-prize in the most detailed category at the 2023 OpenAir Carbon Removal Challenge at New York University. Each year, this challenge calls for students to create new processes, approaches and prototypes to remove carbon from the land, waters, or air.