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Consortium funds research into cybersecurity of autonomous vehicles

Mar 6th, 2020

Mitra Mirhassani and Huapeng Wu

Two UWindsor professors have received $383,000 in funding to research how to ensure the cybersecurity of autonomous vehicles.

The research money for Mitra Mirhassani and Huapeng Wu was announced Thursday at the Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre as part of a $1.1 million funding announcement for the National Academic Cluster for Smart Vehicles through the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC).

Drs. Mirhassani and Wu will investigate how to ensure technology used in autonomous vehicles and transit systems doesn’t include Trojan hardware.

“We have to make sure they are safe, secure, and can’t be tampered with,” said Mirhassani. “If any loophole exists, there goes your security.”

Two UWindsor professors have received $383,000 in funding to research how to ensure the cybersecurity of autonomous vehicles.

The research money for Mitra Mirhassani and Huapeng Wu was announced Thursday at the Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre as part of a $1.1 million funding announcement for the National Academic Cluster for Smart Vehicles through the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC).

Drs. Mirhassani and Wu will investigate how to ensure technology used in autonomous vehicles and transit systems doesn’t include Trojan hardware.

“We have to make sure they are safe, secure, and can’t be tampered with,” said Mirhassani. “If any loophole exists, there goes your security.”

Coding workshop growing in popularity

Feb 10th, 2020

Young women's working on computer

A University of Windsor coding workshop for young women has more than doubled in size since launching in 2018.

Nearly 100 female Grade 7 to 11 students left the university campus Feb. 8 equipped with one of the most in-demand skills across industries. One of them was Amna Ahmed, 13, who lives in Michigan and crossed the border for the second year in a row to take part.

Mike Konstantino, the university’s engineering outreach coordinator, says the faculty has expanded the intake of the complimentary workshop and will host a second one that’s open to both female and male students in the spring. 

Plane crash victims remembered as talented scholars and loving friends

Feb 5th, 2020

Victims of the plane crash in Iran

They were dedicated researchers who were bolstering bridge safety with artificial intelligence, improving the accuracy of critical medical procedures and using solar energy to increase greenhouse efficiency.

They were friends who never forgot a birthday, supported each other like family and reminded others of the importance of living in the moment.

On Jan. 8, the University of Windsor lost five cherished members of its community, who were returning to campus, when Ukrainian International Airlines’ Flight PS752 crashed in Iran and claimed the lives of all 176 on board.

“We all feel the tremendous depth of human suffering caused by this tragedy,” says Dr. Robert Gordon, UWindsor president and vice-chancellor. “Our own students were standing on the very doorstep of discovery in their research careers and their potential was limitless. We will never know what life-changing contributions they may have made in their areas of study and academic pursuits — and that loss is unfathomable.”

Engineering doctoral candidates Hamidreza Setareh Kokab, Pedram Jadidi, Zahra Naghibi and her spouse Mohammad Abbaspour Ghadi and biology research assistant Samira Bashiri will be remembered by friends, faculty and staff as vital contributors and caring companions.  

Following the news of their deaths, the university received an immediate outpouring of support from the UWindsor community and general public to establish the “Remembering Flight PS752” fund, a graduate scholarship endowment that will support international students conducting vital research in the Faculties of Engineering and Science.

Engineering manager of technical support honoured for contributions

Jan 23rd, 2020

Andrew Jenner receives the the “U” Make a Difference Award from President​

A member of the Faculty of Engineering’s technical staff has been recognized for his innovative ideas and problem solving that have made an impact campus-wide.  

Andrew Jenner, the faculty’s manager of technical support, was nominated by his peers for his “exceptional willingness” to assist colleagues.

“Andy’s ongoing responsiveness and contributions to support his colleagues across the university is inspiring and builds morale, respect. His positive approach makes for a more fun and collegial environment,” Rita LaCivita, vice president of human resources, said during the university’s annual Employee Recognition Awards reception on Jan. 20.

“He exemplifies excellence and the ability to reach above and beyond the expected to truly make a difference.” 

Jenner received the “U” Make a Difference Award and was among 10 other honourees. In his role, Jenner oversees technical operations of the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation and 18 engineering technologists. 

Engineering alum to join Order of Canada ranks

Jan 16th, 2020

Don Mavinic poses in front of wastewater treatment equipment

UWindsor grad Donald Mavinic (BASc 1969, MASc 1971, PhD 1973), a professor emeritus in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia and an internationally recognized expert in water treatment, received a call to the Order of Canada from Gov. Gen. Julie Payette on Dec. 28.

Membership in the order is extended to people “whose service shapes our society, whose innovations ignite our imaginations, and whose compassion unites our communities.”

The announcement praised Dr. Mavinic for his contributions to environmental engineering science and technology in Canada, notably in the areas of liquid wastewater and residuals management.

