Michael Worswick

Professor, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

Michael Worswick is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering of the University of Waterloo and is Executive Director of the Waterloo Node of the Advanced Manufacturing Consortium. He held a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in “Light Weight Materials Under Extreme Deformation: Forming and Impact” (2004-2018) and currently holds a University Research Chair under the same title. He co-Directs the Waterloo Forming and Crash Lab and leads a research program addressing fabrication of light weight automotive body and structural components and their crash safety performance. His research activities encompass structural crash worthiness, impact, high-strain-rate material behavior and sheet forming for weight reduction by the auto, aero and defence sectors, within one of the largest academic laboratories for such research. The major thrust of his research is the response of materials and structures under the gross deformation conditions associated with forming and impact. All told, a major research cluster has been established, centred on Worswick’s extensive industry collaborations. 

Highlights: 

• Published over 140 papers in refereed journals and more than 300 conference publications and industrial reports.  

• Has trained/is training more than 150 graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates.  

• Has led numerous multi-institution research programs, including multiple NSERC, CFI, ORF and ORDCF awards totaling over $100M in funded research projects, and conducts research with companies across the auto-sector supply chain. Highlights of this funding include: 

• Executive Director (Waterloo node) of the “Advanced Manufacturing Consortium”, a $40M provincial initiative with McMaster and Western Universities supporting the innovation needs of the Ontario Manufacturing Sector. 

• “Transportation Lightweighting for Clean, Efficient Vehicles and Human Protection”, Worswick, Cronin, Butcher, Montesano, others, 2017 CFI-Innovation Fund/Ontario Research Fund, Partner in-kind, $2,223,680  

• “Materials and Manufacturing for Light Weight Automotive Structures and Advanced Occupant Protection”, Worswick, McDermid (McMaster), others, Canada Foundation for Innovation - New Initiatives Fund 2009, Ontario Research Fund, Partner in-kind, $9,437,315 

• Founding Director of WatCAR, the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research.  

• Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Impact Engineering.  

• Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineers and Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International). 

Selected Publications: