Current students

Joseph Nonso Orakwe, a PhD candidate in MME, was the winner of the 2024/2025 ASME K-16 Committee on Heat Transfer in Electronic Equipment and EPS - IEEE Electronics Packaging Society Student Cold Plate Design Competition, along with a student at the University of Alberta, and their supervisors, which included Dr. Ehsan Toyserkani within the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and director of the Multi-Scale Manufacturing (MSAM) Lab.   

Ahmed Shahin, a PhD student in mechanical and mechatronics engineering, has received the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship—one of the top graduate scholarships in the country. The award is presented to exceptional graduate students. It is valued at $50,000 per year for up to three years, supporting doctoral students who demonstrate strong research potential, leadership, and academic excellence.  

Maryam Soleimani, a senior PhD candidate in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, has received three prestigious awards over the last few years: two CWB Foundation Graduate Scholarships and the Nanofellowship Award. 

Team SERA, a new collaboration between the Active and Interactive Robotics (AIR) Lab and the Orthopaedic Mechatronics (ORTHOtron) lab, led by Jeffrey Lee (MASc Candidate), Teresa Marotta (MASc Candidate), Dr. Stewart McLachlin, and Dr. Yue Hu from the department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering has been established to combine the expertise of both labs for a new surgical robotics project for the international KUKA Innovation Award 2025 - Medical Robotics Challenge 2.0.

Physics laws that were previously thought to be impossible have been made possible by researchers within the Micro Nano-Scale Transport Lab.

Dr. Carolyn Ren, a professor in our department, leads the Waterloo Microfluidics Laboratory, a place where students at all levels can contribute to the research and development of innovative technologies that improve lives.    

The annual Esch Competition put on by the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship had no shortage of inventive projects, and among them were several Mechatronics Engineering Capstone Design Teams showcasing their senior projects, vying for esteemed prize money.  Our teams definitely delivered amazing pitches for their inventive solutions.  

Jordan Lin (BASc ‘22, mechanical engineering) had a goal in mind and was determined to pursue it. During his undergrad, Lin was a research associate for Access to Energy Institute (A2EI), a non-profit institution, during his co-op term. This experience sparked his interest in sustainability – a journey he had yet to realize he would continue.  

Team VitalRest, consisting of Sonja Bakowsky, Olivia Paauw and Anika Mankotia, placed first in the Health Tech Innovation Challenge hosted by the Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic. The challenge’s purpose was to test their design skills within a realistic scenario, and the team of first-year MME students displayed their exceptional ability in problem-solving and creative thinking, resulting in their success. 

Congratulations to Shanaya Barretto for being selected to participate in the prestigious program – the Brooke Owens Fellowship! This achievement highlights Barretto’s accomplishments throughout her undergrad career, being named one of the recipients out of 400 promising candidates who applied globally.