News 2022

Engineering professor Hoda ElMaraghy was officially invested with the Order of Canada by Mary Simon, the Governor General of Canada, during a ceremony Dec. 14 at Rideau Hall.

Dr. ElMaraghy’s appointment was one of 114 originally announced in November 2020, with ceremonies deferred due to the pandemic.

A citation noted ElMaraghy’s contributions to the field of mechanical engineering, especially her work in advancing manufacturing systems in Canada and abroad. She is director of the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Centre and was the first female dean of engineering in Canada.

A team based at the University of Windsor was awarded a gold medal for its research into improving the reliability and safety of helicopter engines at the Seoul International Invention Fair.

Farshid Bazmi, a postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering, professor Afshin Rahimi, and industry partner Moein Foroud of AviationTech Solutions, proposed a new method of diagnosing fouling faults in turboshaft engines.

“Fouling is caused by the adhesion of fine materials to the compressor blades, which changes the shape and function of the airfoil,” Dr. Bazmi said. “Our model-based method aims to increase accuracy and speed at the simulation of compressor performance in off-design situations.

“Our method promises more reliability, higher precision, power assurance, higher efficiency, and reduced risk.”

A project that can reduce the time and cost of designing individualized seats for children’s wheelchairs has earned a team of engineering students an award from the Office of Human Rights, Equity, and Accessibility.

The students — Luka Mlinarevic, Pavneet Sarao, Alea McLellan, Jasmine Bull, and Saifaldin Abdelhamid — took on the capstone project “Develop a Rapid, Robust, Low-Cost Solution for Specialty Wheelchair Seat Design and Manufacturing” under professor Colin Novak. Their solution has the potential to reduce production time to three or four weeks rather than the current six to eight months.

Bull says she hopes their process will find broader application “so that everybody can enjoy day-to-day life and it’s all accessible to everyone.”

The group has been honoured with an award for contributions to enhance accessibility.

Watch a video on their achievement:

A discussion on preventing gender-based violence, Nov. 29 in the Centre for Engineering Innovation, was well attended by faculty, staff, and students.

Dean of engineering Bill Van Heyst called the turnout encouraging.

“Events like these help to open the doors for more difficult conversations that are needed to change the culture and narrative within engineering,” he said.

Speakers introduced campus services that support victims and provide education about sexual misconduct. The presenters included:

UWindsor’s first rocket team since 2019 placed fourth in the 30,000-foot category at the Spaceport America Cup student contest in New Mexico.

The team of fourth-year engineering majors Anthony Degirolamo, Matthew Veselinovi, Christopher Francis, Nina Mussio, Hunter Batten, Jesse Davidson, Emiliji Radevski, Connor Matton, and Jesse Potma under the direction of professor Aleksandr Cherniaev, worked on the experimental sounding rocket for the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition.

Veselinovis called it one of the most enjoyable experiences of his university career: “It was exciting as it was the only capstone project with a competition.”

COVID restrictions limited the time the students could work on construction.

Gordon Harling will discuss his work as president and CEO of CMC Microsystems on Friday, Oct. 21, hosted by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

CMC Microsystems is a not-for-profit organization accelerating research and innovation in Canada. Founded in 1984, it works to lower barriers to technology adoption by creating and sharing platform technologies.

The University of Windsor will award honorary degrees to physician Caroline Hamm and engineering professor emeritus Philip H. Alexander during its 118th Convocation celebration this weekend.

Dr. Hamm is chair of oncology at the Schulich School of Medicine’s Windsor Campus.

More than 2,300 students will gather at the newly-opened Toldo Lancer Centre (TLC) this Friday and Saturday for five sessions of University Convocation. She is the clinical research director of the Windsor Cancer Research Group, working to enhance both local and cross border research initiatives, chairs the Windsor Regional Hospital Research and Academic Committee, and leads the Complex Hematology Program development in Windsor.

The University of Windsor announced a local partnership to advance agricultural research, development, and innovation in the Windsor-Essex region Thursday during the Canadian Greenhouse Conference (CGC).

The University of Windsor and Horteca — a joint venture of greenhouse operator JEM Farms and Ecoation, developers of pest management and yield forecasting platforms — will establish and operate a two-acre fully operational innovation greenhouse for research, proof-of-concept designs, and partnership opportunities with industry and community partners.

Under the banner “Agriculture at UWindsor” (AgUWin), the space will provide access to prime growing and technical environments for researchers and industry, with the ability to field test the deployment of upcoming technologies in a cost-effective, secure, and safe environment.

A University of Windsor engineering student is one step closer to graduation after completing her thesis on advanced tolling systems related to the Gordie Howe International Bridge project. The research was supported by the Annual Research Partnership, an initiative of the project’s Community Benefits Plan.

As part of her Master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering, Farnaz Zahedieh tested the impacts of a new toll information system and various lane configurations on traffic performance and safety using a computerized simulation model, under the supervision of professor Chris Lee.

A fourth-year course for students of mechanical engineering draws in disciplines of electrical engineering and computer science to deliver a unique learning experience.

Professor Jalal Ahamed requires students in his Mechatronics class to develop small-scale working robots to solve a real-world engineering problem. The students challenge themselves to create something inventive, interesting, and creative — and they deliver.

“The open-ended aspect of the projects actively engages them to be innovative and to connect theories with real-world engineering problem-solving,” Dr. Ahamed says.

Mechanical systems are at the core of the course; he instructs students to make them more precise, smart, and autonomous via the integration of electronics and programming.

To build a robot that interacts, navigates, and