Mary Wells, PEng (She/Her)

Mary Wells is Dean of Engineering at the University of Waterloo (July 1, 2020 - ), the ninth dean since the Faculty was founded in 1957. From 2017-2020, she was Dean of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Guelph.

Prior to her time in Guelph, Wells was a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo for 10 years. She received awards for graduate supervision from both the Faculty and the University in 2017.

An accomplished materials engineer, Wells also served as the Associate Dean of Outreach for Waterloo Engineering between 2008 and 2017, and chaired its Women in Engineering committee for many years. She chaired the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering from 2013 to 2018.

Wells began her academic career as a professor in materials engineering at the University of British Columbia from 1996 to 2007, and has worked in the steel industry in Canada and internationally.

The co-author of two books including one on Canadian women innovators and the second on Canadian women in materials, her research focuses on the relationship between processing, structure and properties for advanced metallic alloys used in the transportation sector.

• 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.

• 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