Future students

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.

Duleeka Ranatunga proved the strength of his belief in his business idea when he entered – and won – a startup competition known as the Wolves Summit last year.

Held biannually in Warsaw, Poland, the contest is widely celebrated as a gathering of engineers, designers and other innovators. It’s also an opportunity for entrepreneurs to get in front of investors to make five-minute pitches.

Assorted hands and arms are starting to overtake Soo Jeon’s office – but he doesn’t mind in the least.

A professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo, he is focused on finding a solution to a key issue in the burgeoning field of robotics.

The biggest Cybersecurity threat most organizations face doesn’t come from an anonymous hacker halfway around the world.

Instead, it’s someone within their own walls: a disgruntled employee who wants to wreak havoc, a “trusted” third-party contractor, or even a well-meaning worker inadvertently exposing the company to dangerous malware.

For smaller organizations, keeping sensitive material out of the wrong hands is a pretty straightforward process.

The first few weeks after a stroke – when the brain is best able to rewire and reorganize itself to give victims a chance at recovery – are vital.

Unfortunately, while about 62,000 Canadians suffer strokes each year, of survivors with moderate to severe impairment, only 37 per cent receive rehabilitation in the weeks immediately afterwards.

When Luisa San Martin heard about Blueprint on a co-op term at Google in Seattle, she knew the student team was the ideal fit for Waterloo.

Started at UC Berkeley in 2012, Blueprint partners with not-for-profit organizations to create technology such as websites, mobile applications and analysis tools — all free of charge.

“Some of my fellow interns at Google were members of the team in California,” says San Martin, a software engineering student.  “When I found out more about it, I thought it was a really cool idea and one that I wanted to bring to Waterloo.”

When delegates gathered in San Francisco for a big annual conference in his field earlier in 2016, Raafat Mansour was eager to find out how many of his former Waterloo Engineering graduate students were among them.

It has become his tradition to hold a dinner for former and current PhD students who attend the IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS).

Alexander Wong is explaining the concept at the core of his groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) research when he realizes a comparison would probably help.

What happens when systems design engineering alumni from the class of ’91 get together for a few drinks at their 25^th reunion weekend?

Besides the usual trip down memory lane over beers, someone came up with the idea to redecorate the fourth-year lounge in Engineering 5. Included in the redecorating, led by Chris Pratley, Christine Hepburn and Philip Willow, was an impulsive purchase of almost $2,000 worth of furniture for students none of the alumni group had met.   

Here’s how Pratley tells the story: