News

A multidisciplinary team of students from the University of Waterloo turned a whimsical idea of building a fun vehicle from pop culture into reality in just four days. 

Anson Yu, a systems design engineering student, teamed up with classmates and friends to build a life-sized model of the Grumobile from Despicable Me. The electric vehicle was a hit on campus, delighting everyone who saw it, including Dr. Mary Wells, dean of Waterloo Engineering, who took it for a spin. 

A local startup founded by four Waterloo Engineering alumni expects to deliver its first zero-emissions, high-performance electric boats to early adopter customers next year. 

Mike Peasgood (BASc ’98 and MASc ’04, systems design engineering, PhD ’08, mechanical engineering), April Blaylock (BASc ’04 and MASc ’07, mechanical engineering), Paul Masojc (BASc ’05, mechanical engineering) and Jerry Mailloux (BASc ’01, electrical engineering) launched ENVGO in 2021. The company has developed a recreational electric boat that can travel above water on hydrofoils. 

The annual Forbes 30 Under 30 list is shining a spotlight on the exciting contributions of Faculty of Engineering alumni. These young entrepreneurs are making waves in diverse fields, from the green energy revolution to smart manufacturing.

The influential list uncovers emerging business leaders who are set to make a difference. Faculty of Engineering associated founders were featured in multiple categories.

Today, the Faculty of Engineering commemorated the tragic loss of 14 female engineering students whose lives were cut short 35 years ago at École Polytechnique de Montréal (now known as Polytechnique Montréal).

The event paid tribute to these young women, mourned their loss, and confronted the ongoing reality of violence against women and girls. 

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.