News

Dr. Yanwei Lum has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) 2025 Rising Star Award. 

Dr. Lum, Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will accept this award in person at the WIN Day Talk on May 1, 2026.

Dr. Fengwang Li has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) 2024 Rising Star Award. 

Dr. Li, a Senior Lecturer & Director of Learning & Teaching at the University of Sydney, Faculty of Engineering, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, will accept this award in person at the WIN Day Talk on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

Linda Nazar, University of Waterloo professor and Canada Research Chair has been recognized for her outstanding contribution in the field of energy with a Royal Society U.K. Hughes Medal.

Professor Boxin Zhao is this year’s recipient of the Ontario Professional Engineering Association (OPEA) Research and Development Engineering Medal. Administered by OPEA, the Research and Development Engineering Medal is awarded to individuals who have advanced engineering knowledge and have developed useful and novel applications. Zhao certainly fits the bill. Zhao's research is at the frontier of surface science and engineering. His work focuses on innovative soft matter engineering and bionanomaterials research aimed at advancing sustainable manufacturing. This includes the development of smart polymers, advanced adhesives, and coating materials.

As Canada’s largest nanotechnology institute, committed to United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) actively celebrates emerging leaders in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. These individuals from across the globe whose research aligns with one or more of our thematic areas and the UN SDGs are eligible for the WIN Rising Star Award in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.

For now, Alfred Yu is focused on two distinct lines of research as he works to develop the next generation of ultrasound technology – one involving diagnosis and the other involving therapy.

But when he looks ahead, the University of Waterloo biomedical engineer can see a day when the two converge in a single, powerful tool to guide and deliver medical treatment at the same time.

John Yeow, a WIN member and systems design engineering faculty member, is the recipient of the 2021 IEEE NTC Distinguished Service Award by the IEEE Nanotechnology Technical Council.

As a child, 2016 Nanofellowship awardee Youssef Helwa (BASc ’15, nanotechnology engineering, MASc ’17, electrical engineering from UWaterloo) was mesmerized by his mother’s stories about the patients she cared for as a surgeon.

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.