News

Toronto-based robotics sensing company Forcen has closed $8.35 million in a funding round to support the expansion of its prototype manufacturing operations.

Founded in 2015 by Waterloo Engineering alum Robert Brooks (BASc ’12, mechanical and mechatronics engineering), Forcen manufactures a digital sense of touch for high reliability robotics in medical, industrial and aerospace applications

The team at health care startup Cobionix met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his visit to an Indigenous health initiative the company supports.

Co-founded in 2021 by Waterloo Engineering alumni Nima Zamani and Dr. Tim Lasswell (both BASc ‘14 and MASc ‘16, mechanical and mechatronics engineering) with John Van Leeuwen (BSc ‘81), Cobionix builds autonomous medical robots that can help make health care more accessible and is based out of Velocity in downtown Kitchener. 

A new 3D X-ray microscope at the University of Waterloo will support new orthopaedic research and development to improve surgical treatment of musculoskeletal conditions.

The inCiTe™ 3D X-ray Microscope will be used in projects led by Dr. Stewart McLachlin, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, who conducts biomedical research as part of the Orthopaedic Mechatronics Laboratory.

Waterloo Engineering grad students will be able to add an interdisciplinary diploma in climate change to their studies beginning this fall.  

The diploma, which is a first in Canada, will be available to every enrolled master’s and doctoral student across all University of Waterloo faculties at no extra cost.  

Waterloo Engineering researchers have invented a digital medical imaging system that significantly improves the cancer detection process to deliver immediate results.

Led by Dr. Parsin Haji Reza, a professor in Waterloo’s Department of Systems Design Engineering, the research team has developed the Photon Absorption Remote Sensing (PARS) system, a built-from-scratch technology that is faster than traditional cancer-detection methods and aims to deliver a diagnosis in minutes — enabling prompt surgical intervention. 

Dr. Alexander Wong has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts, or RSA).

Wong is a Professor in the Department of Systems Design Engineering. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence, medical imaging, autonomous vehicles and smart infrastructure.

Seven projects by Faculty of Engineering researchers were awarded funding by the Graham Seed Fund (GSF).

The University of Waterloo’s Health Initiatives team introduced the GSF to support innovative health-care solutions tackling global challenges.

Dr. Tizazu Mekonnen has won the Macromolecular Science and Engineering Division Early Career Instigator Award sponsored by NOVA Chemicals for his significant contributions to polymer engineering and sustainability.

His research focuses on sustainable materials, including compostable plastics and eco-friendly nanomaterials.

Kitchener-based software company Vidyard has announced that it secured $21 million in August 2023 to fuel the development of its product and artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions. The funding was led by Export Development Canada (EDC).

Co-founded in 2011 by Waterloo Engineering alumni Michael Litt (BASc ’11, systems design engineering) and Devon Galloway (BASc ’10, systems design engineering), Vidyard creates software to host and analyze video performance. Its new AI capabilities include an AI Avatars feature on its Messages platform.