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Carolyn Ren, a Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology member and professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, has been named among the top 100 most powerful women by the Women’s Executive Network. Professor Ren is honoured in the annual ranking's Manulife Science and Technology category, which recognizes women in STEM roles who are challenging the status quo for knowledge and female empowerment. 

Despite breakthrough diabetes research over the past century, people with diabetes still need to rely on obtaining blood samples to monitor their sugar levels. Daily glucose monitoring by tracking blood sugar levels is essential for managing both types 1 and 2 diabetes, however the current method – finger pricking – is invasive and can become burdensome with how often it needs to be done.

A startup company with deep roots at the University of Waterloo won the top prize in a pitch contest focused on the use of nanomaterials to create or improve commercial products.

AquaSensing, which designs battery-free water leak detection systems for healthcare and industrial applications, took home $10,000, plus a spot in a virtual incubator, in the Nanomaterials Virtual Pitch Contest staged by not-for-profit NanoOntario and CMC Microsystems, a not-for-profit managing Canada’s National Design Network®.

SLE Enterprises B. V., a new Dutch start-up, has been created based on the breakthrough technology of scalable liquid encapsulation (SLE). This start-up was created with assistance from Brainport Eindhoven's innovative ecosystem. Located in Southeast Brabant in the Netherlands, Brainport Eindhoven consists of high-tech manufacturing industry, an extraordinary design sector, and a unique cooperative model.

Two Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology members will receive a total of almost $185,000 under a federal program designed to give exceptional researchers the tools and equipment needed to become leaders in their fields.

The recipients are among 21 researchers campus-wide at the University of Waterloo announced today for almost $2.66 million in backing through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund.

Across the country, $77 million will go to support 332 research infrastructure projects at 50 universities.

Researchers are using computer models to simulate COVID-19 infections on a cellular level – the basic structural level of the human body.

The models allow for virtual trials of drugs and vaccines, opening the possibility of pre-assessment for drug and vaccine efficacy against the virus.

A WIN member was recently honoured by the National Academy of Sciences of America for research involving a gel-like robot, inspired by sea slugs and snails, that is steerable by light.

Hamed Shahsavan, who joined Waterloo as a professor of chemical engineering last year, was lead author of a paper chosen as a finalist for a Cozzarelli Prize recognizing the top work published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in 2020.

To a scientist, trial and error are common in laboratories to refine new tests and methods and look for potential problems on the small scale. But what happens when these techniques are meant for human tissues, such as for surgeries, medical tests, and treatments, where multiple different trials are not possible?

Researchers studying two-dimensional crystalline materials have observed an electromagnetic effect, called the nonlinear anomalous Hall effect, of unprecedented size. Their finding opens the door to exploring other quantum materials using their techniques and hints at promising applications in spintronic devices.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo are developing a new COVID-19 test that can be administered at home using saliva, aiming to deliver a positive or negative result in less than 20 minutes.

It’s a possible solution to the current delays in receiving test results and a much more pleasant option for those requiring frequent tests, researchers said. They hope the tests will become available over the counter at pharmacies across Canada.

“The use of paper devices coated with nanoparticles for COVID detection is a game changer.