News

Two graduate students at Waterloo Engineering have been selected for annual awards recognizing outstanding teaching.

Rollen D’Souza, a PhD candidate in electrical and computer engineering, and Charbel Azzi, a PhD candidate in systems design engineering, join two graduate students from the Faculty of Science as the 2021 winners of the Amit and Meena Chakma Awards for Exceptional Teaching by a Student.

D’Souza was cited, in part, for his efforts to develop high-quality online labs during the COVID-19 pivot to remote learning.

A doctoral candidate at Waterloo Engineering received prestigious recognition during convocation at his former university in India this week.

Rishabh Bajaj, who began his PhD in civil and environmental engineering at Waterloo in the fall, formally graduated from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela as the top undergraduate student across all programs.

He was presented with the award, the Institute Gold Medal for Best Graduate, by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.

Igor Ivkovic will be recognized with one of four University of Waterloo Distinguished Teacher Awards at Spring Convocation 2021.

Ivkovic, a lecturer and the associate chair of undergraduate studies in systems design engineering, died last November.

Jothi (Suntharampillai) Bavan (BASc ‘03, chemical engineering) launched the $2,000 Kanagampikai Suntharampillai Entrance Bursary earlier this year to be awarded to a woman in first-year chemical engineering.

Named in memory of her mother, the bursary is intended to assist a woman starting Waterloo's chemical engineering program in much the same way Bavan was supported over 20 years ago after leaving war-ravaged Sri Lanka. 

Jen Parks, a University of Waterloo alumnus, has become the first woman to lead Waterloo’s geological engineering program since the program was launched almost 40 years ago.

Parks (BSc ’00 and PhD ‘10, geological and earth sciences) holds a limited engineering license as of 2016.

Robotics researchers at Waterloo Engineering are developing exoskeleton legs capable of thinking and making control decisions on their own using sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

The system combines computer vision and deep-learning AI to mimic how able-bodied people walk by seeing their surroundings and adjusting their movements.

Waterloo Engineering students described as going above and beyond with their research and entrepreneurship were presented with a special award created for them during this year’s  Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC).

Fourth-year mechanical engineering students Jag Dhillon, Saad Haq, Tony Lee and Lucas Tang’s entry into this year’s CEC innovative design category was so impressive that the competition’s organizing committee and judges presented them with the inaugural research and entrepreneurship award.

Faculty member Mary Robinson has been appointed as Waterloo Engineering’s inaugural associate dean of outreach, equity and diversity in the Faculty of Engineering.

The new position incorporates the current outreach portfolio, along with two new ones – equity and diversity.

A self-driving shuttle bus - the first at any academic institution in Canada - could be operating on the Ring Road at the University of Waterloo by the time students return to campus for in-person classes as COVID-19 restrictions ease.

Waterloo Engineering continued its steady climb up the top 50 in global university rankings released this week by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) for 2021.

The faculty was rated 38^th in the world in the category of engineering and technology - up from 41^st last year, 46^th in 2019 and 70^th in 2018 - in an analysis of 1,440 universities based on academic reputation, employer reputation, research citations and research impact.