News Archive

El Damatty receives global engineering recognitions
Western Engineering News | January 29, 2015
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Chair Ashraf El Damatty has recently received national and international recognition by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) and the Wind & Structures: An International Journal.
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Robotics research rivets undergraduate student
Western Engineering News | January 27, 2015
Andrea Zagar is on the leading edge of robotics research after seeking opportunities outside the purview of many undergraduate students.
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Western team to advance in Hult Prize competition includes Engineering student
Western News | January 23, 2015
Shivani Chotalia, an HBA and Green Process Engineering student, is on one of two teams of Western students who have advanced to the regional finals of the sixth annual Hult Prize Challenge, putting the eight students in line for the competition's $1-million prize, the organization announced today.
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Funding fuels hunt for deeper answers
Western News | January 20, 2015
Western Engineering researchers Lauren Flynn and Abouzar Sadrekarimi will receive funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to take their research to the next level.
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Robert Graham delivers Western Engineering Distinguished Lecture
Western Engineering News | January 15, 2015
Robert Graham credits the people he met and the perseverance he gained at Western for building a successful company that converts wood and other solid biomass to renewable liquid fuels.
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Engaging the public on micro grids and integration of renewable energy
Western Engineering News | January 14, 2015
Professor Jin Jiang and PhD candidate Dennis Michaelson, of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, recently gave a presentation to committee members and the general public at the Community Ecological Committee of the Portlands Energy Centre in Toronto.
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PhD candidate honoured for developing remote access to teaching equipment
Western Engineering News | January 9, 2015
Matt Cross is aiming to bring Western's leading-edge engineering lab equipment into universities across the country and was recently honoured for his work to develop remote access capability for robotics.
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It's getting 'Hoth' in here
Western News | January 8, 2015
Western Engineering’s Concrete Toboggan Team is heading to a galaxy far, far away – well, actually, the Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, B.C. – for the 2015 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race, Jan. 21-25. 
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Turning 'gunk' into a liquid gold
Western Engineering News | January 7, 2015
Finding a way to improve the efficiency of how heavy oil is upgraded is a challenge Cedric Briens is excited to take on as the NSERC Syncrude/ExxonMobil Industrial Research Chair in Fluid Coking Technologies at Western University.
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Price brings international experience to teaching, research program
Western Engineering News | February 27, 2015
Aaron Price works in uncharted territory by developing smart materials for industrial applications, while bringing international industry experience to both the classroom and research laboratory.
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Students celebrate research opportunities in China during Chinese New Year luncheon
Western Engineering News | February 24, 2015
Nicole Foster combined learning and travel last summer by immersing herself in Chinese culture while completing a summer research term at Zhejiang University of Technology in Hangzhou.
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Western Engineering students to compete against the best at CEC 2015
Western Engineering News | February 20, 2015
Jacob Green and Mitchell Morrison will compete against the best and brightest engineering students in the country when they head to the Canadian Engineering Competition 2015 (CEC 2015) at Memorial University in St. John’s, NL on March 6.
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Two Western Engineering students named among elite future entrepreneurs 
Western News | February 12, 2015
James Crocker and Evan Ferguson are part of a group of just 38 students from across Canada chosen to take their entrepreneurial ideas to the next level.
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Three Western Engineering researchers tapped for NSERC Strategic Project Grants
Western News | February 12, 2015
Professors Hugo De Lasa, Andy Sun and Denis O'Carroll were three of 78 grant recipients announced this week at the University of New Brunswick.
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Western Engineering students advance to Ontario Engineering Competition 2015
Western Engineering News | February 4, 2015
Western Engineering students are gearing up to exhbit engineering excellence at the 36th annual Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC 2015).
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WETT nabs two first-place finishes at GNCTR 2015
Western Engineering News | Feb. 3, 2015
The Western Engineering Concrete Toboggan Team (WETT) returned from the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race 2015 (GNCTR 2015) after nabbing two first-place finishes in toboggan design and structure during the annual competition.
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University of Oxford students visit Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Western Engineering News | March 30, 2015
Western Engineering played host recently to a group of British students who arrived for a tour of its research facilities, partner industries and to meet with Canadian engineering students.
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Walls between faculties crumble
The Globe and Mail | March 26, 2015
Kathleen McAllister, a third-year chemical engineering student at the University of Western Ontario, is looking forward to a career where she can design new products and processes. But she also wants to acquire business skills to take her ideas to market.
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Students gear up for Thames Valley Science and Engineering Fair
Western Engineering News | March 26, 2015
More than 300 of the brightest young minds in science and engineering from London and surrounding areas will compete during the 45th Annual Thames Valley Science and Engineering Fair (TVSEF) from March 27-29.
