News and Events

Nickolas Eaves has been invited to share his expertise on synthetic fuels on one of Canada’s most listened to daily news podcasts.

Dr. Eaves, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, will join Real Talk at 11 a.m. ET on Sept. 23 to discuss the emergence of synthetic fuels, how they work and their effect on vehicle function and performance.

The show’s recent guests include Prime Minister Justin Trudeau  and Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.

Eaves will be joined by panelists Andrew Bell, director of the Electric Vehicle Association of Alberta, and Paul Horrell, a columnist for Top Gear Magazine's Future Proof.

The interview conducted by show host, Ryan Jespersen, will be streamed live, on camera and is available on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

You can also follow or take part in the on-going audience conversation with the hashtag #RealTalkRJ on Twitter and the host’s accounts @RealTalkRJ and @ryanjespersen.

While electric vehicles produce zero emissions, their batteries composed of raw materials are difficult and costly to recycle.

Transportation electrification is steadily increasing across the globe and expected to add 200 million electric vehicles (EV) to the roads over the next decade.

“Batteries are becoming an important commodity in the Canadian economy; however, we still lack technical leadership on the safety, efficiency and reliability aspects of battery applications and reuse,” says Balakumar Balasingam, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Windsor.

With an expected spike of used EV batteries at recycling facilities on the horizon, Dr. Balasingam is leading a team that aims to offer another route to their disposal.

“Even though considered irrelevant in electric vehicles, these batteries have value in other applications, such as home electrification, short-range transportation and microgrids.”

Many “end-of-life” EV batteries still have up to 70 per cent of their capacity left, he notes. One potential pathway for used EV batteries is to repurpose them in e-bikes. Nikola Robotics Lab, one of many partners on the project, will work with the team on the design of this cost-effective solution while Bike Windsor-Essex will advocate for their adaptation

​

The editor of a new journal hopes it will highlight the contributions of University of Windsor researchers while engaging industry partners.

Ram Balachandar will be the specialty chief editor of Fluid Mechanics, operating under the umbrella of Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering.

“Most of the journals in this field are extremely academic or industry-focused,” he says. “I saw a need for an applications-related journal.”

He has pulled together a team of associate editors that draws on colleagues from the University of Windsor — including Vesselina Roussinova of mechanical engineering and math professor emeritus Ronald Barron — while reflecting a broad international scope.

“I didn’t envision the amount of work involved,” Dr. Balachandar admits. The publication launched last week.

​

Researchers at the University of Windsor are upgrading a network of cameras and sensors on the Canadian side of the Ambassador Bridge in a project that aims to better predict border traffic and improve safety.

Engineering professor Hanna Maoh (pictured at left) and lead researchers at UWindsor’s Cross-Border Institute hope to begin installing the equipment along Huron Church Road this fall. They’ve received $150,000 through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Fund toward the $206,000 project.

“We’re trying to understand how traffic moves through this major node,” said Dr. Maoh. “Collecting data in real time is critical for any meaningful analysis.”

The Cross-Border Institute, founded by political science professor Bill Anderson in 2008, researches ways to better move people, goods, and services across borders. This latest project will use machine learning and artificial intelligence to measure and predict traffic patterns, improving the efficiency of border crossings. Data from cameras and sensors near the bridge will be transferred wirelessly in real time to servers at the institute for analysis by a team of researchers from a variety of disciplines.

Traffic sensors in place right now measure the number and size of vehicles. This project will collect additional data on factors such as lane changes, vehicle speed, and the interaction of large trucks and smaller passenger vehicles.

The information collected will not only assist truckers and local traffic, but could also improve air quality for local residents, improve the supply chain operation between Canada and the United States, and increase the competitiveness of manufacturers and the transportation industry.