In the News

Engineering breaking ground today for new building

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Exciting news about the start of construction for our new building, as well as support for automotive research and education, design, and entrepreneurship.

The University of Waterloo breaks ground today on Engineering 7, an $88-million building that will feature some of the best engineering research and teaching facilities in the world.The ground-breaking event will take place on Thursday November 12, at 1:30 pm at Engineering 5 on the University’s east campus.The new Engineering 7 (E7) facility will feature an additive manufacturing—or 3D printing—laboratory and an indoor flight arena for testing autonomous and robotic vehicles.It will also accommodate growth from Waterloo’s new biomedical engineering program and the expansion of the Faculty of Engineering’s highly popular mechatronics engineering program. It will house the Faculty’s new teaching innovation, the multidisciplinary Engineering Ideas Clinic™, where undergraduate students will integrate classroom theory with hands-on learning as they design, build, test and refine ideas.Part of the funding for E7 will come from the Educating the Engineer of the Future campaign, a $70-million fundraising effort that will help the Faculty of Engineering achieve its goal to become a world-class engineering school.Earlier this week, GM Canada announced $1 million in funding to support the Educating the Engineer of the Future campaign. This support will fund a Research Chair in advanced materials while also sponsoring Waterloo Engineering’s Capstone Design projects involving software development, which is key to GM Canada’s work on “the connected car.”E7 will also become the new home for the Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre. It will have dedicated study and social spaces for students, lecture halls and entrepreneurial support areas, along with areas for student teams to prototype their Capstone Design projects.

Source: Thursday, November 12, 2015 | Daily Bulletin

When students have choices among top colleges, which one do they choose? – The Washington Post

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(ProfBillAnderson:  Yet another ranking, but one I haven’t noticed before.  This one puts Waterloo in the top ten of student preferences when choosing between offers.  An interesting article and worth a look.)

Stanford University tops another new college ranking list. But the rest of the Parchment Top 25 might surprise you.

Source: When students have choices among top colleges, which one do they choose? – The Washington Post

Understanding University Rankings

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The fall is University Rankings season, as a bunch get released each year.  Alex Usher has a nice blog post that summarizes the major ones and what they include.  I’ve written posts about rankings in the past, which you can find using the search function if you wish.  In general, for high school student applicants I usually suggest that they be very careful about putting too much weight on these rankings, for various reasons discussed before and illustrated below. Continue reading →

Leapfrogging ahead of competition with engineering research partnership – Waterloo Engineering

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I’ve always intended to write about some research work, but never find the time.  However, here is a link to a write-up by one of our staff writers.  And a picture of me with a couple of my graduate level (i.e. Masters) researchers.

Waterloo Engineering’s chemical engineering research gives manufacturer a global advantage.

Source: Leapfrogging ahead of competition with engineering research partnership – Waterloo Engineering

Innovation Track Record

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There was a recent article in the New York Times about the panic and anxiety surrounding applicants trying to get into the “elite” U.S. schools like Stanford and Harvard.  It contains this interesting little comment:

I also spoke with Sam Altman, the president of Y Combinator, one of the best-known providers of first-step seed money for tech start-ups. I asked him if any one school stood out in terms of students and graduates whose ideas took off. “Yes,” he responded, and I was sure of the name I’d hear next: Stanford. It’s his alma mater, though he left before he graduated, and it’s famous as a feeder of Silicon Valley success.

But this is what he said: “The University of Waterloo.” It’s a public school in the Canadian province of Ontario, and as of last summer, it was the source of eight proud ventures that Y Combinator had helped along. “To my chagrin,” Altman told me, “Stanford has not had a really great track record.”

Here is the link to the full article.

University approves $88-million Engineering 7 building

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  Here is some interesting and exciting news.  I wasn’t aware it was up for approval, so it caught me by surprise!  It will have quite a few interesting features for education in engineering and entrepreneurship for all programs.  But it also will help with our space constraints in Biomedical and Mechatronics Engineering.  See the link for more details.  In the picture (architect’s rendering) you can just see the side of our current Engineering 5 building in the background to the right.

University approves $88-million Engineering 7 building | Engineering.

Waterloo grad first Canadian to lead Mars simulation mission | Waterloo Stories

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Waterloo grad first Canadian to lead Mars simulation mission | Waterloo Stories.

Here’s an interesting story about a Mechanical Engineering graduate, and her unconventional career path in the aerospace sector as well as a start-up company in the renewable energy sector.  I always find it very interesting; the wide variety of things engineering graduates end up doing.

Sunscreen warning markers earn top grades at Women Entrepreneurs Bootcamp

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Sunscreen warning markers earn top grades at Women Entrepreneurs Bootcamp.

Here is an interesting story about some of our Nanotechnology Engineering students, who used their creativity and expertise in materials science to develop a business idea for a compound that warns you when you need to re-apply sunscreen.  They won a $15,000 prize to help carry on building their start-up company.

There was another story a while ago about nanotechnology engineering graduates who were developing an improved de-icer compound for use in frost removal or control.  Just a couple of examples of what nanotechnology engineering students do in the area of entrepreneurship.

The Most In-Demand (And Aging) Engineering Jobs

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The Most In-Demand (And Aging) Engineering Jobs.

Our Dean of Engineering, Prof. Pearl Sullivan, pointed out this interesting article from Forbes magazine.  Much of the information I’ve seen before in various places, but it’s a nice compilation and summary.  Also, it’s based on U.S. statistics, so it’s hard to tell how the Canadian situation may compare but the general ideas are likely similar.  There are a few things to point out:

“Industrial Engineering” seems to be in big demand.  At Waterloo, this would roughly correspond to our “Management Engineering” program.

I’m disappointed that my discipline, Chemical Engineering, was lumped into the “All Other Engineers” category!  I guess this also includes Biomedical, Software, etc.

One of the problems with these surveys is that various groups use different classification schemes for the various disciplines, and they don’t always correspond to the name of the university or college program.  For example, “Aerospace Engineers” in this article probably refers to the job title, which could be filled by people with mechanical, mechatronics, or other degrees.  Likewise a “Petroleum Engineer” may be a chemical or mechanical engineering graduate.  Just something to keep in mind.