Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Excellent teachers, researchers recognized today

Today, congratulations are in order to those members of the University who are honoured as part of the President’s Excellence in Teaching and Research awards. University of Waterloo professors, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who earned awards for either excellence in teaching or distinction in research are being celebrated. Their work is a continuous reminder that Waterloo is home to innovators who have an unwavering passion for research and teaching. 

This year we will celebrate their accomplishments virtually with the entire campus. To see the full list of the recipients, please visit the Excellence in Teaching and Research website.

Teaching awards celebrate teaching that has lasting, positive effects on students and deepens student learning. The award is open to all those who teach students at the University of Waterloo and is not limited to those holding faculty appointments.

Research awards celebrate significant achievements of faculty members and graduate students in research and innovation that are awarded by national and international foundations, associations, and institutions

Thank you for your dedication to your work as world-class educations and researchers. Congratulations to these individuals of your inspiring achievements. 

Waterloo celebrates its C100 fellows

This article was originally featured on Waterloo News.

C100’s Fellowship program highlights Canada’s most promising early-stage entrepreneurs. The 2021 cohort features four University of Waterloo connections. From Velocity alumni to chief technology officers, many of these individuals are the face of Canada's future entrepreneurial sector. The University of Waterloo fosters an entrepreneurial atmosphere, providing many incubation and acceleration programs, connection, support systems and much more.

Raymond Nguyen (MMath ’12)
Company: CTO co-founder, Arternal CRM
Education: MMath, Computer Science (2012)

Raymond Nguyen (MMath ’12) is the chief technology officer (CTO) and co-founder of Arternal CRM, an all-in-one consolidated art system that focuses on bringing Client Relationship Management (CRM) to the art world. It does this by streamlining communications across all members of the gallery, allowing them to save work simultaneously within one platform. The goal of the Arternal team is to limit the number of formats and platforms artists have to use and instead provide everything in one place. During his time at Waterloo, Nguyen was the former president of the Computer Science Graduate Student Association from 2011 to 2012.

Kuljeev Singh (BMath ’09)
Company: CEO and Founder, ResQ
Education: BMath Mathematical Sciences (2009)

Kuljeev Singh (BMath ’09) founder and CEO of ResQ located in Toronto. ResQ enables restaurant operators and service providers to build better-managed businesses by offering a central spot for brands to manage and control all their repair and maintenance operations. This allows restaurants to focus on their guest experience. Today, ResQ is a venture-backed company working with 600+ restaurants across 70 per cent of the fastest-growing restaurant brands in Canada. Using his degree from the University of Waterloo, Singh has a huge presence in the investment world, currently working as an investment advisor with various companies and previously working with QuandI and Augur INC. This is not all for Singh’s growing success — he has also opened his own restaurant at the age of 28, Kanga Pies located in Toronto, which is the first Australian-meat pie shop in the region.

Paul Klicnik (BCS ’08)
Company: Co-Founder & Head of Engineering, Relay Financial
Education: B.CS Computer Science/Software Engineering Opt (2008)

Paul Klicnik (BCS ’08) is the co-founder and head of engineering at Relay Financial located in Toronto. Relay Financial is a privately held digital banking company dedicated to automate financial management for small businesses. Paul Klicnik and Yoseph West (alumnus from the University of Durham in England) founded this company in October 2018 and have been able to raise $4.4 million in funding.

Mike Kirkup (BMath ’01, MMSc ’07)
Company: CTO (Chief Technology Officer), EnPowered
Education: BMath, Computer Science/Software Engineering and M.MSc Management Science (2007), former Velocity Director

A huge supporter of Waterloo region startups, Waterloo alumni and former director of Velocity, Mike Kirkup (BMath ’01, MMSc ’07) is the CTO at EnPowered. Kirkup has had a huge presence with Velocity here at the University of Waterloo, being a former director, a judge in the finals and now working at an alumni startup. Kirkup says that: “I had several opportunities to leave the region. I wanted to see what I could do to make Waterloo an amazing place. Joining Velocity seemed like a great way to make an impact, although I never would have guessed the kind of success that we would achieve with the program.” As an alumnus of Velocity, the incubator helped the EnPowered grow in its early stages. Today, As an alumnus of Velocity, the incubator helped the EnPowered grow in its early stages. Today, EnPowered helps industrial businesses control their energy costs by forecasting the energy markets and managing participation in Ontario’s Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI). It also delivers the industry’s most accurate peak usage predictions, powered by advanced AI algorithms. helps industrial businesses control their energy costs by forecasting the energy markets and managing participation in Ontario’s Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI). It also delivers the industry’s most accurate peak usage predictions, powered by advanced AI algorithms.

WUSA undergraduate teaching award winners named

A message from the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA).

The Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) could not have imagined the challenge that teaching, working and learning in a pandemic would bring. Our remarkable community has more than risen to that challenge, and we are announcing the winners of the 2019 and 2020 WUSA Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award. WUSA’s Teaching Award is a yearly award that celebrates professors who have displayed quality teaching, shown commitment to student success, and looked beyond the classroom. This is also the only award presented by the University of Waterloo Senate selected entirely by undergraduate students. 

For the years 2019 and 2020 five individuals are being recognized for their outstanding contribution towards undergraduate learning.

2019 Award Winners 

• Mohammed Nassar (2019 WUSA/OUSA winner) 
• Veronica Austen  (2019 OUSA Winner) 

2020 Award Winners 

• Tara Bissett (2020 OUSA Winner) 
• Zack Cramer (2020 WUSA Winner) 
• Mark Stewart Dolson  (2020 WUSA Winner) 

We asked the award winners what receiving the WUSA Teaching Award means to them, read what they had to say on the WUSA website.

Tuesday's notes

"As of April 2021, W Store will no longer continue to operate a computer repair service on campus," says a note from Print + Retail Solutions. "This decision comes as W Store continues to adapt to the evolving needs of the University community."

"Regarding departmental purchases of laptops and computers, please contact John Jaray (jjaray@uwaterloo.ca) for information on available servicing resources. For personal computer and laptop purchases, please refer to W Store’s list of servicing resources found on https://uwaterloo.ca/print-and-retail-solutions/w-store."

The Work-Learn Institute is hosting The Future-Ready Workforce Series: Engaging the next generation of talent on Wednesday, April 28 from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m.

"Join us for the second event in a multi-part Future-Ready Workforce Series from the University of Waterloo's Work-Learn Institute and discover how employers are engaging young talent in today's challenging market," says a note from the event organizers. "Access new research insights from Waterloo experts, as well as student and employer guest speakers, that highlight what is changing in our workforce."