News

A startup company launched by researchers at Waterloo Engineering won $50,000 this week in a pitch competition for cancer innovations.

Air Microfluidic Systems was co-founded last year by Carolyn Ren, WIN member and a professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, and one of her graduate students, PhD candidate Run Ze Gao.

Congratulations to WIN member Jean Duhamel, Professor in the Department of Chemistry, who was awarded the 2021 Macromolecular Science and Engineering Award by the Chemical Institute of Canada. The award is presented to an individual who “has made a distinguished contribution to macromolecular science or engineering.

You would rarely hear anyone say “game-changing” in the typically “conservative” construction industry. But thanks to the nanocomposite technology developed by Trusscore, this is precisely what is happening. They are working closely with Professor Beth Weckman who is a member of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) at the University of Waterloo. Gypsum drywalls became mainstream in construction materials about 80 years ago, and it is now a massive sector.

Single-use, medical-grade gloves could be safely reused up to 20 times when using certain disinfection methods – a welcome piece of news for frontline healthcare workers facing PPE shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a new study of six viral disinfection treatments on two commonly used types of disposable gloves worn for personal protection throughout the pandemic, researchers at the University of Waterloo found that alcohol, UV and heat treatment could be acceptable disinfection methods that allow the reuse of gloves up to 20 cycles.

Each year, Waterloo Engineering recognizes Faculty members for their outstanding contributions and unwavering dedication to education and research. The recipients of the Faculty's four faculty and staff awards were recently announced by Mary Wells, dean of engineering, and celebrated virtually. This year three WIN members were awarded, see below for their names along with the award descriptions.

The Engineering Research Excellence Award honours outstanding research accomplishments, innovative ideas and dedication to the Faculty’s research. The award honorees are:

The Materials Research Society (MRS) presented Waterloo chemist, and WIN member, Linda Nazar with the 2020 MRS Medal for “outstanding contributions to advanced materials design, synthesis and characterization for energy storage, particularly Li battery technologies.” 

A WIN member and electrical and computer engineering professor has been named a 2021 fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), the country’s longest-standing engineering society.

As the first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrive and are administered in Ontario, researchers in Waterloo Region are trying to design a needle-free option.

The work is still in the pre-clinical stage and their efforts are highlighting the University of Waterloo's dedication to fighting the pandemic.

When Yimin Wu set his sights on finding a solution that would impact both sustainable energy and climate change, he turned to nature for his inspiration.

“Green house gases and CO₂ are a big problem that lead to climate change,” says Wu. “I looked at how we could mimic plants and nature. Plants absorb CO₂ and water and use sunlight to convert them to glucose — fuel for the plant. I wanted to look at the possibility of using a catalyst with CO₂ and water to convert into a useful fuel for human use.

Although physicists understand the properties of metals, insulators and semiconductors extremely well, the basic physics of high-temperature superconductors has remained a great mystery for over 30 years.