March 18, 2024
Waterloo researchers awarded more than $51.2 million
Fifty-six researchers receive Government of Canada funding to solve some of humanity’s most critical problems
Waterloo researchers continue to shine as unconventional leaders and problem-solvers for some of the world’s pressing issues. From research projects in geothermal energy and storage, security and cryptography to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the environment, the breadth of our researchers’ work is unmatched.
Recently, Waterloo researchers were awarded more than $51.2 million to support their research projects.
The announcement was made by the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport and Quebec Lieutenant, on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry at l’Université de Montréal.
"When we invest in science and innovation, we are investing in our well-being and prosperity,” Rodriquez says. “Our researchers continue to distinguish themselves internationally and, by supporting them, we are helping them to continue to improve our quality of life, fight climate change and inspire the next generation of researchers across the country and around the world.”
Six Waterloo researchers will receive funding through the Innovation Fund under the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The CFI is a non-profit corporation that invests in research infrastructure at Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions.
Scott Hopkins
Associate Professor, Chemistry
$10,006,500
Project title: A Canadian Free Electron Laser
The Canadian Free Electron Laser (FEL) project will be getting $10 million in funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to put towards the $50+ million facility to be built on the Waterloo Campus. The facility will enable fundamental science concerned with monitoring energy flow through molecules and materials, with applications in light harvesting and photo-control of molecular properties. New research in chemical, spatial and temporal mapping of living biological materials will also become possible. The FEL will be an important tool for nanotechnology researchers who are interested in probing nanostructured materials and developing, for example, new sensors, as well as investigators who are interested in exploring the effects of radiation on molecules, materials and biological systems.
Dipanjan Basu
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
$2,723,302
Project title: Geothermal Energy and Energy Geo-storage Research Laboratory
Kaan Erkorkmaz
Professor, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
$6,458,020
Project title: Canadian Technology Accelerator for Digital Transformation of Manufacturing (CAN-DX)
Ian Goldberg
Professor, Cheriton School of Computer Science
$800,000
Project title: UPSCOPE: Understanding Privacy, Security, and Cryptography in Online and Physical Environments
Christopher Hudson and Elizabeth Irving
School of Optometry and Vision Science
$2,362,150
Project title: Canadian Vision Imaging Center (CVIC)
Hamid Jahed
Professor, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
$8,123,420
Project title: Canadian Alliance in Cold Spray Technology (CACST)
Nine Waterloo researchers have been named new or renewing Canada Research Chairs (CRC): (cycle 2022-2). The CRC program invests up to $311 million per year to attract and retain some of the world’s most accomplished and promising minds. Chairholders aim to achieve research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social sciences.
Talena Atfield
Canada Research Chair in Tentewatenikonhra'khánion (We Will Put Our Minds Together) — *New
Andrew Bauer
Canada Research Chair in Taxation, Governance and Risk — *Renewed
Zahid Butt
Canada Research Chair in Interdisciplinary Research for Pandemic Preparedness — *New
Kaylena Ehgoetz Martens
Canada Research Chair in Gait and Neurodegeneration — *New
Chris Eliasmith
Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Neuroscience — *Renewed
Laura Hug
Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology — *Renewed
Aukosh Jagannath
Canada Research Chair in Mathematical Foundations of Data Science — *New
Luis Ricardez-Sandoval
Canada Research Chair in Multiscale Modelling and Process Systems — *Renewed
Ruodu Wang
Canada Research Chair in Quantitative Risk Management — *New
Three Waterloo researchers will receive additional funding under the CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). The John R. Evans Leaders Fund helps institutions attract and retain researchers and provides support for the Canada Research Chairs program.
Aukosh Jagannath
Assistant Professor, Statistics and Actuarial Science
$80,000
Project title: Mathematical Foundations of Data Science
Kaylena Ehgoetz Martens
Assistant Professor, Kinesiology
$100,000
Project title: Can Gait Identify and Predict Brain Health?
Ruodu Wang
Professor, Statistics and Actuarial Science
$80,000
Project title: Quantitative Risk Management Lab
An additional 28 Waterloo researchers will receive more than $13.7 million in Alliance grants. Alliance grants encourage university researchers to collaborate with partner organizations, which can be from the private, public or not-for-profit sectors. These grants support research projects led by strong, complementary, collaborative teams that will generate new knowledge and accelerate the application of research results to create benefits for Canada.
