University of Waterloo

Rodon Fraser is a professor in the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo.

From 1998 to 2019, Fraser served nine times (18 years) as an elected PEO councillor and served on many PEO committees, including the Academic Review Committee from 1998 to 2022. Fraser supervises the University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT), which competes internationally in the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions.

Derek Rayside is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the director of software engineering and is cross-appointed to the School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. He is also the faculty advisor for Watonomous, the autonomous vehicle student design team in the SAE AutoDrive Challenge and the Software Engineering Capstone Coordinator. 

Hilary Bergsieker is an associate professor of social psychology at the University of Waterloo, where she leads the Diversity and Intergroup Relations Lab and serves on the Equity Data Advisory Committee of the EDI-R Office. She co-directs Project RISE within the Engendering Success in STEM Research Consortium (ESS; SuccessinSTEM.ca), funded by the federal government and industry partners, such as GM and Engineers Canada.

She has expertise in trust formation, bias reduction, diversity climate assessment and network science, with recent work on implicit bias and inclusion in STEM workplace teams (published 2021 in PNAS). Bergsieker co-directs a multi-year project that implements and assesses evidence-based trainings in STEM workplaces to reduce gender/racial bias and increase inclusion.

Jaden (Heong Joo) Yoo received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo and is currently working towards his master's degree in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics engineering at the university.

During his undergraduate degree, he was the aerodynamics lead of the University of Waterloo Formula Motorsports team, dedicating his whole undergraduate career to the team.

He enjoys playing golf, weightlifting and almost all outdoor activities. In the future, Jaden wants to start a business that will influence people's everyday lives.

Henri is the newest graduate addition to UWAFT, pursuing his master’s in mechanical and mechatronics engineering alongside his responsibilities as the new PCM lead.

He completed his undergraduate studies at McGill University where he was heavily involved with McGill’s FSAE team. His interests lie in the research and development of various dynamic vehicle systems in the hopes of optimizing on-track performance.

In his spare time, Henri enjoys cycling and baking!

Andrey is pursuing two degrees, Bachelor of Computer Science from UWaterloo, and Bachelor of Business Administration from ULaurier.

He is fascinated by automation on both the software and hardware level, and is excited to bring more of that to UWAFT. In the future, he hopes to live a nomad lifestyle, working on a variety of projects and disciplines in different industries.

Jessica is one of the DEI managers of the UWAFT team. She is a social psychology student in the first year of her PhD, studying interventions to increase allyship. She hopes to help ensure the UWAFT team is a space of inclusion and belonging for everyone.

In her spare time, she enjoys writing, reading, and hanging out with her cat – Sebastian.

Pamela is one of the DEI managers for UWAFT. She is a social psychology PhD student interested in identity and intergroup relations, specifically how to improve interracial interactions. Her research interests are in social inequalities, power dynamics and social change. She uses research as a tool to think about and propose solutions to social issues. Outside of academia, you can find her cooking, hanging out with a dog or thrifting. 

Anthony McAffee often goes by Ant. During his undergrad, he studied electrical engineering at the University of New Brunswick.

Brianna (Xiao Shan) Liu is an undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo, pursuing an environment and business major within the Faculty of Environment.

Her goal is to implement the knowledge gained from both her academic studies and practical work experiences into her contributions to UWAFT.

Alex Zervos is an MBA Candidate at the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University.

He is an entrepreneur, starting up two businesses. Zervos also received his Bachelor’s of Education from Western University. He is excited to assist in progressing electric vehicles and promoting sustainability.

In his spare time, he enjoys going to the gym, drawing, and watching football.