Friday, October 22, 2021

2,668 degrees of Convocation

The University of Waterloo's Fall 2021 Convocation ceremonies will take place in online formats on today and tomorrow. These events represent the pinnacle of the University’s academic calendar, and Convocation is a time of immense pride and celebration across campus.

You can join in on the online celebration by using and following the hashtags #UWaterlooProud and #UWaterlooGrad.

At each of the six virtual ceremonies, the proceedings will open with an Indigenous welcome featuring hand drummer John Somosi and remarks from Associate Vice-President, Indigenous Relations Jean Becker. President and Vice-Chancellor Vivek Goel will provide opening remarks and His Excellency Chancellor Dominic Barton will address Convocation. The Dean of the Faculty will then provide congratulatory remarks. University Registrar Catherine Newell Kelly presents special awards and honours and introduces the class valedictorian, who addresses convocation. 

Following the valedictory address, Vice-President Academic & Provost James Rush will presents the graduating class and will deliver the official conferral as follows:

Mr. President and Vice-Chancellor, I present to you those scholars who have fulfilled the statutory requirements laid down by the Senate of the University, that they may be admitted to their various and several degrees.

President Vivek Goel will give the official reply:

By virtue of the authority vested in me, and in the University, I hereby admit you to your various and several degrees, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities thereto appertaining.

President Goel will then provide closing remarks. The ceremonies will adjourn with a virtual slideshow of graduate photos.

Here are the fall convocation facts and figures by the numbers:

Arts

The Faculty of Arts Convocation ceremony takes place on Saturday, October 23 at 1:00 p.m. More than 775 graduating students are being celebrated, with 403 undergraduate degrees and diplomas, 356 Master's, and 16 PhDs awarded.

Bearing the University mace will be Emanuel Carvalho, associate professor and acting director, Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business.

Valedictorian Kyle Eric Rowe will address convocation.

Kathryn Ann Morrison will be recognized as a University Finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal at the doctoral level.

Krenare Recaj will be recognized as a University Finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal at the master's level.

Mariangela Crystal Rogers will be recognized as the winner of the James D. Leslie Undergraduate Prize, which is granted to a student for academic excellence while earning half of their degree through online courses.

Adsaran Vithiyananthan will receive the Accounting Alumni Award for excellence in accounting.

Engineering

The Faculty of Engineering Convocation ceremony takes place on Saturday, October 23 at 7:00 p.m. 382 graduating students are being celebrated, with 105 undergraduate degrees, 222 Master's, and 55 PhDs awarded.

Bearing the University mace will be Robert McKillop, lecturer, Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Valedictorian Jonathan Logarta-Chin will address convocation.

Mushu Li will be recognized as a University Finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal at the doctoral level.

Khaled Younes will be recognized as University Finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal at the master's level.

Environment    

The Faculty of Environment Convocation ceremony takes place on Friday, October 22 at 4:00 p.m. 195 graduating students are being celebrated, with 95 undergraduate degrees, 92 Master's, and 8 PhDs awarded.

Bearing the University mace will be Neil Craik, professor, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development.

Valedictorian Lauren Adrianna Petropoulos will address convocation.

Tahnee Lisa Prior will be recognized as a University Finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal at the doctoral level.

Gayathri Valappil will be recognized as a University Finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal at the master's level.

Charlotte Thorpe will recieve an award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in International Development.

Health

The Faculty of Health Convocation ceremony takes place on Friday, October 22 at 1:00 p.m. 274 graduating students are being celebrated, with 70 undergraduate degress, 196 Master's, and 8 PhDs awarded.

Bearing the University mace will be Brian Laird, associate professor and associate dean, graduate studies.

Valedictorian Rithvika Ramesh will address convocation.

Sara Leanne Wyngaarden will be recognized as the winner of the University of Waterloo Alumni Gold Medal for outstanding academic achievement in a Master's program.

Michael Tyler Paris will be recognized as University Finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal at the doctoral level.

Mathematics

The Faculty of Mathematics Convocation ceremony takes place on Friday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m. 594 graduating students are being celebrated, with 413 undergraduate degrees, 152 Master's, and 29 PhDs awarded.

Bearing the University mace will be Anita T. Layton, Canada 150 Research Chair, professor, and associate dean, research and international.

Shihabur Rahman Chowdhury will be recognized as the winner of the University of Waterloo Alumni Gold Medal for outstanding academic achievement in a Doctoral program.

Valedictorian Victoria Novakovskaya will address convocation.

Sarah Marie Chan will be recognized as the recipient of the James D. Leslie Graduate Award for academic excellence in an online graduate degree program.

Jordan Mark Zister Long will be recognized as the winner of the K.D. Fryer Gold Medal for academic excellence and good citizenship.

Science

The Faculty of Science Convocation ceremony takes place on Saturday, October 23 at 4:00 p.m. 424 graduating students are being celebrated, with 339 undergraduate degrees, 54 Master's, and 31 PhDs awarded.

Bearing the University mace will be Stefan Idziak, associate professor, associate dean of science, computing and co-operative education and undergraduate advisor.

Valedictorian Chinonso Uchechi Ekeanyanwu will address convocation.

