Profiles

Bruce is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Environment. He is an Urban Planner and Geographer, and teaches in the International Development program. His research interests fall within the broad ambit of sustainable cities, and encompass the three related areas of human migration, urbanization and food security.

Charles Clarke is a Professor of Computer Science and the Associate Dean for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on data intensive tasks and efficiency, including search, ranking, question answering, and other problems involving human language data. He has supervised to completion over 30 graduate students and published over 200 refereed contributions on a wide range of topics, including search, metrics, user interfaces, filesystem search, natural language processing, machine learning, and databases.

My research program is primarily focused on issues related to freight transportation and logistics although I have a broad interest in transportation at all levels and geographies. I’m really intrigued by the flows of people and goods that underpin social and economic interactions and the complex impacts of those flows.

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.

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. 

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. 

Dr. Vlasea is an Assistant Professor and the Research Co-Director of the Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing Lab. Her research focuses on innovative design, process optimization and adoption of new materials for powder bed fusion and binder jetting additive manufacturing processes. Dr. Vlasea collaborates closely with industry partners in the additive manufacturing supply chain and applications, including aerospace. In recognition of her scholarly work, student mentorship, and industry outreach, she was recognised as the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) 20 Most Influential Academics 2021 and as the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer 2020.

Paul is a sustainability researcher with a passion for low carbon aviation and a love of teaching. He brings social science expertise to a diverse set of energy and development research projects, often with engineer colleagues. He has 175 publications and over 230 presentations on a broad range of projects: zero-carbon buildings, energy retrofits, smart grid technologies, renewables in remote communities, sustainable economic development and community energy planning. Electric and low carbon aviation is the next challenge.                                      

Shirley Tang is a professor and associate dean of science at the University of Waterloo. She carries out research in nanotechnology. Central to her effort is the creation of materials and devices based on graphene, carbon nanotubes, and their chemical derivatives, primarily for biomedical applications. Her research interests encompass nanomaterials and nanodevices for biology and medicine, biomolecule assisted nanomaterial self-assembly, and the health and environmental effects of engineered nanomaterials. Her lab is equipped with state-of-the-art instruments tailored for nanocarbon-based synthesis and characterization and a biosafety II cell culture lab dedicated to the investigation of nanocarbon-biosystem interactions. 

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.

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.”