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The Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) program is investing in new cutting-edge equipment for undergraduate student use. The NE program focuses on experiential hands-on learning on the latest equipment for its undergraduate students. The program recently purchased an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) with glancing-incidence capabilities to characterize thin films even down to 100 nanometers thick.

Housed alongside a powder-only XRD instrument in NE’s Davis Centre labs, this new model will serve as an educational resource for undergraduate students in the program. With a price tag of approximately $120,000, the XRD represents a substantial investment in the NE program. This will allow students to access technology which combines research-level capability with hands-on learning.

Darshan Parmar, Class of 2019, works as a Pixel Development Engineer at Apple. He develops innovative new camera technologies that are used by millions of people around the world. He credits a large part of his success to experiences and the connections he made in the Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) Program at U Waterloo. It was another UWaterloo alumnus who referred him to his current job.

The co-op jobs Parmar enjoyed during his undergrad degree were foundational to his career journey. He had an exciting co-op position in Singapore at the National University of Singapore as a research assistant. He worked in optical system development at Lumentum in Ottawa and as an optics specialist at P & P Optica.

Nicholas Pfeifle began his journey as a student in the nanotechnology engineering (NE) program at the University of Waterloo in 2018. Pfeifle is part of the graduating class of 2024 and is the newly elected WUSA (Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association) president. Pfeifle reflects on his academic and extracurricular experiences in the NE program, emphasizing the impact they have had on his personal and professional development.

Pfeifle recalls that in the first week of his undergraduate degree in NE 109, Societal and Environmental Impact of Nanotechnology, Professor Howard Siu taught students about the ethical and environmental standards for engineers. Siu’s lecture had a profound effect on Pfeifle. This course on engineering ethics became a cornerstone of Pfeifle's personal philosophy, instilling a deep sense of responsibility and compassion.

The journey toward aerogel research began for three students in Nanotechnology Engineering’s (NE) third-year Soft Nanomaterials course. The concept which captured the students’ interest was the hierarchical design and assembly of nanomaterials, which involves structuring materials at multiple scales.

“The Soft Nanomaterials course was a really cool course! What stuck with me after the lecture was the idea that nanomaterials can have a hierarchical design with different levels of structure at different scales, from nano- all the way to macro-scale. The idea to achieve extraordinary properties by controlling materials features at different levels was fascinating.” said Anthony Keen, an NE student.

The connections between in-classroom, extracurriculars and co-op are building a truly well-rounded engineering foundation.

It wasn’t a question of whether Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) student Michael would end up at Waterloo Engineering, only which program within the faculty he would be in.

Michael had been sold on engineering as his career path from his childhood days of playing Lego, to the point where he said he wanted to be an engineer during a career presentation in elementary school. After learning about NE and the broad range of applications offered for his future, he was sold on the program.

“I definitely say coming to Waterloo Engineering was the best choice I could have made in terms of propelling my career forward,” says Michael. “It is invaluable to graduate with two years of work experience and co-op is formed in a way which helps you discover who you are in terms of in engineering and being an engineer.”

Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) alumni Helen Engelhardt (BASc ’24) has been named as a “Top Prospect” by The Logic.

During her studies in Nanotechnology Engineering, Engelhardt worked on reducing emissions, energy storage, scaling cutting-edge technology, and promoting recycling for a circular economy. Her impactful research has been published in multiple scientific journals, and she has also made proprietary technological advancements in mRNA vaccine manufacturing and battery recycling.

Engelhardt enjoyed a variety of co-op positions during her undergraduate degree which included SiTration a recycling start-up based at MIT and the National Research Council of Canada, Nanotechnology Research Centre as a research and development intern.

Team 12 was a big winner at this year's Capstone Symposium. Their Team took first place for the Nanotechnology Engineering Fourth-Year Poster and Prototype, and received the Norman Esch Engineering Entrepreneurship Award. Their project was titled “MedSens: Intrabody Force Sensing Advancement for Medical Probing”.

Team members William Kim, Andres Miranda, Andrei Perez, Brian Periku and Yunheng Zou were supervised by Dr. Peng Peng at the Centre of Advanced Materials Joining. The team has developed cutting-edge technology designed to enhance the safety and precision of endoscopic procedures.

Team 12’s project addresses a critical issue for surgeons performing procedures, particularly endoscopies where success hinges on the surgeon's skill. During these procedures, it is often hard for surgeons to tell how much force they are exerting on the patient’s body.

Nanotechnology Engineering Team 18 won this year’s Esch Competition with their project GeneDetek. Team members Karla Castro, Andrea Parra, Sara Thompson, and Nube Torres developed an electrochemical biosensor for genetic mutation detection.

Depression is a complex mental health condition that affects millions worldwide. For many patients, finding an effective treatment can be a daunting challenge, often complicated by adverse side effects of prescription drugs.

Capstone Team 2 had two big wins at this year’s Capstone Design Symposium. They won the Baylis Medical Award along with Team 3. They also won the UN Sustainable Development Goal Award for the Nanotechnology Engineering Program. The team’s project was titled “ A+ Blood Typing”.

This team aimed to address the increasing demand for O-negative blood for blood transfusions. The demand for O-negative blood, also known as the "universal donor" blood type, is high because it can be safely transfused to patients of any blood type in emergency situations. This is critical when there isn't enough time to determine the patient's blood type. O-negative blood use is crucial in trauma situations, where quick transfusions are necessary to save lives.

The members of Capstone Project Team 6 are very passionate about sustainability. Their project aim was to discover solutions to problems that harm the environment. The group chose to concentrate on the critical problem of microplastics in wastewater. Microplastics are not only harmful to delicate ecosystems but also pose a threat to human health, as well as land and marine life.

The project was called MicroSeize. Team members areRyan Ellis, Helen Engelhardt, Alex Matos, and Matthew Scarfo. They developed a scalable methodology for capturing common plastics that other methods cannot retrieve, such as polystyrene and PET microplastics, from wastewater. Most of their testing was conducted on polystyrene because it creates the smallest microplastics.