News

A research team of Waterloo Engineering graduate students is working on a range of health-tech applications from cancer diagnostics to wearable medical devices.  

Led by Dr. Carolyn Ren, a professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, the Waterloo Microfluidics Lab (WML) develops and supports commercialized research that aims to improve the delivery of health care, including compression therapy for medical and athletic use.

The University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering is renowned for its entrepreneurial graduates. No surprise then that the Waterloo region is home to a number of successful startups with global reach and local impact.

Alchemy, Avidbots and Miovision are just three examples of local businesses that were founded by Waterloo Engineering alumni— namely, Chong Shen (BASc ’13) and Khanjan Desai (BASc ’13); Pablo Molina (BASc ’11) and Faizan Sheikh (BASc ’11); and Kurtis McBride (BASc ’04, MASc ’07), respectively. All three have contributed to putting the Waterloo region on the map as Canada’s tech capital.

University of Waterloo spin-off company CELLECT. is revolutionizing women’s health with a non-invasive disease screening method. This user-friendly alternative to Pap smears integrates nanotechnology with menstrual products to detect HPV and cervical cancer.

Founded in 2023 by CT Murphy (BASc '23, nanotechnology engineering & MASc in progress, chemical engineering), the company aims to empower women by making health care more inclusive and less intimidating.

Completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo has been a long-held goal for Raven Sim. However, the journey to graduation has led to unexpected opportunities and experiences.

In April 2024, she was part of a team that took their capstone project to the finals of the Norman Esch Entrepreneurship Awards for Capstone Design, where Sim pitched a product that was inspired by her own experiences of volunteering.