2024 News Archive

World Water Day is more than simply a commemoration, says civil and environmental engineering professor Tirupati Bolisetti: it’s a call to action, an opportunity to make a genuine impact in conservation and sustainability.

He is calling on students in any discipline to participate in a display of research posters on March 22. This year’s theme, “Water Peace,” highlights collaborative efforts to achieve harmony and sustainability in water management.

Partnering with specialists Block Harbor Cybersecurity will help UWindsor students develop skills in high demand, says engineering professor Mitra Mirhassani, co-director of the SHIELD Automotive Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence.

Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, the company develops tests to determine whether vehicles are meeting standards against cyber threats. It will provide cases to SHIELD for training in assessing the robustness of vehicle security measures.

The partnership provides a valuable link between academe and industry, Dr. Mirhassani says.

“SHIELD was established with the goal of training experts in this exciting field,” she says. “Automotive cybersecurity requires a hands-on approach.”

The next wave of the internet will completely change how people connect, communicate, and play by submerging them in a virtual world, says professor Ning Zhang.

But in “A Survey on Metaverse: Fundamentals, Security, and Privacy,” an article co-authored with colleagues from Xi’an Jiaotong University and the University of Waterloo, he warns that this immersive arena is still developing to its full potential, so making forecasts is difficult.

A professor in the UWindsor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Zhang points to the significant investment of major corporations like Apple and Meta in technologies like virtual reality.

Narayan Kar, director of the CHARGE lab (the Centre for Hybrid Automotive Research and Green Energy) and a professor of electrical and computer engineering, will join a panel discussing the future of automotive — which he says, means bringing the entire electric vehicle supply chain to Canada.

Canada Research Chair in Electrified Vehicles, Dr. Kar will be one of 12 industry experts speaking at the Globe and Mail’s fourth annual Future of Automotive Summit on Tuesday, Feb. 13, which will bring together experts, consumers, and tech innovators to share their thoughts on the challenges facing the sector and the evolution of driving in Canada.

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.

The Faculty of Engineering wellness team is available to help engineering students through any number of issues that come up during students’ academic year, from academics, relationship or family conflict, coping with change, difficulty achieving academically, loneliness, emotional instability, test anxiety, to trauma — any number of stresses that students encounter during the school year.

Clinical therapists Giselle St. Louis and Jason McKinlay, along with Winnie the therapy dog, can offer a variety of counselling services.

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.