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Meeting with Members of Parliament and government officials May 17 in Ottawa was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the research driving Canadian innovation — and to highlight the University of Windsor, says engineering professor Narayan Kar.

Canada Research Chair in Electrified Transportation Systems, he was one of the presenters during the Parliament Pop-Up Research Park, a project of the Council of Ontario Universities and the Ontario Council on University Research to share their latest discoveries with federal decision-makers.

“From an education perspective, it was a huge success,” says Dr. Kar. “Our government needs to be informed as to what we are doing.”

His presentation, entitled “Will an Electric Car be Able to Travel Coast-to-Coast?” attracted interest from MPs, senators, and civil servants, but Kar’s answer to the question he posed is “yes, but…”

He says electric vehicle technology will need improvements in affordability, convenience, reliability and durability before it are a true alternative to combustion engines.

Most people say they’ve never met anyone quite like Luigi Zanettin.

As a son, he always carved out time to fish and hunt with his dad and once gave up six months’ worth of Saturdays to help his father refurbish a fire truck for firefighters in Africa.

As a husband, he bought his wife flowers every week and worked two jobs while attending school so they could build a future together.

As a student, he never missed class and his curiosity-driven questions propelled him to the top of his program. Even after he was delivered a blow in 2013 when he found out he had a rare form of cancer, he never slowed down.

“When he had every reason to say I’ve had enough, he fought against it,” said Dr. Bill Altenhof, a University of Windsor mechanical and materials engineering professor who mentored the 27-year-old through graduate studies. “He just simply would never quit; I was awestruck by his level of determination.”

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Triangles are the sturdiest shape, says Dunya Assaf. That’s why she and her teammates chose it as the basis for their design of a model bridge.

“We’re trying to make it as sturdy and as long as possible,” said Assaf, a Grade 11 student at Vincent Massey Secondary School. “We made a base for the car to travel across and we’re incorporating triangles so it has a more stable surface.”

She and about 130 physics classmates came to the Centre for Engineering Innovation on Thursday to take part in a competition judged by representatives of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.

A University of Windsor industrial and manufacturing systems engineering student is one of two graduate students in Ontario to be recognized by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers.

In partnership with the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE), The Personal Home and Auto Group Insurance annually awards two undergraduate and two graduate students enrolled in engineering programs across Ontario.

Saeideh Salimpour, a PhD student at UWindsor with a grade point average of 99.25, will be presented with a $2,500 scholarship towards her engineering education during OSPE’s Annual General Meeting on May 4, 2017, at the Chestnut Residence and Conference Centre in Toronto.