News

Waterloo-based startup Alchemy maintains a mutually rewarding relationship with the University of Waterloo.

Co-founded in 2013 by Waterloo Engineering alumni Khanjan Desai and Chong Shen (both BASc '13, nanotechnology engineering), Alchemy was one of the first nanotechnology startups to emerge from Waterloo. Thanks to support from the University, the company has grown significantly and now employs 25 people locally plus 500 installers in 57 countries to sell its windscreen protection product ExoShield. 

Waterloo Engineering alumnus Amy Charette (BASc ’94, mechanical engineering) remembers how in her first-year of studies she was one of four women students in a class with 76 men. It surprised her but didn’t faze her. She got involved with EngSoc and put her hand up for leadership roles in class and at her residence – mainly because it was a great way to meet people. 

On December 6, 1989, during Charette’s first term, 14 women – most of whom were engineering students – were murdered at the École Polytechnique de Montréal in an antifeminist mass shooting. This horrific event led to the formation of Waterloo's Women in Engineering (WiE) committee and Charette soon became a member. 

Two professors at the University of Waterloo are members of a team representing Canada at this year’s Venice Biennale showcase of architecture.

Adrian Blackwell and David Fortin, both professors at the Waterloo School of Architecture, belong to Architects Against Housing Alienation (AAHA), a collective of architects working to create decent housing for all. The AAHA’s architectural activist campaign, Not for Sale!, opens this week at the Canada Pavilion in Giardini, Italy.

Dr. Jeremy Wang's (PhD '23) ground-breaking mission to prove that planes no longer require humans in the cockpit recently earned him a prestigious national award.  

In recognition of his efforts to advance Canada's first autonomous cargo airline through his Toronto-based startup Ribbit, Wang will be presented the Mitacs Change Agent Entrepreneur Award on May 18 at a ceremony in Waterloo, Ontario. Wang is one of five winners of the Mitacs Entrepreneur Award who are being recognized for their efforts to turn their research into an innovative business that impacts the lives of Canadians.

Michael Braidford (MMSc ’17, Management of Technology), a professional engineer, was working as a production supervisor in the industrial gasses industry when he decided to upskill for a management role. Initially he considered doing an MBA, but he didn’t want to sacrifice the technical aspects of his work to earn a general business degree.

What he wanted was a master’s program that combined business learning with technical know-how. He found what he was looking for in the University of Waterloo’s Master of Management Sciences - Management of Technology program.

Engineers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a new way to program robots to help people with dementia locate medicine, glasses, phones and other objects they need but have lost.

Dr. Ali Ayub, a post-doctoral fellow in electrical and computer engineering, and three colleagues believed a companion robot with an episodic memory of its own could be a game-changer for these people and their caregivers. Using artificial intelligence, Ayub and the research team have successfully created a new kind of artificial memory that can help find lost items.

Naomie Seh Abomo, a fourth-year civil engineering student, has been awarded Canada’s 3M National Student Fellowship Award.

She is one of just 10 students from across the country to receive this prestigious national fellowship in recognition of her outstanding leadership and dedication to her community.

Michael Litt (BASc ’11, systems deisgn engineering) and Devon Galloway (BASc ’10, systems design engineering) co-founded Vidyard, a Kitchener-based video production company, in 2011. 

Vidyard now has about 300 employees, international hubs in the United States and UK, more than 12 million users and is selling its products and services to about 160,000 companies. To fuel this growth, Vidyard employs talented graduates and co-op students from the University of Waterloo.

Dr. Jennifer Howcroft and Dr. Kate Mercer believe that seeing the world through the eyes of students and empathizing with them is an essential pedagogical technique.

At a recent University of Waterloo teaching and learning conference, Howcroft and Mercer, both faculty members in the Department of Systems Design Engineering, hosted a session on “empathy as the foundation for a caring classroom,” which demonstrated practical techniques they use in their teaching.

Waterloo Engineering doctoral student Kelly Zheng has a lot on her plate.

But with help from a PhD fellowship to encourage budding entrepreneurs, she is working towards both her doctorate and a graduate business degree, and building a startup company that involves the use of artificial intelligence to measure carbon-sequestering seaweed in the ocean.

“The knowledge that my supervisors were in my corner was a big reason that I felt comfortable to dream big,” Zheng said.