News

Adel Sedra, dean of Waterloo Engineering from 2003 to 2012, was invested in the Order of Ontario by the Honourable David Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario at a ceremony held January 23 at Queen's Park. Sedra was recognized for his "seminal work which has resulted in major developments in fields ranging from medical technology to wireless communications."

Brigette Lau (BASc, CompE, 1999) and Chamath Palihapitiya (BASc, ElectE, 1999) partners of The Social + Capital Partnership in Palo Alto, CA, returned to campus on January 23 to announce two new prizes of $40,000 each for Capstone Design in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Ralph Haas, distinguished professor emeritus of civil engineering, was presented with the Roy W Crum Award, the highest honour of the Transportation Research Board of the US National Academies.  He received the award at the board's annual conference in Washington, DC on January 15, 2014 for his "outstanding leadership in transportation research."  Haas is only the second Canadian in 63 years to receive the prestigious award.

A team of Master of Business Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) students is one of five finalist groups that will compete in the RBC Next Great Innovator Challenge being held January 17 at RBC's Toronto headquarters. The students will present to a senior panel of RBC executives and the winning team will receive $24,000.

Calvin Chu and Ashish Bidadi, both 2013 mechatronics engineering graduates, are using old technology - buttons, dials and sliders - to make it easier and faster to use computers.

And, according to an article in the Waterloo Region Record, a lot of people think they're taking their startup, Palette, in the right direction. Chu and Bidadi recently raised $158,470 on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, far exceeding their $100,000 goal.

3, 2, 1, LEGO!  Those words opened each competitive heat on Saturday at the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) West Ontario Championships, held at the University of Waterloo.  Some very focused 9 to 14 year olds were competing in the 2013 FLL challenge, Nature's Fury.  

Excerpt of Work Ethic from ASEE Prism's October 2013 issue.

Industry experiences help lift a Canadian engineering school to star status

No one would use the term venerable to describe the University of Waterloo. Set on a former cornfield some 70 miles west of Toronto, the campus’s oldest building dates only to 1958 — a year after the first 74 students began classes in two makeshift structures erected on the parking lot of Waterloo College down the road.

Among the Canadians recognized on Forbes’ third annual 30 Under 30 rankings are three successful entrepreneurs connected to Waterloo Engineering.

Registration is open until January 24 for the second annual 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, a campus-wide challenge that provides graduate students with the opportunity to share their research in three minutes using just one slide.

Christopher Wilson, an electrical and computer engineering professor, will receive $50,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation's John R. Evans Leaders Fund, previously known as Leaders Opportunity Fund. Wilson, who is crossed appointed with Waterloo's physics and astronomy departments, will use the funds for his research into engineered quantum systems for quantum information. The funding announcement was made on January 8.