Dayan Ban
Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Near-Infrared Micro-Light Emitting Diodes for Biomedical Applications
$120,000
Jonathan Baugh
Professor, Faculty of Science
Project title: Next-Generation Photonic Source to Enable Quantum Remote Sensing and Communications
$1,481,200
Timothy Brecht
Professor, Cheriton School of Computer Science
Project title: Real-Time Hockey-Analytics Using Puck and Player Tracking Data
$59,929
Cliff Butcher
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Characterization and Modelling of an Advanced 7xxx-Series Aluminum Alloy in Hot Forming for Enhanced Lightweighting and Crash Safety
$167,692
Naveen Chandrashekar
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Design, Development and Evaluation of Smart Grip Force Monitoring Device for Industrial Use
$64,567
C. Perry Chou
Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Novel Strain Engineering and Bioprocessing Strategies for Microbial Production of Heme and Its Porphyrin Precursors
$202,500
David Del Rey Fernandez
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Mathematics
Project title: Provably Stable Reduced Basis Methods
$25,000
David Del Rey Fernandez
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Mathematics
Project title: Entropy Stable and Asymptotic Preserving Discretizations of Kinetic Models for Fluid Flow Problems
$97,998
Goretty Maria Dias
Associate Professor, Faculty of Environment
Project title: Decision Support Tool to Characterize the Energy Use, Impacts and Profitability of Biofertilizers and Alternative Technologies in Controlled Environment Agriculture
$35,000
Ayman El-Hag
Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: A Drone-based Inspection System for Outdoor Insulators
$25,000
Paul Fieguth
Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: High-Resolution Projector-Camera and LED-Wall Display Calibration
$80,000
Adrian Gerlich
Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Optimization of Filler Wire and Post-Weld Treatment in AHSS Laser Welds
$174,600
Adrian Gerlich
Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: High Speed Droplet Transfer and Feedback Control in Arc Welding
$265,667
Carl Haas
Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Masonry, Masons and Machines: Leveraging Augmented Reality to Improve Productivity, Health and Safety Outcomes
$320,000
Carl Haas
Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Digitization and Asset Information Modeling to Support Planning for Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning
$212,295
Roland Hall
Professor, Faculty of Science
Project title: 'Pre-release' Baselines for Compounds of concern in Lakes of the Peace-Athabasca Delta Before Treated Oil Sands Process Water is Discharged to the Athabasca River
$59,288
Jean-Pierre Hickey
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Clustering Dynamics of Particles on Our Turbulent Waterways
$25,000
Trevor Hrynyk
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Toward Hybrid GFRP/FRC Construction for Sustainable Next Generation Concrete Infrastructure
$106,200
Soo Jeon
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Realtime Reinforcement Learning for Mechatronic Systems with Non-Stationary Behaviors
$25,000
Kunho Eugene Kim
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Cost effective Retrofit of Ageing Concrete Bridge Components Using Iron-based Shape Memory Alloy (Fe-SMA) Composites
$62,000
Jan Kycia
Professor, Faculty of Science
Project title: Low Temperature Material Characterization of Superconducting Devices for Quantum Computing
$1,113,491
Yuning Li
Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Development of Solid Electrolytes Based on Novel Oxirane-based Polymers
$270,000
Juewen Liu
Professor, Faculty of Science
Project title: Aptamer-based Biosensors for Monitoring Carbamazepine, A Drug with a Narrow Therapeutic Window
$48,000
Adrian Lupascu
Associate Professor, Faculty of Science
Project title: Development of a Scalable Superconducting Quantum Computing Platform Based on Fluxonium Qubits
$1,137,724
Sushanta Mitra
Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: High Throughput Ferrofluid Encapsulation using Magnet
$25,000
Giovanni Montesano
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Advanced Structural Analysis Toolchain to Support the Development of Lightweight Composite Airframes for High-speed Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles
$80,000
Michael Reimer
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Portable Semiconductor Nanowire Quantum Sensors with Enhanced Efficiency and Timing Resolution
$1,500,000
Rebecca Rooney
Associate Professor, Faculty of Science
Project title: Restoring Urban Meadow: The Meadoway
$772,235
Ehsan Toyserkani
Professor and Canada Research Chair, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Holistic Innovation in Additive Manufacturing 2.0 (HI-AM 2.0): Capitalizing on Prior Achievements and Exploring New Frontiers in Directed Energy Deposition Processes
$3,498,073
James Tung
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Foot-based Sensor Fusion for Ambulatory Gait Analysis for Occupational Health and Safety
$30,000
Lan Wei
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Towards Large-scale Spin Qubit Quantum Computers: Simulation, Modeling and Experiment
$1,690,122
Thirteen Waterloo researchers will also receive funding through 2023 Insight Development Grants, totaling more than $650,000. Insight Development Grants support research in its early stages and enable the development of new research questions, as well as experimentation with new methods, theoretical approaches and ideas. Funding is available to both emerging scholars and established scholars for research initiatives of up to two years.
Nazli Akhtari
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts
Project title: Archival Animations in the Global Iranian Disapora
$72,080
Katherine Bruce-Lockhart
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts
Project title: Beyond the Mandela Rule: Global Governance, Prisoners’ Rights, and “Universal” Prision Rules from the 19th-21st Centuries
$62,461
Ada Hurst & Frank Safayeni
Continuing Lecturer and Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project title: Understanding Collaborative Design Problem Framing by Novice Engineers: Implications for Engineering Design Education
$42,418
Adan Jerreat-Poole
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts
Project title: Disabled Feminists and Digital Storytelling: Zine-Making Pandemic Lives
$21,330
Samuel Johnson
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts
Project title: Mental Task Management Theory
$62,989
Logan McDonald
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts
Project title: Environmental Scan of Indigenous Artists in Archives
$75,000
Katherine Misener
Associate Professor, Faculty of Science
Project title: Disrupting the Norms of Community Sport Through Co-Participation of Parents and Children
$74,974
Juan Moreno-Cruz
Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair, Faculty of Environment
Project title: The Role of Narratives on Sustainable Food Consumption
$72,928
Elizabeth Nilsen and Edith Law
Professor, Faculty of Arts and Associate Professor, Cheriton School of Computer Science
Project title: Associations Between Children’s Characteristics and Their Perceptions of, Strategies Toward, and Learning from Teachable Robots
$66,461
Manaal Fahim Syed
Assistant Professor, Renison University College
Project title: Intergenerationality in the COVID-19 Crisis: Evolving Definitions and Relations Between Older and Younger Generations in Immigrant Families and Society
$61,469
Keisuke Teeple
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts
Project title: Financial Market Tatonnement
$44,820
