Member

Hamid Jahed is a Professor in the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Department. He is the Director of the Fatigue and Stress Analysis Laboratory (FATSLab) at the University of Waterloo. Professor Jahed’s research interests lie in the mutiscale characterization, modelling, and life enhancement of lightweight materials under cyclic loading, and the development of solid-state additive manufacturing using cold spray technology. Jahed has received several awards including Faculty of Engineering and Sandford Fleming Foundation Teaching Excellence Award, and Engineering Research Excellence Award. 

Fatma Gzara is an Associate Professor with the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo. Her research interests lie in the areas of optimization, network models, supply chain management, transportation risk and logistics. Currently, she uses bi-level mathematical modelling to determine the routes that trucks carrying hazardous materials will be most likely to take. Professor Gzara gathers real data and uses it to keep residential and industrial areas safe. In the last few years, she has written articles for journals such as Operations Research Letters, Telecommunication Systems, and the European Journal of Operational Research. 

Dr. Ewa Niechwiej-Szwedo completed her graduate work at the University of Toronto and joined the University of Waterloo in 2012. Her research program is grounded in systems neuroscience and focuses on discovering the fundamental mechanisms involved in the central nervous system control of eye and hand movements across the lifespan. She has expertise in the field of visuomotor neuroscience, including gaze behaviour, hand-eye coordination, motor skill development and learning. 

Dr. Eric Croiset is a Chemical Engineering professor and former department chair. Croiset was awarded his doctorate from Universite d'Orleans in 1996 and has research interests in alternative energy, reaction engineering and sustainable energy management. He also researches the optimization of carbon dioxides capture processes, having collaborated with CanmetENERGY, Natural Resources Canada.

Dr. Su-Yin Tan is a Continuing Lecturer in the Geomatics Program, Teaching Fellow of the Faculty of Environment, and Director of the Applied Geomatics Research Laboratory at the University of Waterloo, Canada. She previously served as the Associate Director of the UW Aviation program and supported program review/accreditation and curriculum design. She is also a faculty member of the International Space University (ISU) based in Strasbourg, France, where she has served in the roles of Core Chair and Space Applications Department Chair for the Space Studies Program (SSP) and lectures at the Masters of Space Studies (MSS) program and Executive Space Courses at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. 

David Del Rey Fernández is an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo, Department of Applied Mathematics. Before joining the University of Waterloo, he was first a postdoctoral researcher and then a research scientist at NASA Langley Research Center and the National Institute of Aerospace. His research interest is in developing efficient and robust numerical algorithms for the solution of partial differential equations based on novel numerical methods with provable properties, applicable to high-performance computing systems. David’s research is focused on developing the mathematics and algorithms for the efficient solution of a broad class of time-dependent partial differential equations in the context of mathematically rigorous numerical frameworks. In particular, the emphasis is on:1) robust numerical methods, 2) mesh adaptation, 3) approaches for dealing with geometric complexity and moving meshes, and 4) machine-learning algorithms for automation and increased efficiency. 

Dr. Suzanne Kearns is an aviation academic with a focus on education and optimizing pilot performance, receiving her PhD from Capella University in 2007. Her research explores how to optimize the next generation of aviation professionals (NGAP) by analyzing processes to attract people to the field of aviation, optimizing and innovating the traditional education pathway, and improving the retention of professionals within the field. She is a former airplane and helicopter pilot and is internationally recognized within the aviation industry.

Dr. Evan Risko is currently an associate professor and a Canada Research Chair in Embodied and Embedded Cognition in the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo. Since receiving his PhD at the University of Waterloo, he has been pursuing his research interests in issues related to the embodied and embedded nature of cognition and the utilization of cognitive psychology to help improve practices in education and training. He has published over 100 papers, received research funding from numerous agencies (i.e., NSERC, SSHRC, CFI), worked with numerous industry partners and received various accolades for his research including Early Career awards from the Psychonomic Society, the Province of Ontario, and the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science.

Katherine White, PhD joined the Psychology Department at the University of Waterloo in 2010, after completing her PhD in Cognitive Science at Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island, USA) and postdoctoral research in the department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester (Rochester, New York, USA). She studies the earliest stages of language development in infants and toddlers. 

A focus on sustainable energy conversion and chemical production processes! XiaoYu Wu is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering. He obtained his PhD and was a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)He also obtained his MS and BS degrees in Zhejiang University. He is enthusiastic about sustainability, especially how clean technologies can impact sustainability and how developing countries can incorporate sustainability in development. He has published papers in journals such as Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, AIChE Journal and ChemSusChem. He serves as the Guest Associate Editor in an open-access journal Frontiers in Energy Research for a theme collection of “Sustainable Hydrogen for Energy, Fuel and Commodity Applications.”