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Western soars at SAE Lockheed Martin AeroDesign East Competition
Western Engineering News | March 26, 2015
Western Engineering’s AeroDesign Team took flight at the SAE Lockheed Martin Aero Design East Competition at the Sun N' Fun and Aerospace Discovery Centre in Lakeland, Fla. from March 13-15.
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Chotalia presents business model at Hult Prize Competition in Dubai
Western Engineering News | March 25, 2015
Shivani Chotalia, a fifth-year Green Process Engineering student, travelled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates earlier this month to participate in the sixth annual Hult Prize Challenge.
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Tattle challenges audience to find their passion during Lynda Shaw Memorial Lecture
Western Engineering News | March 23, 2015
Dawn Tattle, president, Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. – a highly respected, Toronto-based contracting firm specializing in innovative soil retention and foundation problems – delivered the 24th annual Lynda Shaw Memorial Distinguished Lecture on March 19.
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Discovery Western receives $76,500 in PromoScience funding to expand
Western Engineering News | March 19, 2015
Western Engineering will be able to expand its outreach programs designed to increase interest in STEM-related careers among female elementary and high school students, following the announcement of a recent investment by the federal government.
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Undergraduates engineer 'smart implant' for hip replacement patients
Western Engineering News | March 18, 2015
A group of four Western undergraduates are on the forefront of the latest technology to detect issues that hip replacement patients can experience with loosening caused by bone weakening – long before the best current equipment in hospitals can discover it.
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Mequanint receives Western's Edward G. Pleva Award for Excellence in Teaching
Western News | March 12, 2015
For a number of years, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Chair Kibret Mequanint has taken on some of the most challenging of the required courses in Engineering, yet still maintained his teaching ratings well above the average in his department and faculty.
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Stone to reach out to rural women in Ghana this summer
Western Engineering News | March 11, 2015
Hilary Stone is gearing up to cross the Atlantic Ocean and participate in innovative development work in Ghana on behalf of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Western chapter.
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Bruce Ross delivers RBC TechTalk during visit to Western Engineering
Western Engineering News | March 9, 2015
Bruce Ross, (BESc'85), keeps his hands on the steering wheel to navigate the challenging seas of technological innovation at RBC – as one of eight executives who set the strategic direction of Canada's most profitable financial institution.
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Western Engineering students to benefit from major Siemens PLM Software grant
Western Engineering News | March 6, 2015
Western Engineering students will benefit from a major software grant provided by Siemens PLM Software and Longterm Technology Services Inc. for its product lifestyle management (PLM) software. [Read more]

Margaritis delivers keynote to NOSM
Western News | March 5, 2015
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering professor Argyrios Margaritis was invited by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Division of Medical Sciences, to present a seminar entitled, The use of Biopolymer Nanoparticles for the Encapsulation and Controlled Release of Anti-Cancer Drugs.
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O'Carroll explores the echoes of nanos
Western News | March 5, 2015
Western Engineering professor Denis O'Carroll sees the tremendous technological opportunities offered by the unique properties of nanoparticles. But he also understands the concern that nanoparticles will have adverse effects on human and ecological health when released into the environment.
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Engineering students apply their education to real-life issues
Western Engineering News | April 17, 2015
Students across Western Engineering capped their final year by completing their fourth-year capstone design projects to showcase their innovative and impactful engineering design work.
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Armstrong seeks to successfully simulate surgeries
Western Engineering News | April 16, 2015
Imagine if doctors were able to tell hospitalized patients in need of surgery that their specific procedures were seamless – before they even occur. That is the long-term goal of Biomedical PhD candidate Ryan Armstrong's research, and the topic of his Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) presentation which nabbed a second-place finish in the competition.
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Preserving contact in times of conflict
Western Engineering News | April 14, 2015
Displaced persons and refugees living in unstable or violent areas across the globe could have a way to find their loved ones amid chaos, thanks to the winning project by first-year engineering students at the 2015 First-Year Design Showcase.
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Project taps into biomass potential
Western News | April 9, 2015
With the world’s energy sector constantly facing challenges, Western researcher Hugo de Lasa is working toward one solution for the beleaguered industry – a process of transforming agricultural waste into clean energy and valuable by-products.
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New study offers further life-saving measures for tornado-fueled building codes
Western Engineering News | April 6, 2015
After suffering two violent tornadoes in May 2013, resulting in 27 fatalities and an estimated $3 billion in damages, the city of Moore, Oklahoma adopted enhanced building codes in early 2014, which were implemented to encourage and enforce better wind resistant construction for homes and other structures.