Yannick Léandre Traoré will be recognized as University Finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal at the doctoral level.

W Store has a wide range of graduation-related gifts available.

Congratulations to all our graduates this fall.

Shihab Chowdhury awarded 2021 Alumni Gold Medal

Shihab Chowdhury and Raouf Boutaba, Professor and Director at the Cheriton School of Computer Science.

This is an excerpt of an article originally published on the Cheriton School of Computer Science website.

Shihabur R. Chowdhury has received the 2021 Alumni Gold Medal for outstanding academic performance in a doctoral program. Conferred by Alumni Relations, the prestigious institutional award, which consists of an individually crafted 24-carat gold-plated medal embossed with the University’s seal on the front, has honoured top graduating students at convocation since 1970.

Shihab is a senior data engineer at Apple. He completed his PhD at the Cheriton School of Computer Science, and his BSc in computer science and engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. During his graduate studies Shihab interned at Google and IBM Research. His PhD research spanned several areas of systems and networking, focusing specifically on network function virtualization, network virtualization, software-defined networking, and cloud computing.

Shihab began his doctoral studies in the Systems and Networking group at the Cheriton School of Computer Science in September 2013. His PhD thesis titled Resource Management in Softwarized Networks was defended successfully in February 2021. 

“Shihab began his graduate studies as my master’s student in May 2012,” said Raouf Boutaba, Professor and Director of the Cheriton School of Computer Science. “His research potential was abundantly clear early on, so he was fast-tracked from the master’s to the PhD program, during which he completed all eight required courses with an overall average of 93 percent. But Shihab was not only interested in mastering course content, he also immediately saw the research potential of his course projects, so he turned them into publications. His course project in CS848 was published in the Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications journal, his project in CS854 was presented at the 9th International Conference on Network and Service Management in 2013, where it was nominated for a best paper award, and his project in CS856 was presented at a later edition of the same conference.”

Shihab’s PhD research also made many outstanding and significant contributions to resource management in softwarized communication networks, Professor Boutaba adds. “He has established himself as a leading expert in this emerging area of computer science. Shihab has a rare combination of skills. His strengths in building systems are coupled with his mastery of its mathematical foundations, thereby bringing rigorous computational theory to systems implementation.”

Shihab’s research has been highly influential in academia and industry alike. He has contributed an exceptional number of publications in top venues and his body of research has received more than 2,700 citations with an h-index of 17 on Google Scholar as of October 2021. His involvement in industry collaborations resulted in eight US patent applications of which five have been granted and are already used in production.

Shihab’s PhD research: advancing the state of the art in network softwarization

Network softwarization is an emerging paradigm where software — rather than dedicated hardware — controls the treatment of network flows, adds value to these flows by software processing, and orchestrates the on-demand creation of customized networks to meet the needs of various applications. In short, network softwarization facilitates the programmability of network equipment, allowing multiple virtual networks to function on top of a single physical network structure. 

Read the rest of the article on the Cheriton School of Computer Science website.

Anti-racism book club looks at the Fourth World

This article was originally published in the Catalyst e-newsletter.

PART continues its anti-racism book club series on November 16, 2021, at noon with a review of The Fourth World: An Indian Reality by George Manuel and Michael Posluns. Originally published in 1974, The Fourth World is a critical work of Indigenous political activism that has long been out of print. The newly updated edition in 2018 includes an introduction by Glen Sean Coulthard (Yellowknives Dene) and an afterword by Doreen Manuel (Secwepemc/Ktunaxa), a daughter of George Manuel.

George Manuel (Secwepemc), a leader in the North American Indian movement at that time, with co-author journalist Michael Posluns, presents a rich historical document that traces the struggle for Indigenous survival as a nation, a culture, and a reality.

The authors shed light on alternatives for coexistence that would take place in the Fourth World - an alternative to the new world, the old world, and the Third World. Manuel was the first to develop this concept of the “fourth world” to describe the place occupied by Indigenous nations within colonial nation-states.

Sara Anderson, manager, research program development and partnerships, indigenous initiatives in the Office of Research will facilitate this book club. She looks forward to a spirited discussion about the genesis of the Indigenous rights movement, and the legacy of this work today

“I am honoured to facilitate a discussion on George Manuel’s vitally important book,” said Anderson. “Despite being first published over 40 years ago, The Fourth World is one of the foundational texts in the ongoing work of recognizing Indigenous rights, not just in Canada, but across the globe.”

Register for PART’s anti-racism book club.

Don't forget to sign up to receive the Catalyst e-newsletter.

Your Daily Inspiration continues

Today's Daily Inspiration

Need a good stretch and a way to have fun with your colleagues?

We all do! Invite some colleagues to try some lunchtime yoga or a 3 o'clock stretch.

Who knows? You may start a healthy workplace habit that adds fun, endurance and wonderful new connections to your workday.

(P.S. The Unwind Flow Yoga featured in the link is by UWaterloo's very own Amanda Brown) 

See all Daily Inspirations on the Keeping Well at Work conference site. Questions and contest entries can be sent to ohd@uwaterloo.ca or tweet @OHDuwaterloo.