News and Events

Peter Frise, associate dean of engineering for professional programs, welcomed Master of Engineering students at an orientation session on Friday, May 3.

The day included presentations on academic policies, course requirements, faculty advising, students’ rights, peer support, and mentorship, followed by a campus tour provided by the representatives of the Engineering Society and lunch at the campus Whamburg location.

The University of Windsor is leading a $15 million research project to help Canada respond to future pandemics by strengthening our country’s biomanufacturing sector.

INSPIRE, short for the Integrated Network for the Surveillance of Pathogens: Increasing Resilience and Capacity in Canada’s Pandemic Response, brings together 43 experts from seven universities and public and private agencies in Canada and the United States. This team of microbiologists, biochemists, engineers, computer scientists, and experts in supply chains and public policy will look for ways to improve biomanufacturing and health sector supply chains, bolster cross-border trade and mobility, and explore new technologies in pathogen surveillance.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had supply chain shortages, we couldn’t get enough PPE in Canada, we weren’t making our own vaccines,” said Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research director Mike McKay, who is leading INSPIRE together with a researcher from the University of Guelph.

The next time you look at the Great Lakes or wonder about Arctic communities, you will think about them a little differently because of the research of engineering students Vrashesh Vipul Karkar and Kwaku Gyau Gyamfi.

Karkar examined the water in Great Lakes Basin watersheds to assess the amount of microplastics that are present in the water. His research focuses on the quantities of microplastics humans are releasing into rivers and the Great Lakes, developing cutting edge modelling tools to quantify the microplastics being released.

A competition challenging first-year engineering students to design and program an autonomous model locomotive gave them the chance to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world applications, says professor Rashid Rashidzadeh.

His course in Cornerstone Design is mandatory for first-year students and culminated in more than 70 teams competing for cash prizes April 1 and 2.

The class is highly praised by students for its hands-on approach, says Dr. Rashidzadeh.

“Students thoroughly enjoy the practical aspect of the course, allowing them to put their academic understanding into action.”

Tensions ran high as teams tested their design and programming skills by putting their railcars through a course with such obstacles as a functional drawbridge and customs communication booth.