Mary Robinson (she/her)

Mary Robinson, PEng is an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, teaching a variety of engineering courses from first-year materials (MTE111) and chemistry (CHE102) through to fourth-year interdisciplinary capstone (GENE403 - bringing together students from across campus to work on interdisciplinary problem spaces), an elective course in student leadership experiences (GENE415), and a technical elective in food process engineering (CHE564).

In August 2025, she completed her role as the inaugural Associate Dean of Outreach, Equity and Diversity, supporting Waterloo Engineering’s commitment to creating an inclusive learning environment as well as supporting our award-winning outreach programs. Since that time, she has continued to support building a more accessible, welcoming, and inclusive community by advancing Indigenous ways of knowing as a member of the planning committee for the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference (TIISC) in May 2026. She also pleased to serve as the faculty advisor for the AISES and NSBE chapters at the University of Waterloo.

Mary is a Fellow of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACÉG).

• Active learning and teaching

• Inclusive learning environments

• Food safety, production and packaging

My research focuses on including active learning techniques in the classroom and methods to create a more inclusive and supportive learning environment. This includes developing hands-on learning activities through the IDEAs Clinic, using case studies to explore foodborne illness outbreaks in Canada, and the use of circle pedagogy to encourage students to learn from one another.

Partnerships with industrial partners for fourth-year design capstone projects include Kraft Canada Inc (2009), Mondelez (2019), and Hartmann (2019)

• 2010, Certificate Certificate in University Teaching, University of Waterloo, Canada

• 2010, Masters of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada

• 2002, Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada

• 2025 - Waterloo Engineering - Unsung Hero Award

• 2022 - Waterloo Engineering Student Society - Friend of Natalie Award

• 2020 - Fellow of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACÉG)

• 2018 - Waterloo Engineering - Outstanding Performance Award

• 2018 - Waterloo Engineering Student Society - Teaching Award

• 2018 - CEEA-ACÉG - Ron Britton Engineering Education Vanguard Award

• 2013 - Waterloo Engineering - Outstanding Performance Award

• 2008 - University of Waterloo - Graduate Research Conference Travel Award

• 2007 - University of Waterloo - Chemical Engineering MASc Research Seminar Best Presenter Award

• 2024-present - University of Waterloo - FAUW Childcare Working Group

• 2022-2025 - University of Waterloo Senate - Senator

• 2021-2025 - Engineering - Associate Dean Outreach, Equity & Diversity

• 2011-2021 - Engineering - Associate Director First Year Engineering

• Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO)

• Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACÉG)

• Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE)

• Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST)

• Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society (AISES)

• CHE 102 - Chemistry for Engineers
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
• CHE 564 - Food Process Engineering
  • Taught in 2024
• MTE 111 - Structure and Properties of Materials
  • Taught in 2026

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• M. Robinson, J. Sears, M. Nuth, P. Ostafichuk, J. Rosales, J. Vale and S. Mattucci. Panel - Welcoming Ceremonies Across Canada: from the iron pin to the bandana, how we create community and communicate our values. Canadian Engineering Education Association Annual Conference, June 2025, École Polytechnique Montreal.

• Rennick, C., Nasato, S., White, S., & Robinson, M. (2024). An Investigation into Gender Diverse Populations in Hackathon Environments Presented at the ASEE St.Lawrence Section Annual Conference conference. Toronto: ASEE. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2-1142.1152.1153-48558

• Paul, N., Robinson, M., & Moresoli, C. (2024). Case Study to Illustrate Two-eyed Seeing and the Richness of Indigenous Knowledge in Food Preservation. Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA). https://doi.org/10.24908/pceea.2024.18546

• Lithgow, K., MacGregor, C., and Robinson, M. Joining Students on Their SLICC Journey. 2022 Canadian Engineering Education Association, York University, June 2022.

• Seniuk Cicek, Jillian and Steele, Alan and Gauthier, Sarah and Adobea Mante, Afua and Wolf, Pamela and Robinson, Mary and Mattucci, Stephen, Indigenizing Engineering education in Canada: critically considered, Teaching in Higher Education, 1, 2021

• Cicek, J Seniuk and Steele, Alan L and Burgart, Deanna and Rogalski, Pamela and Gauthier, Sarah and Mattucci, Stephen and Bazylak, Jason and Mante, A and Robinson, M and Herrmann, R and others, Indigenous Initiatives in Engineering Education in Canada: Collective Contributions, Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA), 2020

• Robinson, Mary and Hulls, Carol and Rennick, Chris, One-A-Day Problems for Improving Student Learning and Study Habits, Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA), 2019

• Launching future space explorers (2024)
• Travelling STEM: Go Where the Students Are (2024)
• Fourth Grade Outreach: Imagining Your Future Self in STEM (2023)
• Research projects backed by online educator D2L (2022)