Friday, June 25, 2021

Vivek Goel named Fields Institute Fellow

President designate Vivek Goel has been named a Fellow of the Fields Institute For Research In Mathematical Sciences. Professor Goel is among six inductees for 2021.

“Professor Goel is a distinguished scholar with an extensive background in teaching, research and university administration,” says the Fields Institute citation. “He obtained his medical degree from McGill University and completed post-graduate medical training in Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Goel obtained an MSc in Community Health from U of T and an MS in Biostatistics from Harvard University School of Public Health. His research has focused on health services evaluation and the promotion of the use of research evidence in health decision-making. He has extensive experience in governance and serves on the boards of the Vector Institute, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (Vice-Chair) and the Post Promise. He is a member of the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, Chair of the Expert Advisory Group on the development of a Pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy, and Scientific Advisor for CanCOVID, the national research platform for COVID-19 research. Professor Goel is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a Member of the Order of Canada. As the Vice President Research & Innovation of the University of Toronto, Prof. Goel was a champion of the Fields institute with the University.”

“Thank you to The Fields Institute For Research In Mathematical Sciences for this honour, and congratulations to my fellow inductees,” Goel said in a post on LinkedIn. “I am honoured to be appointed as a Fields Institute Fellow and to be recognized by the Canadian mathematical community.”

Waterloo's Faculty of Mathematics has posted a story about Goel's induction.

The Fields Institute was established in 1992 and was briefly based at the University of Waterloo before moving to Toronto in 1995. Created in 2002 to mark the Institute's 10^th anniversary, the designation of Fields Institute Fellow is awarded annually to a select group of people in recognition of their outstanding contributions. Each year, new Fields Institute Fellows are appointed as recognition for those who have made significant contributions to the activities at the Fields Institute and within the Canadian mathematical community. Previous University of Waterloo inductees include Professor Mary Thompson in 2014, Professor Cameron Stewart in 2008, Professor Siv Sivaloganathan in 2007, Professor Kenneth Davidson in 2006, and Professor Alan George in 2002.

Visit the Fields Institute Fellows page to learn more about the distinction and previous inductees.

Waterloo's Anti-Racism Book Club launches in July

Professor Christopher Taylor, who will be facilitating the book club session.

The President’s Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART) is committed to promoting education, awareness and a deeper understanding of race, culture and ethnicity across campus. One way to accomplish this purpose is to engage in honest conversation. 

For this reason, from July 2021 to June 2022, PART will be leading a monthly anti-racism book club. Each book has been carefully chosen to promote awareness and a deeper understanding of race, culture, and ethnicity. Topics include white fragility, anti-black and anti-Indigenous racism in Canada, the Indian Act, and the equity myth. The complete list of 12 recommended books can be found here.

The first virtual event will be held on Tuesday, July 20, 2021 at noon. The featured book is How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi, and the discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Christopher Taylor. You can purchase a copy of the book from the W Store and register for the event on the University's anti-racism website.

Each live discussion will be open to a maximum of 30 participants, and students, faculty and staff are welcome to join each session on a first-come, first-served basis.

Join one or all the discussions and be a part of our commitment to become an equitable institution where all faculty, students and staff can learn, grow and thrive.

From student startup to $5.16B market capitalization

Feridun Hamdullahpur (left), president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo, takes a spin in a self-driving golf cart in 2015 with mechatronics engineering student Alex Rodrigues, who is now CEO of autonomous trucking company Embark.

By Brian Caldwell. This article was originally featured on Waterloo News.

A startup founded by second-year Waterloo Engineering students just five years ago would have a market capitalization of US $5.16 billion under a proposed merger to make it a publicly traded company.

Embark Trucks, which is based in San Francisco, was launched by former mechatronics engineering students Alex Rodrigues and Brandon Moak to bring autonomous technology to the trucking industry.

After meeting during their studies at Waterloo, Rodrigues and Moak made their first public splash in 2015 by driving Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of the University, around the Ring Road in an autonomous golf cart they had built in a garage.

A forerunner of Embark, Varden Labs, also involved engineering classmate Michael Skupien and got its start with help from a $25,000 win in the Velocity pitch competition for student startups at the University of Waterloo.

Pivot to trucking in 2016

The young entrepreneurs pivoted from self-driving shuttles for resorts, campuses and gated communities to the trucking industry when Rodrigues and Moak launched Embark in 2016.

This week, Embark announced a proposed deal with Northern Genesis 2, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, that would provide it with US $614 million to fully fund it through to the anticipated commercialization in 2024 of its self-driving software for long-distance freight trips. The deal is expected to close later this year.

