News

Waterloo Engineering graduating students were treated to an inspirational talk on success inside and outside the classroom. They received advice on next steps as they approach graduation by Dr. Jenny Howcroft, a continuing lecturer in the Department of Systems Design Engineering and recipient of the inaugural Boyce Family Teaching Award.

Howcroft stressed the importance of lifelong learning and continually building a wide range of skills, not just the technical skills traditionally associated with engineering. She highlighted the need for engineers to cultivate soft skills alongside their technical prowess to set themselves apart and build on the base of technical skills they learn at Waterloo. In particular, she emphasized the importance of emotional intelligence skills like empathy, building relationships with stakeholders both within and outside of engineering, and seriously considering their own social responsibility in the work they will do in their future careers.

University of Waterloo engineers have invented a powerful antenna small enough to fit in a ring and capable of transmitting critical medical data to healthcare workers and individual patients.

Lead researcher Dr. Omar Ramahi, a professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, worked with Rania Rabhi, a visiting scholar from Tunisia, to build an antenna that is small enough to be worn like a piece of jewelry and powerful enough to safely send medical-related information to smartphones or a health clinic over long distances through airwaves. 

Toronto-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Ideogram has raised $80 million in Series A funding to accelerate the company’s growth in generative AI.

Waterloo Engineering alum William Chan (BASc ’11, computer engineering) co-founded Ideogram in 2022 “to help people become more creative”. The company officially launched just six months ago with $22.3 million in seed funding.

Kitchener-based clean-tech startup Evercloak has raised $2 million to accelerate the commercialization of its breakthrough HVAC technology that cuts the energy demands of air conditioning in half.

The company was co-founded in 2018 by Waterloo Engineering associate professor Dr. Michael Pope in the Department of Chemical Engineering. 

In recognition of her work creating more degradable and recyclable plastics, Dr. Elisabeth Prince has been awarded the John C. Polyani Prize.

The award is presented by the Council of Ontario Universities to an individual or team whose research has led to outstanding advances in the field of natural sciences or engineering.

In the quest to reach zero emissions by 2050, researchers are working with industry partners to develop more efficient, durable, cost-effective fuel cells.  

Waterloo engineering professor Dr. Xianguo Li and Dr. Samaneh Shahgaldi from Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), with support from Niobay Metals and Mitacs, are working to refine the technology of metallic bipolar plates to improve the potential of hydrogen in decarbonization. 

The works of three professors from the School of Architecture have been acknowledged by leading organizations.

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) recognised two Waterloo instructors. Associate Professor Adrian Blackwell received the Housing Design Education award and Professor Lola Sheppard received an award for Faculty Design. The Architectural League of New York named Dr. David Fortin as a winner of their annual Emerging Voices competition.