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CFI backs Western effort to build safer structures
Western News | May 29, 2015
Aging structures – like bridges, roads and pipelines – that supply basic services are crumbling around us, at a considerable cost to Canadians. According to Civil & Environmental Engineering professor Timothy Newson, it’s often not just age, but the shifting ground beneath them that speeds the process.
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Chemical and Biochemical Engineering professors convert ideas into commercial ventures
Western Engineering News | May 29, 2015
CBE Professors Amarjeet Bassi and Jesse Zhu proposed a transformational idea in a research lab years ago: change traditional packed bed cyclic ion exchange systems to truly continuous systems. Today, the idea has become a reality.
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CASI recognizes Floryan for contributions to aerospace industry
Western Engineering News | May 26, 2015
What do J.M. Floryan, Western Engineering’s department chair of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Chris Hadfield have in common? They both shared the stage at the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI) Aero 2015 Conference.
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Behnad honoured for going the extra mile as postdoctoral fellow
Western Engineering News | May 19, 2015
Electrical and Computer Engineering’s (ECE) Dr. Aydin Behnad is the recipient of the 2015 Postdoctoral Fellow of the Year Award.
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Mequanint secures $250,000 grant from Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Western Engineering News | May 5, 2015
Researchers investigating the use of engineered arteries in surgery will be able to get to the heart of the challenges faced daily by surgeons in the operating room – thanks to a recent significant funding grant.
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The Western Formula Racing Team is gearing up for a competition in Germany
Western Engineering News | May 4, 2015
The Western Formula Racing Team Team is tuning up its racecar to be ready to take on the world’s best student racing teams at a prestigious competition in Germany this summer.
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Formula Racing team stays on track
Western News | June 18, 2015
Western Formula Racing placed first among Canadian universities, and 10th overall, at Formula SAE Michigan last month. The team’s next stop will be Formula Student Germany held in Hockenheimring in July.
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Research teams backed with nearly $20 million
Western News | June 18, 2015
Western and Lawson Health Research Institute researchers recently received a financial boost from the Government of Ontario as 20 projects are now being supported with nearly $20 million from the Ontario Research Fund (ORF).
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Lassonde: Give of your time, talent and treasure
Western News | June 12, 2015
Lassonde spoke to graduates from the Faculty of Engineering, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies at the Friday, June 12, afternoon session of Western’s 305th Convocation.
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Thompson inducted into Canadian Academy of Engineering
Western Engineering News | June 5, 2015
John Thompson, BESc’66, LLD’94, a long-time supporter of Western University and champion of technological innovation in Canada, has been inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE).
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Prakash develops ultrasonic technology to analyze oil-water mix
Western Engineering News | June 5, 2015
Everyone knows that oil and water don’t mix, but Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Professor Anand Prakash has developed a Self-Calibrating Ultrasonic Monitoring System to improve the reliability of oil-water mix analysis.
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PhD student writing new circuit solutions
Western News | July 29, 2015
TZhang recently co-developed Nectro, a conductive pen that can be used to draw electric circuits quickly and with ease. Working with Engineering grad Junming Li and Engineering professor Jun Yang, Zhang developed the pen in Yang’s micro-nano-bio systems lab.
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Discovery Western celebrates 25 years of summer camp
Western News | July 20, 2015
Discovery Western recently celebrated 25 years of sharing the fun and interesting sides of science, engineering and technology.
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El Naggar recognized for excellence in research and development
Western Engineering News | July 15, 2015
The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and Professional Engineers Ontario have recognized Hesham El Naggar’s dedication to the engineering profession with the 2015 Ontario Professional Engineers Awards Engineering Medal: Research and Development.
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Western team wins Best Innovation Prize at the 2015 Surgical Robot Challenge
Western Engineering News | July 15, 2015
NSERC/UNENE Senior Industrial Research Chair (IRC) Jin Jiang of Western’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been presented with the 2015 Canadian Nuclear Achievement Award – ‘Harold A. Smith Outstanding Contribution Award’ – for his contributions in instrumentation and control for nuclear power plants in Canada and internationally.
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Jiang recognized for outstanding contributions to nuclear industries
Western Engineering News | July 15, 2015
NSERC/UNENE Senior Industrial Research Chair (IRC) Jin Jiang of Western’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been presented with the 2015 Canadian Nuclear Achievement Award – ‘Harold A. Smith Outstanding Contribution Award’ – for his contributions in instrumentation and control for nuclear power plants in Canada and internationally.