It is the latest in a series of honours for Mavinic. In 2010, he received the Ernest C. Manning Innovation Award and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Synergy Award. The following year, he was given the Meritorious Achievement Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia. He is the only Canadian to be named a Water Environment Federation Fellow. In 2016, he received the Engineers Canada Gold Medal Award.

Service draws hundreds in memory of plane crash victims

Jan 13th, 2020

Picture of beloved people who lost their lives in plane crash

Hundreds of mourners filled Alumni Auditorium for a service Friday commemorating five members of the UWindsor community who died in the Jan. 8 crash of Ukrainian International Airlines’ Flight PS752.

University officials, faculty, staff, and students were joined by elected representatives of the municipal, provincial, and federal governments, as well as hundreds of family members and friends who watched a webcast of the ceremonies.

“Our hearts break today for all the families that have lost loved ones,” said UWindsor president Robert Gordon. “We mourn as the world mourns with us at the loss of promise and possibility.”

He noted that the victims — biology research assistant Samira Bashiri, engineering doctoral candidates Hamidreza Setareh Kokab, Pedram Jadidi, and Zahra Naghibi, and her spouse Mohammad Abbaspour Ghadi — had “unlimited” potential to add to human discovery.

Scholarship recipient inspired by fund honouree

Dec 16th, 2019

Zac Sinasac​

Zac Sinasac, just finishing his first semester of graduate study in automotive engineering, is grateful for the opportunities he has been afforded.

“I say thank you as much as I can to the people who have supported me,” he says, listing faculty, family, friends — and donors to scholarships for UWindsor students.

Sinasac says the $1,000 Shawn Yates Memorial Award helped inspire him to excel.

“It’s a motivation, because you’re being rewarded and recognized for your efforts,” he says. “Sometimes you’re so deep in your books that you don’t realize people take notice.”

He made the effort to learn more about Yates, a UWindsor alumnus (BASc 1982, MBA 1992) who helped to found the Windsor Engineering co-op program with the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ Automotive Research and Development Centre (ARDC) before his death in July 2017.

Hydrogen: the fuel of the future

Dec 12th, 2019

Hydrogen Fuel cell

There are 35.11 million vehicles registered in Canada out of which 12.55 million are registered in Ontario. Simultaneously, Canada’s population is 37.59 million out of which Ontario hosts 14.57 million people. This might all look good in terms of the economy; however, it is troubling when you consider that eight molecules of CO2 are released for every molecule of burned gasoline in an internal combustion engine. That translates to the average vehicle emitting approximately 4.6 metric tons of CO2 per year.

In 2005, automotive pollution was responsible for 20 per cent of the European Union’s CO2 emissions, roughly 60 per cent of which can be attributed to private automobiles. The EU legislation has set mandatory emission reduction targets for new cars in order to meet the targeted 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer by 2021, a significant drop from the 130 grams per km recorded in 2015. Still, this is not sufficient, and hydrogen may be a possible solution. Hydrogen can have a significant role in providing better environmental sustainability as it combusts clean in the presence of oxygen and the output is water. Sounds great, right? So, why are we not using hydrogen as fuel yet?

Nature inspired technology

Dec 12th, 2019

Dr. Jalal Ahamed holds a sensor

A University of Windsor engineering professor is turning to nature to inspire his research. Dr. Jalal Ahamed and his team in the Micro Nano Mechatronic Research Lab are working on technologies that replicate the stabilizing, rapid wingbeats of a bee and the echoes bats use to navigate and forage.

The research group has designed a microchip with microscopic wings that flap at high speeds at a set frequency when electrical wires apply voltage. When a change in orientation or motion is detected, the thin, gold-coated, silicon wings will alter their flapping speed.

The next generation of energy storage

Dec 12th, 2019

Wind turbines line the coast

With a surge in renewable energy generation, researchers worldwide are pushing to innovate methods that combat the technology’s intermittent nature.

One of the solutions is energy storage and is the focus of an international cluster of leaders in offshore energy and storage spearheaded by the University of Windsor and University of Nottingham. For the past five years, the Offshore Energy and Storage Society (OSESS) has met annually to exchange ideas and foster collaborations that will propel the integration of renewable energy and storage technologies.

“We’ve relied on the inertia of big fossil fire and nuclear plants in the past, but energy systems are changing and how that future system is going to work is still an open question. Grid integration, storage and other technologies are going to be critical,” says Daniel Laird, director of the United States National Wind Technology Center and National Renewable Energy Laboratory and keynote speaker at OSESS’s 2019 Offshore Energy and Storage Summit.

Tonio Sant, an associate professor at the University of Malta and member of the OSESS technical committee, says without energy storage, it’s impossible to reach 100 per cent penetration of renewable energies.