Aerial view of people walking around poster displays.

Engineering Research Celebration Day

The annual Engineering Research Celebration Day celebrates the excellence and innovation of research conducted by faculty members and students at the Faculty of Engineering. It is an opportunity for networking, collaboration, and knowledge exchange through various events that recognize and celebrate the contributions of our researchers and engineers.

Attend an event

Whether you are an undergraduate student with an interest in research, a graduate student actively conducting a research project, an established researcher or a research enthusiast, you can participate by attending one of our Engineering Research Celebration Day events.

Research Day 2026 events will be added soon.

Graduate Poster Competition 

The Engineering and Computer Science Graduate Poster Competition enables graduate students to share their research with interested parties. Judges, including faculty members, alumni and industry professionals, evaluate the posters based on clarity, significance and novelty of the work. The competition gives Ottawa’s industry and community a preview of the upcoming research and innovation at the Faculty of Engineering.

Participate as a student

Registration

All graduate students at the Faculty of Engineering are invited to participate in the Engineering and Computer Science Graduate Poster Competition. 

Register for the 2026 competition.

Important dates and deadlines

  • February 10, 2026: Deadline to register to the competition
  • March 1st, 2026: Deadline to submit a digital version of your poster and abstract
  • March 12, 2026: Engineering Research Celebration Day (date of the Graduate Poster Competition)

Submission Guidelines

Participants will have to submit a digital version of their poster and abstract ahead of the competition. All guidelines for submitting your poster and abstract can be found on the Submission Guidelines page. 

Prizes

Prizes for the first, second, and third places will be awarded in each category (see categories below).

  • 1st place: $500, access to an exclusive travel and conference grant, an article about their research on the Faculty of Engineering website, and the opportunity to display their poster at the 2026 Ceremony of Excellence.  
  • 2nd place: $300
  • 3rd place: $200

Additional prizes will be available for:

  • Best Female Presenter
  • Members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Prizes in this category may differ in value from the main category awards.  
  • Members of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE). Prizes in this category may differ in value from the main category awards. 

Categories

Students will be competing in one of the Faculty of Engineering's five research areas. Participants will be asked to select the research category that they believe best reflects the focus of their work. All participants will receive a confirmation of their category prior to the competition.

Icon for Enabling technologies for health care, with a cross and heart monitor running through it

Enabling technologies for health care and augmented life

Projects focused on tech or systems that improve health, mobility, wellbeing, or care delivery.

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Technology for the digital transformation of society

Projects exploring digital technologies that improve how we live, work, communicate, or interact with information.

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Sustainable and resilient infrastructure

Projects that improve how we design, build, protect, or adapt infrastructure to be safer, smarter, and more sustainable.

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Emerging materials and processes: design and development

Projects focused on creating or improving materials and processes for better performance, sustainability, or efficiency.

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Photonics for devices, networks and energy

Projects that explore light-based technologies for use in energy, communication, health, sensing, or quantum applications.

Winning research projects

All Research Day stories
Bloodstream.

Photonics for health care: a new laser for biosensors

PhD student Shayan Saeidi is developing a compact, affordable biosensor that could improve how we detect health conditions in fluid samples.
PhD student Shayan Saeidi is developing a compact, affordable biosensor that could improve how we detect health conditions in fluid samples.

August 6, 2025
Close-up of a 3D bioprinter depositing bio-ink into a petri dish

3D printing living tissue: from joint pain to osteoarthritis

Biomedical engineering student Olivia Steiner is developing smarter bioinks to improve 3D bioprinting for tissue engineering — with big implications for personalized medicine and regenerative health care.
Biomedical engineering student Olivia Steiner is developing smarter bioinks to improve 3D bioprinting for tissue engineering — with big implications for personalized medicine and regenerative health care.

July 11, 2025
A credit card on a POS machine.

Cracking down on credit card fraud: Machine learning techniques for the financial sector

Master’s student Bahar Emami Afshar is helping make online transactions safer. Her algorithm quickly labels data and helps prevent illegal activities, from credit card fraud to identity theft.
Master’s student Bahar Emami Afshar is helping make online transactions safer. Her algorithm quickly labels data and helps prevent illegal activities, from credit card fraud to identity theft.

July 3, 2025
A heart monitor in a hospital setting.

Healing hearts: A new way to help the body recover after a heart attack

Biomedical engineering master’s student Jéssica Hernández Juárez researches materials that could improve life after heart attacks and help ease the burden on Canada’s health-care system.
Biomedical engineering master’s student Jéssica Hernández Juárez researches materials that could improve life after heart attacks and help ease the burden on Canada’s health-care system.

June 25, 2025