Mary Wells, PEng (She/Her)

Dr. Mary Wells is dean of engineering at the University of Waterloo, home to Canada's largest engineering school. A materials engineer by training, she is recognized nationally as a leading voice shaping the future of engineering education, research and talent in Canada.

Across industry, academia and public service, Wells has built a career connecting people and ideas to address complex challenges. Before returning to Waterloo, she was dean of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Guelph (2017 – 2020) and previously held faculty appointments at the University of British Columbia (1996 – 2007) and the University of Waterloo (2007 – 2017) and worked in the steel industry both in Canada and abroad.

As Chair of Engineering Deans Canada, Wells leads national discussions on the evolution of engineering education, working with government and industry to strengthen innovation and diversify the engineering talent pipeline. She also serves on the Government of Canada's AI Strategy Task Force, contributing expertise on public trust in emerging technologies, and is a member of the TRuST Collective, a national network advancing confidence in science and technology.

A Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Wells is also an accomplished researcher whose work in metallurgical processing has informed aerospace, automotive and manufacturing sectors.

• Process modelling

• Hot deformation of metallic materials

• Casting of light metals

• Boiling water heat transfer

• Microstructure/Processing Models

• Automotive

• Digital Factories

• Lightweight Materials

• Structural Crashworthiness

• Additive Manufacturing

• 1996, Doctorate Metals and Materials Engineering, University of British Columbia, Canada

• 1987, Bachelor's Metallurgical Engineering, McGill University, Canada

• 2017 Engineers Canada Award - Support for Women in Engineering

• 2017 Fellow Engineers Canada

• 2018 Fellow Canadian Academy of Engineering

• 2018 Distinguished Lecturer CIM (2018-2019) “Magnesium Alloy Forgings for Automotive Applications”

• 2020 Canadian Metallurgical Society Silver Medal

• 2021 Fellow Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (UK)

• 2021 International Magnesium Association Award of Excellence in the “Wrought Product Category” (team award)

• GENE 499 - Special Topics in Fourth-Year Engineering
  • Taught in 2022, 2023, 2024

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Abolhasani, Atekeh and Langelier, Brian and Worswick, Michael J and Wells, Mary A and Esmaeili, Shahrzad, Experimental analysis and modelling of natural aging in AA7xxx Al alloys, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 164344, 2022

• Prakash, Paresh and Wells, Mary A and Williams, Bruce W, Hot deformation of cast AZ31 and AZ80 magnesium alloys--Influence of Al content on microstructure and texture development, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 162876, 2022

• Gryguc, Andrew and Behravesh, SB and Jahed, H and Wells, M and Williams, B and Gruber, R and Duquett, A and Sparrow, T and Lambrou, M and Su, X, Effect of thermomechanical processing defects on fatigue and fracture behaviour of forged magnesium, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 213, 2021

• Benoit, MJ and Ogunsanya, IG and Winkler, S and Worswick, MJ and Wells, MA and Hansson, CM, Internal Corrosion of Warm Formed Aluminum Alloy Automotive Heat Exchangers, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 2876, 2021

• Wang, Yu and Zang, Andrew and Mahmoodkhani, Yahya and Wells, Mary and Poole, Warren and Parson, Nick, The Effect of Bridge Geometry on Microstructure and Texture Evolution During Porthole Die Extrusion of an Al--Mg--Si--Mn--Cr Alloy, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 3503, 2021

• Gryguć, Andrew and Behravesh, Seyed Behzad and Jahed, Hamid and Wells, Mary and Williams, Bruce and Gruber, Rudy and Duquette, Alex and Sparrow, Tom and Prsa, Jim and Su, Xuming, A Method for Comparing the Fatigue Performance of Forged AZ80 Magnesium, Metals, 1290, 2021

• Dean of Engineering appointed to Order of Ontario
• Door to higher education needs to be kept open for young men, dean says
• Dean Wells calls out the GenAI risks to women
• Dean Wells calls science centre closures short-sighted
• Dean Wells tempers the AI hype
• Dean Wells and Prof. Yu named among Canada's most powerful women
• Dean Wells calls for greater TRuST in science and technology
• Trust in science and technology starts with conversations
• Recognizing Women Engineers
• Dean argues for continuing support of tech startups
• Dean urges universities to promote STEM diversity
• Dean, lecturer offer advice to engineering graduates
• Honouring the December 6 victims
• December 6 attacker could not hold women back
• New dean named for Waterloo Engineering
• Engineers are 'hidden heroes' in COVID-19 battle