“We have been solely focused on solving the problem of self-driving software for trucking since Embark’s CTO, Brandon Moak, and I founded the company in 2016,” Rodrigues, the CEO, said in a media release.

“This singular and disciplined focus on the trucking market in the United States has allowed Embark to achieve many industry-first technology milestones – including the first self-driving truck to drive coast-to-coast – and positions Embark to be a leader in autonomous trucking software.”

'War chest' secured for commercialization

Trucking in the United States is an annual US $700-billion industry. Embark is seeking to tap that market by charging trucking companies per-mile subscription fees for software to enable self-driving trucks in their fleets.

“After many years of R and D on the world’s most mature self-driving truck software stack, we plan to enable carrier operation of self-driving trucks in the U.S. sunbelt beginning in 2024,” Rodrigues said in the release. “Following the transaction with Northern Genesis we expect to have a war chest that fully funds this commercialization plan, and then some."

Embark also announced that Elaine Chao, the former US secretary of transportation and secretary of labor, has joined its board of directors.

New Executive Director for Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute

Professor N. Asokan has been named Executive Director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute for a term that began on May 1, 2021.

In 2019 Professor Asokan joined the University of Waterloo as a Professor of Computer Science and is a David R. Cheriton Chair. Between 1995 and 2012, he worked in industrial research laboratories designing and building secure systems, first at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory as a Research Staff member and then at Nokia Research Centre, most recently as a Distinguished Researcher. Professor Asokan was the founding director of the Helsinki-Aalto Centre for Information Security.

His primary research theme is systems security with a two-pronged approach. The first is on the development and use of novel platform security features, for example, exploring how hardware security mechanisms can be used to protect software more effectively. The second is on the interplay between machine learning techniques to provide better protection, as well as understanding and addressing the security/privacy problems faced by systems based on machine learning. Asokan is a Fellow of ACM and IEEE.

“Asokan’s primary focus initially will be to build a stronger CPI community,” wrote Charmaine Dean, vice-president, research and international, in a memo circulated to the CPI and the University’s Executive Council. “He is leading a number of new initiatives such as launching a public outreach talk series, making CPI compute servers available to CPI researchers, developing a research support program where a CPI specialist can help CPI researchers with short-term research needs like software development. Asokan plans to hold a series of meetings with CPI members across the university to solicit their feedback and ideas. CPI is continuing its leadership in NCC, and other established CPI activities like the seed grant and excellence scholarship, and the Cybersecurity Month events in October.”

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Florian Kerschbaum for his excellent work as the outgoing Executive Director of CPI,” writes Dean. “Dr. Kerschbaum co-established the National Cybersecurity Consortium (NCC) among the five leading Canadian universities in cybersecurity and privacy which is currently preparing a Pan-Canadian $160M grant application to the Ministry of Industry, Science and Economic Development spanning more than 140 researchers and 30 universities. The Canadian National Cybersecurity Consortium and its privacy network aims to bring all these stakeholders in Canada together to build an improved innovation pipeline from invention to products and services. We look forward to celebrating Professor Kerschbaum’s service in the coming months.”

Professor Asokan’s term as executive director runs to April 30, 2026.

“Please join me in congratulating Dr. N. Asokan on his new role,” Dean’s memo concludes. 

Friday's notes

Flags at the University have been lowered in recognition of the 751 unmarked graves recently uncovered at the site of the Marieval residential school in Saskatchewan. "It is deeply heartbreaking to learn that the remains of hundreds of people, including children, were found in unmarked graves near the former Marieval Residential School," said President Feridun Hamdullahpur in a statement on Twitter. "The University of Waterloo stands with the Cowessess First Nation, the communities, families and all affected by this trauma. I recognize that words are not enough. Thoughts and commemoration are not enough. This is not a discovery, but a horrific confirmation of what survivors, Elders and families have said, what has been documented. This is Canada’s truth. As we mourn and honour these lost lives, together with the 215 found last month, we must do the work to confront uncomfortable and painful truths about the country we live in. Without truth, we cannot have reconciliation."

There are supports available for those affected by the news:

For students:

• Counselling Services 519-888-4567 ext. 32655
• Empower Me 1-833-628-5589
• 24/7 Indian Residential School Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419

For employees:

• Homewood Health 1-800-663-1142

Plant Operations is reporting that there will be an electrical shutdown affecting the entire Arts Lecture Hall building on Tuesday, June 29 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. as a contractor investigates existing conditions. Power door operators and elevators will be out of service during this time. Individuals who require use of this equipment to access the building should make alternate arrangements. Computer equipment should be shut down in an orderly fashion (particularly UNIX systems.) For further information or assistance, contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca, ext. 44357.