Current undergraduate students

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.

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.  

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. 

The International Network of Sustainable Nanotechnology (N4SNano) is a global force for industry, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations to champion nanotechnology solutions for sustainable futures, and Dr. Sushanta Mitra is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and the Executive Director of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN), which also happens to be a founding partner of this network. Together, Mitra and the team in N2SNano are working together to bring the brightest minds in environmental preservation for a conference on sustainability that benefits communities all over the world.  

Dr. Mihaela Vlasea’s exemplary work in the manufacturing landscape highlights success earned from determination and an open mind. This mentality also proved to be fruitful during her transition from her academic to professional career.   

In cognizance for their contributions, Dr. Clovis Raimundo Maliska is awarded the Alumni Achievement Medal for Professional Achievement and Dr. Gamal Refai-Ahmed the Alumni Achievement Medal for Academic Excellence. Their work introduces improved technological advancements and revolutionary research, fostering innovation and transformative action that will continue to benefit their respective industries.  

Connor Pryce, a 4A MME student, led the research that won the Student Poster Competition at the 2024 American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics (APS-DFD) conference, the largest international event in Fluid Mechanics—held in Salt Lake City, Utah.  

Four professors in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering have been awarded $4.4 million total from the Ontario Research Fund (ORF) to support research that will help drive innovation towards the province’s future.  

On March 20th and 25th, MME's 4th-year Capstone Design Symposium events were held in-person and showcased our latest and greatest in terms of talent and innovation. This year, there were over 100+ senior teams showcasing their projects and competing for a selection of awards from best product design, web design, prototype, innovation, presentation quality, among others. Below are the results of this year's award winners. 

Congratulations to the winners and to everyone that participated in the event!