News and Events

The Faculty of Engineering has welcomed four new members: Caniggia Viana to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Grace A. Oyeyi, Mina Lee, and Adeyemi Adesina to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Dr. Viana comes to Windsor from the University of Toronto where he worked in the Laboratory for Advanced Power Conversion and Systems Analysis. His research focuses on integrated charging of electric vehicles, repurposing pre-existing parts of the car to eliminate the additional cost and weight of conventional chargers. His research increases range and reduces vehicle cost to accelerate electric vehicle adoption, ultimately decreasing the environmental impact of human mobility.

Mehrdad Saif, former dean of the Faculty of Engineering and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been elevated to Fellow grade by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

The IEEE Fellow is one of the institute’s most prestigious honours, bestowed upon a very limited number of senior members who have contributed prominently to the advancement or application of engineering, science, and technology, bringing significant value to society. The number of IEEE Fellows elevated in a year is no more than one-tenth of one per cent of the total IEEE voting membership. According to the IEEE, Saif was elevated to the Fellow grade “for contributions to monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis in cyber-physical health systems.”

“It certainly is rewarding,” Saif said of the recognition.

The University of Windsor will confer the title of Distinguished University Professor on two members of its faculty during Convocation celebrations Friday, Oct. 13.

The rank is awarded to senior scholars at the height of their careers who have distinguished achievements in teaching and whose scholarly activities reflect a body of work recognized at a national or international level.

Jonathan Wu is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and has been a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Automotive Sensors and Information Systems. He is the founding director of the Computer Vision and Sensing Systems Laboratory at the University of Windsor, Canada. Prior to joining the university, Dr. Wu was a senior research officer at the National Research Council of Canada. An elected fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, he has received the CIPPRS/ACTIRF Best Robotics Paper Award.

Excellent academic performance and a desire to mentor and tutor earned notice for third-year engineering majors Annalise Gignac and Suhaib Moualla.

The annual Liburdi Engineering Mentorship Award, established in 2020 by the WinOne Office for First-Year Engineering and funded by materials engineering alumnus Joseph Liburdi (BASc 1967), provides $10,000 to support two-senior-level undergraduate students who excel academically and express an interest in mentoring other engineering students.

The Liburdi scholars lead the WinOne tutorial program, which provides peer tutoring support for all first- and second-year core courses. They onboard 10 WinOne tutors each semester for one full year, assist with promoting the WinOne tutorials to first-year students, and schedule weekly tutoring sessions and exam review sessions for all tutors — including themselves. In addition to academic support, the tutors mentor students about topics such as program selection, co-operative education, and senior project selection.