MacEngineer - April Edition
McMaster Engineering Alumni
Connecting our #FireballFamily through events, networking, spotlights, and more.
As the long-awaited springtime weather arrives, we're thrilled to share exciting funding news, celebrate our Fireball Family's innovative contributions to creating a brighter planet, honour four Mac Eng award recipients, and share highlights from two major events. Discover more in this month's newsletter!
Top Stories
The Ontario government is investing $750 million over five years to fund up to 20,500 seats for students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs at colleges and universities, including 2,440 per year at McMaster.
The funding, announced April 22 at the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute, will support educating a new generation of skilled leaders, driving discovery and meaningful impact in local and global communities.
“As a proud graduate of McMaster’s Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering program, I know firsthand how critical STEM education is to nurturing innovation and building real-world solutions," said Lianna Genovese, iBioMed graduate and startup of the Guided Hands assistive device. "Our success story began in a university lab — and with support like this, more Ontario students can bring life-changing solutions to impact the lives of others!”
From supporting renewable, low-carbon emitting energy methods, discovering greener ways to manufacture steel, transforming agriculture food waste into high value bioproducts and inspiring the next generation of eco-leaders, McMaster Engineering faculty, alumni and students are leading the way in creating a more sustainable future.
Among those in our Fireball Family who are at the forefront of engineering a brighter planet are alumni, Aidan Ritchie-Dickinson and Kushal Panchal, P.Eng. Aidan is improving access to clean drinking water for First Nations communities across Ontario and Kushal is the co-founder and president of Oligomaster Inc., a sustainable solutions start-up promoting research and innovation in the plastics and coating industry.
Mac Eng Research Recap
First-year McMaster students in the Integrated Cornerstone Design Projects in Engineering course collaborated in teams to explore potential materials for the development of a water filtration process. They received invaluable support from Veolia Water Technologies and Solutions, a global leader in water and wastewater treatment technologies.
“These projects show our students that becoming an engineer is about meaningfully serving our communities,” says Shelir Ebrahimi , assistant professor in chemical engineering and one of the course coordinators of ENGINEER 1P13. “Working hands-on with equipment from companies like Veolia helps translate classroom concepts into real-world applications.”
In March 2025 NASA pilots took an ER-2 science aircraft on a series of night flights over the Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The Airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance, or air-LUSI, mission observed the Moon at different phases and measured the sunlight reflected by the lunar surface. A McMaster team developed the Autonomous Robotic Telescope Mount Instrument System and High-Altitude Aircraft Mounted Robotic (HAAMR) telescope mount, which support the air-LUSI system.
“The collective effort of the American and Canadian team members offers an opportunity for truly exciting engineering and science collaboration,” said S. Andrew Gadsden , associate professor and associate chair for graduate studies in mechanical engineering at McMaster University, and co-investigator on the air-LUSI project.
Following a competitive global search, internationally recognized researcher and experienced university administrator Gianni Parise. Parise has been named McMaster’s next Vice-President, Research. Parise brings more than 20 years of research, academic and institutional leadership expertise to the position, having served as acting Dean and Associate Dean of Research in McMaster’s Faculty Science and as acting Deputy Vice-President, Research, among many other roles.
Celebrating our Alumni
Three Mac Eng alumni and one soon-to-be graduate will be honoured at this year's McMaster Alumni Association Awards Ceremony & Dinner Event on June 5. Congratulations to the following awardees:
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Giuseppe Del Gobbo, PhD, P.Eng. ‘13, McMaster Engineering Young Alumni Leadership Award Recipient
Paige Dickie ʼ11, Arch Award Recipient
Sarah Woods Chemical Engineering & Management student, Albert Lager Prize for Student Initiative Recipient
Frank Scremin ’94, Alumni Gallery Inductee
Here's more information on the recipients. For tickets to the event click here.
Staying Connected with Mac Eng
Thank you to all alumni, friends and their kids who came out to our first Fireball Family event at FIRST Robotics on March 29. Participants enjoyed STEM activities led by our Community Outreach team, a pizza lunch, a visit from our mascot Flare and an exciting high school robotics competition. It was wonderful seeing parents pass on their love of STEM to their littles. We hope to see more of our #FireballFamily and their families at the next one! Check out the FIRST Robotics recap.
Over 1,000 soon-to-be graduates presented their projects at this year's Capstone Expo. Thank you to alumni who attended the event, which included an opportunity to network and hear Faculty updates. The variety of projects on display was impressive, ranging from a self-sustaining greenhouse and a new chess variant called Pentachess to a firefighting robot, a posture-perfecting sensor system, a motorized cart for golf clubs, an automated smoothie machine and a cost-saving mini membrane bioreactor design.
“My capstone experience was incredibly rewarding, offering opportunities to connect with professors and peers across multiple disciplines,” says Joanne Lee , Integrated Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences (Engineering Physics) student and member of Team Eye-Conic Minions who created a portal, smartphone-based retinal imaging system. “The entire journey for Capstone was filled with many challenges and milestones but ultimately resulted in an expo experience that was brimming with creativity, teamwork and a true sense of bringing all our engineering efforts to life.”
Upcoming events
Class of 1975: 50th Anniversary Celebration - Friday, June 13
Our Class of 1975 alumni are invited for celebrations in honour of their 50th anniversary. Catch up with old friends and meet new ones, while revisiting new and familiar spaces on McMaster's campus. The day begins with faculty/study area socials, followed by a complimentary luncheon. After lunch, take a tour geared to your study area, then there are a variety of options to continue the day at your leisure. Register here.
50th Engineering & Management Anniversary Celebration - Saturday, September 20
We invite all Eng & Management alumni to celebrate 50 years of excellence, innovation, and achievement of our alumni and the legacy of the program. To get things started, we've created a LinkedIn Group for all alumni to join and share memories from their time at McMaster. We look forward to sharing more details in the coming weeks, including an invitation with RSVP.
Mac Eng Nostalgia
Throwback to the '70s, when outdoor study sessions were a vibe!
Share your feedback on the newsletter! Let us know what you think about the monthly MacEngineer and what you'd like to read in future editions by emailing engalum@mcmaster.ca.
