UWAFT - University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Federal Minister of Finance and National Revenue, joined Bardish Chagger , Member of Parliament, alongside Mary Wells, Dean of Engineering, and Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo, for a tour of the Sedra Student Design Centre during their visit to campus.

During the visit, Minister Champagne and MP Chagger engaged with student teams in the Sedra Student Design Centre to gain insight into student-led innovation and experiential learning at Waterloo. A select number of student design teams were invited to showcase their work, offering a brief overview of their projects, technical achievements, and real-world impact.

The tour was framed around key priorities aligned with the Canada Strong Fund, including building and developing Canadian talent, strengthening workforce capacity, fostering sovereign partnerships with industry, and advancing innovation in critical sectors such as infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, mobility, and security—areas strongly connected to the work being led by students and supported by national leadership.

⚙️ :

Driving innovation across the mobility space, AVL is a global leader in development, simulation, and testing—powering the future of safer, smarter, and more efficient transportation. From traditional powertrains to hybrid, battery electric, and fuel cell technologies, AVL is shaping the path toward mobility. 🌱⚡️

At UWAFT, AVL plays a critical role in our engineering journey—providing powerful simulation tools, data visualization, and graphing capabilities that allow our team to better understand, analyze, and optimize vehicle performance. These tools empower us to dive deeper into our systems, strengthen our decision-making, and continuously improve our designs. 📊🚗

We’re incredibly grateful for AVL’s support in helping us turn data into insight—and insight into impact.
Thank you, AVL, for accelerating innovation at every stage. 🚀

: Systems Design and Integration (SDI)

The team that brings it all together. SDI connects our mechanical and electrical systems, ensuring every component works seamlessly as one.

From mounting and packaging to wiring and power distribution, they turn individual parts into a fully functional vehicle.

⚡️ :

From powering global industries to enabling innovation at the student level, Siemens is a key driver of digital transformation. Through their expertise in electrification, automation, and software, they continue to shape a more sustainable and connected future.

At UWAFT, Siemens plays a direct role in our innovation—supporting our SDI team with advanced CAD software that allows us to design, simulate, and bring new ideas to life on our vehicle. From concept to integration, their tools help turn our engineering visions into reality. 🚗💡

We’re incredibly grateful for Siemens’ support in empowering our team to create, iterate, and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Thank you, Siemens, for helping us build the future—one design at a time. ⚙️✨

Driving the future of connected Mobility. UWAFT is proud to highlight Codha Wireless, a global leader in Connected and Autonoous Vehicles (CAV) software.

Through advanced V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication, Cohda enables vehicles to interact with each other, infrastructure, and pedestrians—enhancing safety, efficiency, and real-time decision-making.

For our CAVs team, technologies like these are critical in shaping how our vehicle understands and responds to its environment— bringing us one step closer to safer, smarter mobility systems in competition and beyond.

We are incredibly proud to share that UWAFT has been selected as one of only 20 teams to compete in the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge 2026–2030!

Even more exciting — we are the only Canadian team that will be competing in the Stellantis track with a 2026 Jeep Cherokee Hybrid.

Over the next four years, our team will:
🔧 Re-engineer advanced propulsion systems
🔋 Develop high-voltage battery solutions
🤖 Integrate cutting-edge software & AI
🌱 Balance performance, efficiency, and sustainability

This opportunity is more than a competition — it’s a platform for our students to gain real-world experience, collaborate with industry leaders, and help shape the future of mobility.

From late nights in the garage to representing Canada on an international stage — this is what innovation in action looks like.

We’re just getting started. 🔥

🔦 Sponsor Spotlight:

Thank you to our contributing sponsor Shaeffler. Shaefller has been pioneering motion for over 75 years - dvancing electric mobility, CO₂-efficient drives, chassis systems, and renewable energy solutions.

From bearing solutions to advanced monitoring systems, their expertise spans the entire mobility ecosystem—powering performance across every stage of a vehicle’s life cycle.

We’re proud to have Schaeffler supporting our journey as we push the future of sustainable mobility forward 🚗⚡️