Norman Zhou receives prestigious award from American Welding Society

^{By the Faculty of Engineering}

Water Institute member Dr. Norman Zhou, Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Waterloo, has been awarded the American Welding Society's (AWS) Comfort A. Adams Lecture Award. Named in honour of AWS founder and first President Dr. Comfort A. Adams, this award recognizes distinguished scientists or engineers for a lecture highlighting innovative advancements in welding. Dr. Zhou delivered a lecture on “Nanojoining - A New Frontier in Welding and Joining of Materials” at the 2024 AWS Annual Meeting.

Founded in 1919, the American Welding Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the science, technology, and application of welding and allied processes. AWS fosters knowledge in the field, provides scholarships and fellowships, and supports workforce development programs that inspire the next generation of welding professionals.

Dr. Zhou’s pioneering research at the University of Waterloo has reshaped modern welding and joining practices. Since founding the Centre for Advanced Materials Joining at Waterloo fifteen years ago, Dr. Zhou has guided collaborative efforts with industries in automotive, aerospace, medical, and microelectronics sectors. His work spans laser and resistance welding, brazing, electrical-spark deposition, microwelding, nanojoinining, nanomaterials for water treatment and nanoelectronics and nanodevices. He has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed papers and trained over 40 PhD students, 70 MASc students, and 25 post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Zhou has also co-founded two innovative startups, Smarter Alloys and AquaSensing, which apply advanced material technologies to fields including battery-free IoT sensors.

Dr. Zhou’s receipt of the Comfort A. Adams Lecture Award acknowledges his contributions to welding and joining as well as his commitment to training the next generation of welding innovators.