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Ray selected as editor of chemical engineering book series
Western Engineering News | July 14, 2015
Ajay Ray, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, has been selected to serve as the Volume Editor for the sixth edition of Coulson and Richardson Chemical Engineering Volume 2B: Separation Processes.
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Western team receives 2014 Best Paper Award of the Journal of Medical Devices
Western Engineering News | July 14, 2015
A team of researchers from Western University and CSTAR have received the 2014 Best Paper Award of the Journal of Medical Devices published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for their paper titled, “A Dual-Arm 7-DOF Haptics-Enabled Teleoperation Test Bed for Minimally Invasive Surgery.”
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Ray and International Scientific Council help Russian university secure funds
Western Engineering News | July 14, 2015
As a member of the International Scientific Council (ISC) of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU), Ajay Ray recently helped a TPU secure special funding from the Russian Ministry of Education.
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Meet our most recent Schulich Leader Scholarship recipients
Video | August 31, 2015
Hear how the Schulich Leader Scholarship has changed the lives of some of the latest recipients and why they chose to study at Western University.
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WE Bots race to third place at 2015 International Autonomous Robot Racing Competition
Western Engineering News| August 28, 2015
Earlier this summer, Western’s WE Bots team competed in the 2015 International Autonomous Robot Racing Competition at the University of Waterloo where they placed third overall for design, drag and circuit races.
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Big win for Western students at the 2015 PCI Big Beam Competition

Western Engineering News | August 26, 2015
A team of Western Engineering students - consisting of Reem Tabbara, Ahmed Mansour Ibrahim, Ahmed Elshaer, Jad Atwe, Dana Elfar, Boqiang Zhu, Erdal Celap, Mohamed Mansour, Moustafa Aboutabikh, and Aiham Adawi - saw big results at the 2015 PCI Big Beam Competition with an eighth place finish overall and first place award for their video submission.
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Taming tremors
Impact Western | August 11, 2015
Thanks to donor support, Western Engineering Assistant Professor Ana Luisa Trejos is working on developing a wearable hand brace, just like a glove, that effectively controls tremors without restricting voluntary motion.
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Capretz shortlisted for Airbus Diversity Award
Western News | September 24, 2015
Western Engineering professor Luiz Fernando Capretz has been named one of 10 candidates shortlisted for this year’s Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) Airbus Diversity Award. The award recognizes people and projects worldwide, which have encouraged students of all profiles and backgrounds to study and succeed in engineering.
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Trio of scholars named to Royal Society of Canada
Western News | September 8, 2015
Three Western scholars, including Jesse Zhu from the department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, have been named among the 87 new Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC).
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The fair way
Alumni Gazette | Fall 2015
Natalie Raffoul, BESc’01, earns 2015 Ottawa Business Journal’s Top Forty Under 40 award.
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Taking on the Americas
Alumni Gazette | Fall 2015
Two Western Engineering alumnae competed at the 2015 Pan Am Games.
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NSERC/UNENE IRC Workshop on I&C Systems for Severe Accident Management at Ontario Power Generation
Western Engineering News | October 30, 2015
On Friday, Oct. 2 nearly 30 academic researchers, graduate students and representatives from the Canadian nuclear industry met at the newly constructed Darlington Energy Complex of Ontario Power Generation for the 11th UNENE Nuclear Instrumentation and Control Workshop. Jin Jiang, ECE professor and NSERC/UNENE Senior Industrial Research Chair Professor in Instrumentation and Control, and Electrical Systems, organized this annual event.
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Graduate Studies Without Borders: A Canadian Student’s Research and Life in the Rhineland
Western Engineering News | October 22, 2015
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering student Eric Doer recounts his exchange research opportunity at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University in Germany.
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Margaritis presents at the University of Waterloo
Western Engineering News | October 21, 2015
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering professor Argyrios Margaritis was invited by the department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, to present a seminar entitled, Production of Polyglutamic and Acid Nanoparticles for Controlled Release of Anti-Cancer Drugs.
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Recognizing longtime advancements in applied electrostatics
Western Engineering News | October 21, 2015
For more than 50 years, G.S. Peter Castle has been a valuable member of the Western Engineering community. Today, we celebrate the IEEE naming Castle the 2016 recipient of the IEEE Richard Harold Kaufman Award which is awarded annually to recognize outstanding contributions in industrial systems engineering.
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Floryan elected Fellow of the American Physical Society
Western Engineering News | October 21, 2015
A Council of Representatives from the American Physical Society have elected J.M. Floryan a Fellow of the Society.
