From Particles to Markets: Complex Systems Across Disciplines

The Waterloo Institute for Complexity & Innovation (WICI) is pleased to host Complexity Day, a cross‑disciplinary gathering exploring how complex systems thinking connects mathematics, physics, and economics.

May 13, 2026 | Faculty Hall - PSE 7303

This special event will feature two distinguished speakers whose work spans theory, systems modeling, and real‑world implications of complexity:

• At 11:30 am, Dr. Carey King (The University of Texas at Austin; UT Energy Institute)
  An energy systems scientist and economist whose work investigates how physical energy constraints shape economic dynamics, policy decisions, and long‑term energy transitions.

• At 2:00 pm, Dr. Eric De Giuli (Toronto Metropolitan University)
  A theoretical physicist whose research examines emergence, collective behavior, and statistical physics in complex systems—from disordered materials and granular flows to chemical reaction networks and language.

Together, these talks will offer complementary perspectives on how nonlinear dynamics, emergence, and constraints shape systems across scales—from physical matter to economies and infrastructures. Complexity Day is designed to foster dialogue across disciplines and highlight shared tools, questions, and insights within complexity science.

Audience: Faculty, researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates interested in complexity, systems thinking, and interdisciplinary research.  The talks are accessible to a wide audience.

For abstracts and registration, visit the individual speaker pages (linked above).