Faculty of Engineering

Prof. Lien has 30 years of experience developing and systematically applying Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to a wide range of fluid mechanics and multi-physics problems, such as wind energy, urban flow and dispersion modeling, aerodynamics, aeroacoustics and aero-elasticity. His current research interests in wind energy include wind turbine wakes, wake-induced fatigue analysis, wind turbine pitch control, wind turbine noise prediction/reduction, micro-siting of a wind farm and AI-based wind power forecasting.

Dr. Sagar Naik’s research interests focus on: (i) monitoring of physical systems to ensure their safe operations using wireless sensor networks; (ii) monitoring of wireless devices in cyber-physical systems to detect their anomalous behavior; (iii) designing secure and efficient communication protocols for vehicular networks; (iv) designing energy harvesting sensor modules for sustainable communication in harsh communication environments; and (v) software testing and quality assurance. 

Yimin Wu is an assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology (WIN), Director of Materials Interfaces Foundry, at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Wu received his DPhil degree in Materials from the University of Oxford on 2D electronics in 2013. Then, he worked as a SinBeRise Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Dr. Parsin Haji Reza is an award-winning teacher, researcher, entrepreneur, published novelist, and inventor of photoacoustic remote sensing (PARS^®) microscopy. His research explores designing and developing novel hardware and software methods for clinical and pre-clinical biomedical applications. These new technologies aim to provide clinicians and researchers with novel capabilities and information that is presently difficult to obtain with existing techniques. He invented and pioneered several new technologies/concepts including, Photoacoustic Remote Sensing (PARS^®) microscopy, a novel absorption-based, non-contact, non-invasive, label-free imaging technique. He also is the co-founder of illumiSonics Inc., where he holds position of CTO and Chairman of the Board.

Dr. Azad’s primary research interests lie in: (i) intelligent controls and automation with applications to automotive systems as well as autonomous systems like automated vehicles and drones, and (ii) innovative applications of AI methods to solve complex modeling, optimization, control, and automation problems. He has over 70 publications in peer-reviewed journals and received an Early Researcher Award in 2015 from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.

Dr. Shafiee is an AI researcher; his research interest is mainly on machine learning models especially deep learning and graphical models with different applications in computer vision. He has extensive industrial research experience in leading many large-scale industrial and academic projects collaborating with companies like Microsoft and Intel. He has several best papers award on designing efficient, operational, and robust machine learning models.

Increases funding for Engineering’s research enterprise through large-scale, strategic initiatives in partnership with industry and government funding agencies; Promotes Engineering’s research capacity and expertise to external parties, and supports Engineering researchers’ applications to government programs.

Baris Fidan is a Professor in Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering, with cross appointment in System Design Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Dr. Mehrdad Pirnia, a PhD Waterloo alumnus in Electrical and Computer Engineering, is a faculty member and Graduate Attributes lecturer in the Department of Management Sciences. His main research focus is enhancing the operation and planning of energy and transportation systems through artificial intelligence, optimization and stochastic techniques. He has previously held positions with California ISO, ALSTOM Grid, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

John Z. Wen is a Professor with the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and is cross appointed to the Chemical Engineering department at the University of Waterloo. He is also the Director of the Laboratory for Emerging Energy Research at the university and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) and the Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineering (CSME).