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In 1967, Canadians celebrated the country’s 100^th birthday and the future seemed full of hope and boundless potential. But at the University of Waterloo the future had already arrived in the newly built Math and Computer building’s Red Room. It was there that an IBM 360 Model 75 was housed — the most powerful computer in Canada at the time and the same model NASA used to do the critical calculations to send astronauts to the moon.

With the sweeping arrival of COVID-19, Marcelo Cortes, a former computer science undergraduate student, was quick to realize the devastating impact it could have on small, local businesses.

As chief technology officer and co-founder of Faire, an online wholesale marketplace that helps emerging brands and boutique retailers grow their business, Cortes recognized that more help needed to be offered.  

Cheriton School of Computer Science Professor Jimmy Lin has spearheaded the creation of a dedicated search engine for those who are engaged in the fight against COVID-19.

Professor Florian Kerschbaum has received a 2019 Outstanding Young Computer Science Researcher Award from CS-Can/Info-Can, the nation’s professional society dedicated to representing all aspects of computer science and the interests of the discipline to Canadians.

Cheriton School of Computer Science Professor Jesse Hoey has had a curious career trajectory.

His academic life began with an undergraduate degree in physics, followed by a master’s in physical oceanography, then a PhD in computer science with specialization in artificial intelligence. He even had a stint working with occupational therapists as part of his postdoctoral studies, where he applied his expertise in AI to develop assistive technologies for people with dementia.

Media, government, and industry commonly frame security and privacy as diametrically opposed: protecting one requires sacrificing the other. 

Privacy, Infrastructures, Policy brought together researchers with international speakers from journalism, national security, academia and the corporate world to challenge these misconceptions. A central thread of each of the talks is the design, implementation, and benefits of privacy-enhancing social and technological infrastructures.

Rafael Oliveira joined the Cheriton School of Computer Science in January 2020 as an assistant professor. 

University Professor Ming Li, the Canada Research Chair in Bioinformatics, and his colleague Professor Paul Vitányi at Centrum Wiskunde and Informatica in the Netherlands have received one of seven 2020 McGuffey Longevity Awards from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association for An Introduction to Kolmogorov Compl

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Ken McLaughlin has spent his career uncovering and shaping the stories of our local communities into urban portraits that breathe with the life of great biographies.