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During the past year, there have been major implosions of robot startups, such as with Jibo, Anki and Rethink Robotics.  They all raised substantial amounts of capital from top-tier investors and had strong teams.

So why the failure? One of the main reasons is the extreme complexities of melding software and movable hardware.  As a result, the technology often does not live up to expectations.

Due date: Monday, September 9th 2019

The test itself will become available later in August 2019.

The SYDE/BME Readiness Assessment is a diagnostic test. The questions on the assessment cover fundamental background for the courses that students will take in their first term. It is not for credit – rather, a tool to help identify areas where students need support. The assessment can be done from a personal computer with an internet connection. 

Professor John McPhee, P.Eng., studies things that move. What does that mean exactly? In McPhee’s words, his “research is devoted to the modelling, control, simulation and design of dynamic physical systems.”

McPhee, who received his degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Acadia University, the Technical University of Nova Scotia and the University of Waterloo, is currently a professor in Systems Design Engineering and the Canada Research Chair in System Dynamics at the University of Waterloo.

An engineering professor at the University of Waterloo with a lifelong interest in environmental protection has won a prestigious national award for scholars.

Keith Hipel, a professor of systems design engineering who earned his own three degrees as a student at Waterloo, was named today as one of five winners of 2019 Killam Prizes through the Canada Council for the Arts.

Dr. Alexander Wong, a professor in the Department of Systems Design Engineering, was featured in an article discussing tools for voice AI [Read more].

Systems Design Engineering Professor John McPhee has been awarded the 2019 Ontario Professional Engineers Engineering Medal for Engineering Excellence.

The Engineering Medal honours those association members who have contributed substantially to advancing the engineering profession, and recognizes excellence in the practice of engineering, where the innovative application of engineering knowledge and principles has solved a unique problem, led to advanced products, or produced above-average results.

As technology advances, there is often an expectation of using it to make life easier. There is a strong push towards automating everyday activities for the purposes of saving time, improving efficiency or added safety. This is especially evident in the automotive industry, where the journey towards autonomous vehicles has seen companies create self-driving vehicles and consider the reality of driverless roadways.

A Systems Design team is one of two teams to have been awarded $50k from the Palihapitiya Venture Creation Fund.  The team is Beacon Health, supervised by Professor Igor Ivkovic.  Their project seeks to improve mental health literacy in post-secondary educational institutions, including a knowledge-based recommender system that connects university students with corresponding mental health resources.

 

Katherine Carras is a recent University of Waterloo grad in Systems Design Engineering. She works in Silicon Valley as a product designer at Palantir Technologies.

And she’s got a message for would-be tech employers in Waterloo Region: Get in the game.

The Distinguished Teacher Awards for 2019 will be presented to four faculty members at Convocation, Associate Vice-President, Academic Mario Coniglio announced at yesterday’s meeting of the University's Senate.