News

A professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering has been honoured by transportation authorities in the United States and Canada for his contributions to vehicle safety research.

Dr. Duane Cronin received a Safety Engineering Excellence Award from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) at the 28^th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) in Toronto on May 12, 2026. He was cited for his commitment to and advancements in road safety.

A Waterloo Engineering research team has received federal funding to develop a made-in-Canada solution to one of the country's most pressing environmental challenges.

Dr. Sushanta Mitra, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, along with chemical engineering professors Dr. Boxin Zhao and Dr. Nasser Mohieddin Abukhdeir, has been awarded $600,000 through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

Two Waterloo Engineering professors have been elected fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), among the highest honours the profession bestows in Canada.

Dr. Amir Khajepour and Dr. Boxin Zhao were among 56 new fellows named this year in recognition of outstanding contributions to engineering in Canada and internationally.

A Waterloo Engineering student design team has been selected as one of 20 universities across North America to compete in the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge, the next 4-year installment of the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions series.

The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) is one of only two Canadian universities chosen and the only Canadian team in the Stellantis track, where they will work with a 2026 Jeep Cherokee hybrid.

An engineering undergraduate student claimed the $50,000 grand prize at HARD MODE, an invite-only hardware and artificial intelligence hackathon hosted by MIT Media Lab.

Cristiano Da Silva, a mechanical engineering student, competed as part of Dreaming Objects, the winning team at the March 2026 event. The competition drew 200 participants — roughly 40 teams — from engineering, computer science and design programs across North America. 

A pandemic-era Netflix binge launched a Waterloo Engineering alum's career in Formula 1.

Christina Sullivan (BASc '23, mechatronics engineering) discovered an unexpected passion for the technical and engineering dimensions of motorsport from watching Drive to Survive during COVID-19. She secured an internship with Williams Racing in the U.K. and has been on the F1 team full-time since graduation.

Two local health-tech companies have received a combined $1.9 million from the Government of Ontario to expand manufacturing, accelerate commercialization and bring advanced medical technologies to global markets.

Intellijoint Surgical Inc. and Vena Medical were both founded by Waterloo Engineering alumni and grew out of their fourth-year Capstone Design projects.

Tech startup Rotostitch, an automated textile manufacturing company, raised USD $1 million in a pre-seed funding round to accelerate development of its next-generation textile production platform.

Co-founded in 2025 by Waterloo Engineering alum Leah McClure (BASc ’24, mechanical engineering) and Anson Tsang, Rotostitch is on a mission to reinvent garment construction with greater efficiency, starting with the stitch.

Waterloo-based AgTech company Upside Robotics has secured USD $7.5 million in seed funding to accelerate the growth of its AI-powered agricultural robotics platform.

Co-founded in 2024 by Waterloo Engineering alum Sam Dugan (BASc ’22, mechatronics engineering) and Jana Tian, Upside Robotics is transforming agriculture through sustainable automation. The company’s lightweight, autonomous robots apply fertilizer precisely where crops need it, enabling farmers to remotely monitor fields, track crop health and deliver nutrients efficiently — without stepping foot on the soil.