Climate change and extreme weather continue to dominate headlines around the world. From devastating fires to unprecedented flooding, shifting to mitigation and adaptation strategies is crucial.
There’s no single approach to solving this global issue. Monitoring and managing complex natural systems requires interdisciplinary solutions.
Students walking into Engineering 7 this term are entering a building like no other. Since the first shovel went in the ground in November 2015, excitement has grown for our seven-storey, 242,000-square-foot building, which officially opens its doors on October 29. With its extraordinary facilities, we are ensuring our continued educational leadership while equipping students to tackle the truly difficult problems facing our society.
Here’s a sneak peek at seven of the many ways Engineering 7 provides a dynamic gateway to educating the engineer of the future.
It was an idea a Capstone Design team felt not only had merit but could potentially give barbershop owners a run for their money: a haircutting robot.
Two years ago, four mechatronics engineering students started working on a design for a robot that would primarily give men’s haircuts. You’d put a toonie in a slot and walk away with a number two buzz cut or another style.
Larry Smith loves a good problem — a fitting attitude for the director of the University of Waterloo’s new Problem Lab.
The Waterloo economics professor, who has taught 20 per cent of all engineering alumni, believes in the “simple principle” that before you go to fix something, you need to fully understand the problem.
Playing competitive online poker was so lucrative for Prem Kalevar (BASc ’12, Mechatronics) — earning him more than $400,000 in his last year of university alone — he considered turning his serious sideline into a full-time career.
But after watching classmates succeed as entrepreneurs and pursuing several business interests himself, including a student rental property and two technology startups, he opted to aim higher instead.
“I didn’t want to make my life about a card game,” he says.
From the design of the Waterloo Pump, which brought clean water to communities in developing countries, to the invention of the BlackBerry, which opened the floodgates for the ubiquitous smartphone, Waterloo Engineering students, graduates and researchers have made an indelible mark on the world.
And in a technological age that includes artificial intelligence, ever-faster wireless communications and soon-to-be-self-driving vehicles, that process of innovation and contribution is only accelerating.
More young women are likely to go into engineering if it is promoted as a profession for well-rounded people with a desire to serve society, researchers at Waterloo Engineering have found.
The results suggest that efforts to close the field’s gender gap should stress key reasons for women to pursue engineering in addition to the current approach of instilling confidence in their technical and academic abilities to succeed.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology may soon make it easier and cheaper to detect problems with roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructure.
Systems design engineering professor John Zelek has developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology to automatically detect potholes and other road defects using photographs.
Progress on new artificial intelligence (AI) technology by Waterloo Engineering researchers could improve monitoring at treatment plants to help ensure clean water and safeguard public health.
The researchers have developed AI software capable of identifying and quantifying different kinds of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, a threat to completely shut down water systems when it suddenly proliferates.
