Research

The next big innovation to hit the marketplace could be among the Waterloo student projects on display at the annual Capstone Design symposia, beginning this week. Members of the public and the media are invited to view the projects.

Senior-year engineering students at Waterloo will exhibit projects ranging from a  technology that reduces agricultural water waste through intelligent irrigation systems to a device that may help people with Parkinson`s disease avoid falls.

The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) named Rachel McDonald, from the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences at Waterloo, the winner of the national Co-op Student of the Year Award. This is the second year in a row a Waterloo student has won the CAFCE award. She also won the top prize in the province, the Education at Work Ontario (EWO) Co-op Student of the Year Award.

Nitrogen fertilizer applied to farmers’ fields has been contaminating rivers and lakes and leaching into drinking water wells for more than 80 years. The study, published this week in a special issue of the journal Environmental Research Letters, reveals that elevated nitrate concentrations in rivers and lakes will remain high for decades, even if farmers stop applying nitrogen fertilizers today. 

“The field of AI has progressed rapidly over the past five years, to the point that many AI algorithms can solve problems that were previously the dominion of humans — things like recognizing faces, and playing chess,” said Prof Orchard.  “Go is seen as the final frontier of board games. What distinguishes AlphaGo from other game-playing methods is its human-like strategy for assessing possible moves.”

So far, the artificial intelligence system has won the first two of five rounds.

Exterior view of SLC/PAC Expansion from BMH Green (Credit: CS&P Architects)

The project will see the University add a climbing wall overlooking campus, and triple the size of its fitness centre expanding over two floors the project will also enhance the food service options available and triple the amount of space for dining.

Canada’s Federal Minister of Science, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, toured the University of Waterloo’s innovative research spaces this week to learn about how innovations developed here will fundamentally change the fabric of society. 

“You come to a place like this and you feel the energy of the university and all the fields coming together,” said Duncan. “It’s phenomenal; it’s exciting.”

Seven researchers at the University of Waterloo are receiving more than $3.9 million to collaborate with Canadian-based companies and government organizations on strategic research projects.

The University of Waterloo is hosting the event, which will focus on innovative approaches to tackling global health challenges ranging from refugee crises and climate change to epidemic outbreaks.

Three of the top research-intensive and industrially collaborative universities in Ontario – McMaster University, University of Waterloo and Western University – received $35 million in funding over five years from the Government of Ontario today as part of a $50 million project aimed at combining existing strengths in the heart of Ontario’s manufacturing region to create an Advanced Manufacturing Consortium.

The Evidence Room, created by Waterloo School of Architecture professors Anne Bordeleau, Donald McKay, Robert Jan van Pelt, and colleague Sascha Hastings, along with a team of Waterloo students, will be on display in the Central Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, Italy from May 28 to November 27, 2016.