Future students

Our Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing Lab has continued to lead innovation in sustainable 3D printing technologies for industries worldwide. To recognize its continued success, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) announced an investment of $5 million in the lab.   

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.  

A group of students, which included a few undergraduates from the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering department, got together with students in Systems Design Engineering, friends from Math, and even one of their good friends from the University of Cambridge to build the Grumobile from Despicable Me—just for fun!   

Two graduate students in MME are celebrating the win of a scholarship for students who have exemplified their skills and leadership abilities in the Materials Science and Manufacturing labs in the department. The award is named in memory of distinguished mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor Paul Niessen, along with Cominco Ltd, an organization Niessen had a long association with.

Keep reading to learn more about this year’s award winners and the research they are working on:

Back in 2004, the Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing (MSAM) Lab was established in a tiny but valuable 150-square-foot space in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering. Twenty years later, it is the largest metal additive manufacturing academic research lab in Canada, housing over $25 million in infrastructure and is one of the best university-based research facilities in the world.   

A research collaboration between a recent MME PhD graduate and the Director of the School of Architecture has investigated the use of microalgae and machine learning to create an energy source from the walls of regular office buildings.