MME professor Amir Khajepour has been elected as a fellow to the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE)--one of the highest honours the profession bestows in Canada.
University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT), a mechanical and mechatronics-focused team, has been selected from among 20 universities across North America and is one of two Canadian universities to compete in the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge on the Stellantis track.
As research into cancer and potential treatments advances, life expectancy from past treatments continues to grow. However, this amazing progress is not without challenges; lymphedema remains a difficult-to-address complication. Lymphedema happens when lymph nodes are damaged or removed during radiation treatments, which stops lymphatic fluid from properly draining and can cause painful swelling. This is treated with compression therapy. However, the devices used are large and bulky, requiring significant power to operate. These factors make the device quite expensive, often costing up to $3,000, and require the patient to sit still while it runs.
A research team led by Dr. Amir Khajepour, professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, has developed a new technology that uses cloud-based autonomous robots for routine tasks, such as moving equipment and supplies in hospitals and long-term care facilities.
Jeswin Joeseph, a PhD candidate, won the Finalists’ Choice Award at the annual GRADflix competition, where students create a 60-second video to showcase their research to a general audience.
Dr. Yimin Wu and PhD student Wei Wei, in mechanical and mechatronics engineering, are turning plastic waste into acetic acid, a main ingredient of vinegar, using sunlight as a natural resource.
Kitchener-based health-technology company Vena Medical started as a fourth-year design project by Michael Phillips and Phillip Cooper (both BASc ‘18, mechanical engineering) in Waterloo Engineering and has only continued to grow since then.
Toronto-based construction company, Brickeye, was founded in 2014 by Waterloo MME alumni Richard Liang (BASc ’12, MASc ’14), Hamid Alemohammad (PhD ’10), Amir Azhari (PhD ’17), and Alex Fuentes (BASc ’00).
Three mechatronics engineering graduates have been aiming big since graduation. Stephen Lake, Matthew Bailey, and Aaron Grant, who all graduated from mechatronics engineering at Waterloo in 2012, founded Thalmic Labs, a startup that was rooted in their Capstone Design project.
Two MME students have received the annual Paul-Niessen Teck Award, established in memory of distinguished professor Paul Niessen from the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering. The distinction is awarded to students who demonstrate leadership and skill in materials science and manufacturing within the department.