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Go ENG Girl 2015
Flickr Gallery | October 20, 2015
Western Engineering welcomed young women in grades 7-10 and their parents/guardians at the 2015 Go ENG Girl event on Saturday, October 17.
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Vanier Celebrates Nation's Finest Graduate Students 

Western News | October 8, 2015
Tengyuan Zhang, a graduate student in Mechanical and Materials Engineering, has been named among four Western PhD candidates to receive the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.
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Small start looks to address a big issue
Western News | October 8, 2015
Western graduate student Alan Kalbfleisch, a member Engineers Without Borders Western, is leading a new student-run organic waste initiative in the Spencer Engineering Building. The project sends compost to Harvest Power, a London facility that uses an anaerobic digestion process to produce methane from the waste.
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Ever wonder what it would be like to drive a formula race car?
Video | October 1, 2015
Watch this onboard footage of one of Western University's Fastest Laps at the 2015 UofT Shootout. 1st Place Driver & 1st Place Constructor.
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Western Engineering Leaders Reception
Approximately 100 alumni and friends joined us for the 6th Annual Western Engineering Leaders' Reception on Thursday, Nov. 5 at the Hockey Hall of Fame. At the event, we highlighted our role in musculoskeletal health research at Western. To learn more about Western Engineering's role in musculoskeletal health research at Western, please watch this video that was debuted at the event: http://www.eng.uwo.ca/research/videos/msk.html
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MEng candidates competed in finals at Project Management event
Western Engineering News | November 4, 2015
Western Engineering MEng candidates Rohit Kulkarni, Yuyang Wang and Ziyu Zhang applied this theory at the 5th annual Project Management Paper Competition (PMPC) in September. The team of students held off opponents from Queen’s University, Trent University, the University of Toronto and McMaster University, falling only one point short of first place.
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Kickstarter campaign eyes gaming future
Western News | November 5, 2015
Blake Stone, who graduated from Ivey Business School last year, and Colton Kadlecik, who just graduated with a Software Engineering degree, co-founded Vitruvius VR, a virtual reality (VR) gaming company, last year. After a summer in Western’s Propel Entrepreneurship incubator, the pair is ready to launch its first game – MushroomBallVR.
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Banner year for Western Formula Racing
Formula Racing News | November 5, 2015
2015 was the most successful competition season yet for Western Formula Racing, leading to the following international rankings: top Canadian team; third place team in North America; and 13th of our more than 500 teams, worldwide.
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A concrete canoe is leading students to victory on and off the water
Western Engineering News | November 27, 2015
The Western Engineering Concrete Canoe Association (WECCA) executive team returned from the Ready-Mix Concrete Association of Ontario (RMCAO)’s annual competition in September with a first-place finish over Queens University, the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, two teams from Ryerson University and two teams from the concrete industry.
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Hanny Hassan, BESc’64, named new Board of Governors Chair
Western News | November 27, 2015
Western’s Board of Governors named Western Engineering alumnus Hanny Hassan as the university governing body’s next Chair at its regular meeting Thursday. His term begins Jan. 1.
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Kyle Fricke is engineering implants for better health
Impact Western | Fall 2015
Western’s Board of Governors named Safer drugs. Improved pharmaceutical research. Fewer deaths from cardiovascular disease. All these aspirations could become reality thanks to a small device the size of a postage stamp, its creator, Kyle Fricke, BSc’10, MSc’12, and the donors who have supported his research.
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Jesse Zhu received FCCP Award of Merit

Western Engineering News | December 2, 2015
One of the largest and most influential Chinese community groups in Ontario, the Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals (FCCP) Education Foundation, has recognized Jesse Zhu with an award of merit.
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Engineering alumna named to Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 list
WXN News | December 2015
Western Engineering News | December 2, 2015
The Women's Executive Network has named Western Engineering alumna Catherine Karakatsanis, BESc'83, MESc'91, to their Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 list.
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Play and Puppy Therapy Day

The Undergraduate Services Office hosted a Play and Puppy Day on Wednesday, Dec. 2 in the CMLP Atrium. Students were encouraged to attend this free event to help turn exam distress into exam de-stress. Participants could snuggle with puppies from Ontario's Maple Grove Australian Labradoodles, or play with LEGO, colour, or even hula-hoop their stress away. Donations were collected for Jabex Therapy as well.
[View photos]

Wind: The Invisible Force
BBC One| December 2015
Richard Hammond investigates how wind actually starts. He visits one of the windiest places on the planet, walks into the centre of a man-made tornado (at WindEEE) and creates a 10-metre high whirlwind - made of fire!.
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