Future graduate student research opportunities

As part of our Mitacs Accelerate project “OASIS” with XPI Inc, we are seeking a highly motivated graduate student to join our team at the University of Waterloo. Our research focuses on developing a microfluidics model library for constructing microfluidic devices for organ-on-a-chip device development. The selected candidate will work on an exciting interdisciplinary project at the intersection of physics-based modelling, microfluidics and organ-on-a-chip models. The project involves designing, modelling and validating microfluidic components in various physiologically relevant conditions.

Like mushrooms popping up in a field, this collective springs into action in response to widespread and ongoing anti-life doctrines that reverberate across the nation and globe (e.g., anti-trans legislation, rolling back queer and disability rights). The REC, directed by Dr. Aly Bailey in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies in the Faculty of Health at the University of Waterloo, is a collection of research, scholars, and activists centring bodymind differences by queering, cripping, and thickening leisure, fitness, and health. Bridging theory and practice, building bodymind coalitions (across fat, disabled, queer, racialized, Mad communities), and working with powerholders invested in access and inclusion, The REC demands for research and teaching that challenges power, subverts oppressive structures (e.g., ableism, racism, fat hatred, anti-queer, etc.), and celebrates embodied diversity. Graduate students at The REC engage deeply with theory, bring research to action, and strive for justice.

Statistical models play a critical role in data applications for explanatory and predictive purposes. The model-building process involves use of various statistical tools, some of which make certain assumptions to yield good statistical properties like consistency. Such properties enable researchers to make reliable statistical inferences. However, when samples are small to moderate in size, issues arise when applying common model-building tools due to deviations from underlying assumptions. Such deviations can lead to unreliable parameter estimates, reduced statistical power, thereby affecting data-driven decisions. The process of model-building and conducting statistical tests is further impeded when data are incomplete due to missing values.

Since time immemorial, not only migration to new lands have been standard patterns of human behaviour, but also the creation of narratives that commemorate founding heroes and provide aetiologies for topographical or cultural features. Most accounts still contain some historical information, others are entirely fictitious (think only of Romulus and Remus suckled by the she-wolf). Yet even the wildest fabrications articulate ethnic identity and inter-ethnic relations. The present research project is concerned with the identity constructs enshrined in such ancient foundation legends.

Hellenistic history is en vogue, and it seems that the Seleukids have dethroned the long-time favourite Ptolemies in the recent wave of scholarly production. With their core territories Syria and Babylonia, and their rule extending further over much of Asia Minor, Media, Elymais, Persia, Parthia, and Baktria, the Seleukids controlled the largest of the Hellenistic kingdoms after the death of Alexander the Great. They energetically reshaped the political and cultic landscape of uncountable peoples and cities in the Near East, creating an impressive legacy. Although the violent conflicts with the Judaeans under Antiochos IV Epiphanes largely denigrated their image, at least in the Biblical tradition, and the defeat of Antiochos III Megas by the Romans at Magnesia further damaged their reputation, such perspectives from hindsight should not mislead us in our assessment of the most powerful and highly resilient dynasty of the early and middle Hellenistic periods.

Bioprocess development for biomanufacturing or environmental applications, specifically focused on microbial strain engineering via genetic engineering and metabolic engineering.

Our lab's research explores the intersection of computer graphics, computational physics, and geometry processing. We develop mathematical and algorithmic foundations for simulating complex physical phenomena, such as liquids, gases, and rigid or deformable materials, with efficiency, high fidelity, and robustness. By advancing computational methods for partial differential equations and dynamic surface evolution, we aim to make physically based animation both accurate and visually compelling.

We investigate a broad range of topics including multi-physics fluid-solid interactions, free-surface and multiphase flows, non-Newtonian and viscoelastic materials, and aspects of geometric representations, such as reconstruction of implicit surfaces (e.g., signed distance fields) and mesh-based topology tracking for dynamic surfaces. Our work bridges theory and practical application, often influencing research and production tools used in visual effects, animation, and interactive media. We strive to build well-grounded simulation methods that integrate physics, mathematics, and computation to push the boundaries of realism and control in the virtual worlds of the future.

Seeking motivated Master's and PhD students to join the Risk, Injury, Sport, & Equity (RISE) Youth Sport Lab. We study the ways in which athletes feel safe and included in sport, recreation, and leisure environments and how they experience injury and risk within these spaces. Ongoing funded projects explore sport-related concussion reporting for youth girls, safe sport practices in community sport organizations, stories of belonging for Black girls and women in hockey, and concussion communication and management efforts. Our work aims to foster athlete well-being, and emphasizes community-oriented partnerships that drive positive changes in youth sport experiences.

The Waterloo Civic Map Lab is a research team focused on how geospatial technologies and data are used to meet the needs of community, government, and civic organizations. Student researchers at all levels (undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral) work to create applied and theoretical research that matters - understanding the challenges, benefits, and issues created by civic technologies and geospatial data.

A Masters or PhD student is being recruited to analyze the levels and determinants of these chemicals among participating communities. The student will complete biostatistical analysis of biomarker and survey data to answer key research questions raised by community partners. In addition, the student will assist with the knowledge mobilization of biomonitoring results.