Vic DiCiccio has been designated an Honorary Member of the University of Waterloo at the 2019 Fall Convocation for his outstanding service to the University.
Chengnian Sun recently joined the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science as an Assistant Professor. His research interests are in software engineering and programming languages. His work focuses on techniques, tools and methodologies for improving software quality and developers’ productivity.
Researchers have developed a powerful new tool that allows programmers to engage with work on their mobile devices to help make productive use of time away from their workplace.
In a new study done in collaboration with Microsoft Research, the team of researchers created a prototype tool called Mercury that lets programmers continue working on their mobile devices if they need to leave their desk to pick up when they return to their workstation. Currently, programmers often spend a substantial amount of time at their primary workstation to make productive use of their workdays.
University of Waterloo researchers have developed a novel tool that will allow user-experience designers to create more effective, personalized games and marketing campaigns.
Unlike other tools that categorize gamers by types, the new “player traits model,” along with a 25-item survey, can be used to more easily and accurately evaluate the kind of games people will enjoy. The model is based on five traits — social, aesthetic, challenge, goal and narrative.
Each year, the Cheriton Research Symposium concludes with a poster session for Cheriton Graduate Scholarship recipients. In total, 23 students participated in the 2019 Cheriton Research Symposium poster competition.
On April 14, 2019, hackers targeted Stratford City Hall with a ransomware attack, which led to several crucial servers becoming unresponsive and unavailable. The attacker had installed malware on six of the city’s physical servers and on two virtual servers, then encrypted all systems so staff could not access information. The attack affected the city’s email system and online forms.
A pair of second-year University of Waterloo students shared the top prize at the inaugural Citizen Hacks, a recent hackathon focused on creating technology to protect privacy.
Professors Lap Chi Lau and Daniel Vogel have been named 2019 David R. Cheriton Faculty Fellows, positions they will hold until 2022. These prestigious three-year fellowships support the work of leading faculty members in the Cheriton School of Computer Science and are made possible through the David R.
Researchers at the Cheriton School of Computer Science have pioneered a new method that could be used to develop more natural automated virtual assistants to help people suffering from mental illness.
Called SMERTI (pronounced smarty), the new method enables virtual assistants to use natural language and emotional cues that change depending on the relationship and situations in which they are used. The result allows for the development of virtual assistants that better connect with people they are used to help.
Melissa McCorriston has received a Vector Scholarship in Artificial Intelligence from the Vector Institute. These $17,500 scholarships recognize promising scholars and researchers in Ontario and support their further studies in a top provincial artificial intelligence–related master’s program.