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“In the tech industry, it’s so easy to lose track of the fact that we are humans designing things for other humans,” says Areena Akhter, who graduates with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science this month. “Whether we’re thinking about ethics or interfacing with diverse social systems, people need to be at the core of everything we do.”

Safi, a Waterloo-founded milk pasteurization start-up, was invited to present at the United Nations as part of a Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Four computer science students and graduates have received the top honours at the 42nd annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). It took place in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America, from May 11th to 16th, 2024.  

Organized by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), CHI is the premier international Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) conference. It is also one of the top-ranked conferences in computer science.

Cheriton School of Computer Science alumnus Jeff An (BCS ’20) co-founded Momentic: an AI startup accelerating software testing.

Recently, Momentic was chosen for the Y Combinator’s (YC) Winter 2024 cohort, joining 11 other startups founded by the University of Waterloo’s students and alumni.

A team of researchers at the University of Waterloo has developed a new machine-learning method that detects hate speech on social media platforms with 88 per cent accuracy, saving employees from hundreds of hours of emotionally damaging work.

A trio of Waterloo coders will advance to the 48^th International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals. 

Co-op students at the University of Waterloo are helping AdHawk Microsystems to develop technology that can advance eye health and behavioral research. 

Recently, the startup unveiled MindLink Air™ ─ glasses that use research-grade, camera-free eye-tracking technology to read its wearer’s eye health and cognitive state. This data provides insights that help the wearer adjust their daily routine to improve productivity and avoid mental fatigue.

Tower, a startup with unique ties to the University of Waterloo, is revolutionizing the legal space.

Using the power of AI, they are helping in-house counsels triage and handle incoming legal requests automatically. Their company, which was founded in 2024, is further bolstered with recent seed funding from the Y Combinator (YC).

Cheriton School of Computer Science Professor Jo Atlee has been named a recipient of the 2023 CS-Can | Info-Can’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Computer Science.

Last week, students at the University of Waterloo were invited to participate in the GOODHack24 challenge. This event was held at Communitech in downtown Kitchener and was co-hosted by the City of Kitchener, Go Open Data (GOOD) and GreenHouse, a social incubator at United College.

This hackathon challenge offered a space for students to brainstorm, explore and develop innovative solutions at the intersection of open data, technology and local sustainable resources to support affected communities experiencing heat inequity.