Alec Cotton and Kade MacWilliams, MASc students in the Department, have been awarded Best Conference Paper at the IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications 2026, held in Montevideo.

Their award-winning paper, “Step-Wise Feature Selection for Surgical Gesture Recognition,” was co-authored with James R. Green, Ahmed Nasr, Georges Azzie, and Carlos Rossa.

This prestigious recognition highlights the team’s innovative contributions to medical measurement technologies and surgical data analysis. Their work advances the development of intelligent systems for recognizing surgical gestures, with potential applications in improving training, assessment, and outcomes in healthcare.

Please join us in congratulating Alec and Kade, along with their co-authors, on this outstanding international achievement.

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The Department of Systems and Computer Engineering proudly celebrates the outstanding achievements of Professor Rajan and Professor Taha, recipients of the prestigious Faculty Graduate Mentoring Award.

This award recognizes faculty members who demonstrate exceptional dedication to supporting and guiding graduate students, both academically and professionally. Professors Rajan and Taha have distinguished themselves through their commitment to fostering inclusive, supportive, and intellectually stimulating research environments.

Through their mentorship, they have empowered students to excel in their studies, pursue innovative research, and develop confidence as emerging scholars and professionals. Their impact extends beyond the classroom and laboratory, shaping the next generation of leaders in their fields.

Please join us in congratulating Professors Rajan and Taha on this well-deserved recognition of their excellence in graduate mentorship. See the full article .

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The �Ӱ�ԭ�� University Research Achievement Awards recognize outstanding research accomplishments across the university. Carlos Rossa, from the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, has received seed funding to develop an AI-powered paediatric laparoscopy simulator, aiming to improve surgical training and outcomes for children. Read more

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We are thrilled to share more exciting news from our Software Engineering (SE) program!

Following their impressive performance at the provincial level, the same team of SE students has now secured 2nd place nationally at the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC). The competition took place from March 20–22 at the Université de Sherbrooke, bringing together top engineering students from across the country.

During the competition, teams were given eight hours to design and develop an innovative software solution integrating Augmented Reality (AR) to support building inspectors, civil engineers, and key stakeholders. Competing against the best in Canada, our students demonstrated exceptional technical skill, creativity, and teamwork to earn a place on the national podium.

This outstanding achievement further highlights the strength of our SE program and the remarkable talent of our graduating students. Congratulations to the team on representing the program with excellence on the national stage!

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Congratulations to Halim Yanikomeroglu on leading a $13.5 million research initiative that will help accelerate Canada’s digital future. This exciting project brings together researchers and partners from across the country to advance next-generation connectivity through innovative technologies such as satellites and aerial platforms, improving access to reliable networks in remote and underserved regions. This achievement highlights the important contributions of �Ӱ�ԭ�� researchers in driving innovation and strengthening Canada’s position in advanced telecommunications. Read the article here

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Tony was a valued member of the �Ӱ�ԭ�� community for 47 years. As a faculty member cross-appointed to both the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering and the Sprott School of Business (Technology Innovation Management (TIM). Tony touched the lives of countless students and colleagues.  Our hearts go out to Tony’s family and loved ones during this difficult time. He will be deeply missed. An obituary can be found here: .

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We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Mahmoud Sayed supervised by Prof. Mostafa Taha has been awarded the prestigious Senate Medal for Outstanding Graduate Work (Doctoral) at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University for the Fall 2025 semester graduates!

This highly competitive, merit-based medal is awarded to only one PhD graduate per semester within each faculty. It serves as a testament to exceptional academic achievement, rigorous research excellence, and profound scholarly impact.

The award specifically recognizes the outstanding quality of Mahmoud’s doctoral thesis, “Homomorphic Encryption Based Obfuscated Complex Queries System,” under supervision of Dr. Mostafa Taha, which he successfully defended on June 2, 2025. His research tackles a critical challenge in modern cloud computing and cybersecurity: simultaneously protecting sensitive user data and proprietary algorithmic IP. By leveraging advanced Torus Fully Homomorphic Encryption (TFHE) and novel oblivious logic gates, his work allows complex queries and functions to be executed on untrusted servers without ever revealing the underlying data or the logic of the algorithm itself.

Officially receiving this honor on October 31, 2025, Mahmoud’s selection was driven by his innovative thesis, a strong portfolio of publications and presentations, and the highest recommendation of his PhD defence committee.

Currently continuing his research journey as a Postdoctoral Fellow for the 2025/2026 academic year, Mahmoud is perfectly positioned to keep pushing the boundaries of quantum-safe cryptography and privacy-preserving technologies.

Please join us in congratulating Mahmoud on this incredible milestone, and in wishing him a phenomenal and highly successful career ahead!

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A team of four SE students has secured 2nd place in the Programming Competition among all Ontario universities — an exceptional achievement that highlights the strength, talent, and dedication within our program.

As a result of their impressive performance, the team will go on to represent Ontario at the Canadian Engineering Competition, taking place on the weekend of March 20 at the Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec. Competing at the national level is a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to their hard work and technical excellence.

Adding to this milestone, all four students will be graduating this year — making this achievement an especially meaningful way to conclude their undergraduate journey.

Please join us in congratulating Brian, Noah, Ashna, and Angus on this incredible accomplishment. We wish them the very best as they prepare to compete on the national stage and as they move forward into the next chapter of their careers!

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Congratulations to Atallah Madi, recipient of the Best Oral Presentation Award at the (ICAAI 2025) in Manchester, UK.

His research introduces a method to assist in the diagnostic process of Hirschsprung’s disease. Hirschsprung disease (HD) is a congenital birth disorder that causes colonic nerve cell deformation and intestinal blockage. It is characterized by the lack of colon ganglion cells in the myenteric plexus regions. The disease affects 1 in 5000 newborns globally and may be deadly if untreated. In this paper, a Vision–Language Model (VLM) is trained to classify plexus regions in Hirschsprung’s disease using both digital microscope histopathology images and medical knowledge. The text descriptions of the disease are generated using a Large Language Model (LLM) that is used as a reasoning model and is limited to a set of trusted medical literature. This allows the VLM to make predictions while being aligned to how pathologists examine and interpret tissue samples.

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The Department of Systems and Computer Engineering is pleased to congratulate Dr. Hongzhao Zheng, who successfully defended his PhD on August 21, 2025. His dissertation, “A Hybrid Positioning System in a Non-Terrestrial Network for Urban Areas,” explores innovative ways to enhance positioning accuracy by combining satellite systems with terrestrial 5G/6G networks and high-altitude platform systems (HAPS).

Supervised by Dr. Halim Yanikomeroglu and Dr. Mohamed Atia, with contributions from Professor Paulo S. R. Diniz, Hongzhao’s work received high praise from the examining committee. We are proud to share that he was awarded the �Ӱ�ԭ�� University Medal for Outstanding Graduate Work — PhD Level, recognizing the exceptional quality and impact of his research.

Hongzhao’s doctoral work has also led to several publications and award-winning contributions in the rapidly growing field of non-terrestrial networks.

We extend our warmest congratulations to Dr. Zheng and wish him continued success as he moves forward in his career.

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