12 episodes

Exploring innovative research in the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University, Canada’s most research-intensive university. With sustainability in mind, our researchers are helping to find solutions to the world's greatest challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Hosted by John Preston, Associate Dean of Research, Innovation and External Relations in the Faculty of Engineering.

Big Ideas for a Changing World McMaster Engineering

    • Science
    • 5.0 • 3 Ratings

Exploring innovative research in the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University, Canada’s most research-intensive university. With sustainability in mind, our researchers are helping to find solutions to the world's greatest challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Hosted by John Preston, Associate Dean of Research, Innovation and External Relations in the Faculty of Engineering.

    Managing flood risk in Canada and advocating equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at McMaster with Paulin Coulibaly

    Managing flood risk in Canada and advocating equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at McMaster with Paulin Coulibaly

    McMaster Civil Engineering and School of Earth, Environment & Society Professor, Paulin Coulibaly talks about managing flood risk in Canada, working with Global Water Futures and advocating for EDI at McMaster.

    Coulibaly leads FloodNet, a nation-wide research network funded by NSERC to enhance flood forecasting and management capacity in Canada.

    Coulibaly is also affiliated with the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health and is developing a more advanced hydrologic modelling tool in Canada as part of the Global Water Futures project.

    Coulibaly is part of the African Caribbean Faculty Association at McMaster (ACFAM), a group that advocates for EDI at McMaster.

    ACFAM has a mentorship program for black graduate students and researchers and are now putting together a mentorship document for new Black faculty hires as part of an initiative launched this past November, to appoint up to twelve emerging and established Black academics and scholars in each Faculty.

    Read more.

    • 30 min
    Will McMaster return to campus this fall? (Part 2 with Ishwar K. Puri and Susan Tighe)

    Will McMaster return to campus this fall? (Part 2 with Ishwar K. Puri and Susan Tighe)

    In Part 2 of this conversation, we reflect on more lessons learned in virtual teaching and learning, and McMaster's Provost Susan Tighe answers the question that's on all our minds: Will we return to campus this fall, and how?

    Joining John Preston, Associate Dean for Research & External Relations are Ishwar K. Puri, McMaster’s Dean of Engineering; and Susan Tighe, McMaster’s Provost and Vice-President, Academic, and also a member of the Faculty of Engineering.

    Produced by Jessie Park. Edited by Dan Kim.

    Follow @mcmastereng on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more updates.

    • 24 min
    Lessons learned in 2020 and plans for 2021, with Ishwar K. Puri and Susan Tighe

    Lessons learned in 2020 and plans for 2021, with Ishwar K. Puri and Susan Tighe

    In the first episode of 2021, we reflect on the biggest lessons McMaster Engineering learned in 2020 in online teaching and learning.

    Joining John Preston, Associate Dean for Research & External Relations are Ishwar K. Puri, McMaster’s Dean of Engineering; and Susan Tighe, McMaster’s Provost and Vice-President, Academic, and also a member of the Faculty of Engineering.  

    Stay tuned for Part 2, where we discuss what the future of engineering education holds, and our Provost answers the question that’s on all our minds: will we return to campus in the fall, and how?

    Produced by Jessie Park. Edited by Dan Kim.

    Follow @mcmastereng on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more updates.

    • 32 min
    What PPE experts want you to know about cloth face masks

    What PPE experts want you to know about cloth face masks

    What’s the best cloth mask for the public to use? How can PPE be made to be more sustainable? Can imperfect use of imperfect masks still reduce COVID-19 spread?

    Four experts from McMaster’s Centre of Excellence in Protective Equipment and Materials (CEPEM) answer frequently asked questions about cloth masks, and how they’re working with industry partners to improve the next generation of PPE in Canada:


    Catherine Clase – Associate Professor, Medicine, McMaster University; Nephrologist, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

    Charles De Lannoy – Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, McMaster University.

    Myrna Dolovich – Professor, Medicine, McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

    Zeinab Hosseini-Doust – Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, McMaster University.

    CEPEM is Canada’s first and only research hub dedicated to developing, testing and validating PPE, from improving cloth masks for the general public to rethinking the design of PPE for healthcare workers.

    Visit clothmasks.ca for up-to-date information on the most effective cloth masks for public use, mask cleaning and more. This website is co-led by Catherine Clase and Juan Jesus Carrero from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.

    • 49 min
    Testing COVID-19 medications using novel drug delivery technology for the eyes

    Testing COVID-19 medications using novel drug delivery technology for the eyes

    What if eye drops and injections used to treat eye diseases could be made to last longer in the eye, improving patient outcomes and reducing visits to the doctor? What if this drug delivery method could be applied to the lung, potentially improving outcomes for COVID-19 patients?

    In Episode 8, hear how McMaster engineers at the Sheardown Lab are doing just that.

    Guests:

    Heather Sheardown, a professor in Chemical Engineering and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Opthalmic Biomaterials

    Fran Lasowski, the executive director for the C20/20 Innovation Hub and PhD graduate in Chemical Engineering

    • 30 min
    The future of engineering education, according to global experts

    The future of engineering education, according to global experts

    What are the challenges and advantages of e-learning? How will innovation culture shift? How can we make the most of the transformations to education that were required by the pandemic, but may carry on into the future?

    In this episode, we play back a virtual panel discussion led by John Preston during this year's Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) Industry Forum.

    Special thanks to our panelists for their insights, and GEDC and Petrus for organizing the GEDC Industry Forum in partnership with McMaster Engineering.

    Guests:


    Joris Melkert, Director of Education in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft in the Netherlands;
    Charlette N’Guessan, Co-founder and CEO of the BACE GROUP, an African digital identity software company, and 2020 recipient of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation;
    Colin Tan, Director of Operations at TusPark UK, a growing science and tech incubator.

    Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @mcmastereng. Read more at www.eng.mcmaster.ca/news.

    • 41 min

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