Current students

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Preparing engineers to tackle complex design problems

by Brian Caldwell, Faculty of Engineering

To get at the heart of a unique design specialization within the Professional Master of Engineering (MEng) degree program at the University of Waterloo, instructor Oscar Nespoli likes to use chess as an analogy.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Eyeing the chance to finally go downhill on concrete toboggan

by Brian Caldwell, Faculty of Engineering

There is at least one advantage – and a bit of drawback – to being former rugby players and identical twin brothers on a concrete toboggan team.

Size, strength and symmetry make Russell and Graham Giles ideal pushers to get a 300-pound contraption with five helmeted passengers off to a fast, straight start at annual races.

And the drawback?

Their usefulness at the top of the hill means the Cambridge brothers have never actually got to ride in a toboggan with a concrete sliding surface as it hit speeds of up to 50 km/h on the way down.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

AI startup offers environmental protection

by Brian Caldwell, Faculty of Engineering

As a startup in the operational artificial intelligence (AI) sector, EMAGIN Clean Technologies Inc., is finding a receptive audience for a new system that uses AI for environmental protection as a means to help municipal utilities proactively improve their water and wastewater operations.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Lab-on-a-Chip device promises early health warnings from a tiny drop of blood

by Kira Vermond, Faculty of Engineering

Imagine worrying that you’re showing possible symptoms of diabetes, cancer, cardiac disease or Alzheimer’s.

Now imagine that instead of spending a restless night poring over medical websites and waiting anxiously for a doctor’s visit, you could simply pull out a device that took a miniscule droplet of blood and analyzed it in minutes.

If the results came back negative, it would be instant peace of mind.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Working with industry to improve Cyber Security technology

by Brian Caldwell, Faculty of Engineering

Portrait of Gord Agnew
Few people outside government and the military paid any attention to cryptography when Gord Agnew began pioneering work in the field in the early 1980s.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Climate change solutions are within our grasp, professor discovers

by Kira Vermond, Faculty of Engineering

Portrait of Keith Hipel
As he gave talks on climate change and energy use while in Asia, Keith Hipel often put a seemingly simple query to his audiences.

“What’s the worst possible car you could drive if you lived in Japan?” the University of Waterloo systems design engineering professor would ask.

The answers were predictable, typically involving the word ‘diesel’ and large, gas-guzzling vehicles.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Scaling the Eiffel Tower with Meccano

by Carol Truemner, Faculty of Engineering

Art Stokman jokes that instead of buying an expensive sports car when he turned 50, he marked the milestone birthday by taking up his childhood hobby.

The 1974 electrical engineering graduate decided to add to his small play-worn collection of red and green Meccano, a popular kids’ building toy of the early to mid-20th century. Hundreds of hours and over 10,600 pieces later, he completed a model of the iconic Eiffel Tower. Stokman’s labour of love currently stands tall in the main foyer of Waterloo Engineering’s E5.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Gearing up Autonomoose for a Canadian first

by Brian Caldwell, Faculty of Engineering

A little bit of history should be made this fall on Colby Drive, an otherwise unremarkable loop of pavement in an industrial area of Waterloo.

After more than a year of painstaking work, it’s where researchers at the University of Waterloo expect to become the first university-based team to test an autonomous car – cleverly nicknamed Autonomoose by students - on any public road in Canada.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Building on 50 years of experience

by Carol Truemner, Faculty of Engineering

In 1967, Canada celebrated its Centennial year, the University of Waterloo commemorated its 10th anniversary and Waterloo’s School of Architecture launched as part of the Faculty of Engineering.

To mark its 50th anniversary, Architecture hosted a special evening in June for students, faculty and alumni.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Additive manufacturing technology offers unlimited potential

by Brian Caldwell, Faculty of Engineering

Ehsan Toyserkani was at an air show in Paris this past summer when it hit home just how far word has spread on the newly expanded additive manufacturing (AM) laboratory at the University of Waterloo.

After sitting on a panel about AM and the aerospace industry, the mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor was approached by a representative of a multinational, multi-billion-dollar company to talk about possible collaboration.