Natural evolution provides inspiration for scholarship winner

A University of Windsor PhD candidate, motivated by interest in the simultaneous evolution of plants and animals, received a scholarship for $35,000 annually for three years to develop mathematical models that capture the evolutionary process of manufacturing systems and products.

"There are a lot of links between what happens in nature and what happens in industry," said Tarek Al Geddawy, an Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering doctoral student. He was one of a handful of students to be selected from 200 national applicants by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council as a winner in its national Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) competition, and one of only two UWindsor doctoral students to receive the three-year award. Five others received two-year awards.

Al Geddawy co-authored "The Co-evolution of Products and Manufacturing Systems in Analogy with Evolution Laws in Nature," with Dr. Hoda ElMaraghy, a professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering and director of UWindsor's Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Centre, and fellow PhD candidate Ahmed Azab. The paper was published in the International Academy for Production Engineering’s annals and was presented at its general assembly in Manchester, England.

"A flower doesn't want its pollen to be wasted so it hides its nectar deep inside, but the butterfly has grown a longer tongue to get at the nectar," Al Geddawy said. "Both species are dependent on each other, so they have evolved together. As products evolve, manufacturing systems have evolved with them and vice versa. We’ll be looking at how systems have changed, what opportunities this has opened for new products to develop and how the life of manufacturing systems can be prolonged to avoid costly changes."

Canada Graduate Scholarships provide opportunities for research leaders of tomorrow, while helping to renew faculties at Canadian universities and providing highly qualified personnel to meet the needs of the country's growing knowledge economy.

In addition to faculty research funding grants, NSERC announced $1.3 million in scholarships for UWindsor students.