Friday, July 7, 2023

Schulich Leader Scholarship recipients named

The University of Waterloo is excited to welcome the latest group of Schulich Leader Scholarship recipients to campus this fall.

Schulich Leader Scholarships are one of Canada’s most prestigious undergraduate STEM scholarships. One hundred awards are granted each year to students enrolling in a science, technology, engineering or math program at 20 partner universities.

The winners represent the best and the brightest across Canada - students who demonstrate academic excellence as well as strong leadership and creativity.

The 2023 Schulich Leaders are:

• Evie Bouganim - Mechatronics Engineering;
• Brandon De Lazzari - Physical Sciences (Physics);
• Eric Gao – Systems Design Engineering;
• Mikael Haji – Electrical Engineering;
• Scott Hao – Computer Science;
• Caroline Huang – Computer Science;
• Mahi Joshi – Computer Engineering;
• Manasva Katyal – Computer Science;
• Josephina Kim – Business and Computer Science; and
• Ammiele Wambo Becker – Systems Design Engineering.

The vampire einstein

By Joe Petrik. This is an excerpt of an article that originally appeared on Waterloo News.

Just months ago, an international team of four that includes Cheriton School of Computer Science professor Dr. Craig Kaplan discovered a single shape that tiles the plane — an infinite, two-dimensional surface — in a pattern that can never be made to repeat.

The discovery mesmerized mathematicians, tiling enthusiasts and the public alike.

The shape, a 13-sided polygon they called “the hat,” is known to mathematicians as an aperiodic monotile or an “einstein,” the German words that mean “one stone.”

But the team’s most recent discovery has raised the bar once again. They found another shape, related to the first, that meets an even stricter definition. Dubbed the “spectre,” the new shape tiles a plane in a pattern that never repeats without the use of mirror images of the shape. For this reason, it has also been called a “vampire einstein” — a shape that tiles aperiodically without requiring its reflection.

“Our first paper solved the einstein problem, but as the shape required reflection to tile aperiodically people raised a legitimate question: Is there a shape that can do what the hat does but without reflection,” Kaplan explains. “It was our good fortune that we found a shape that not only solves this subproblem, but also solved it so soon after the first paper.”

Standing outside Waterloo’s Davis Centre, Kaplan contemplates whether a shape and its reflection ought to be considered as distinct.

To mathematicians, the hat and its mirror image are a single shape, but in the physical world left-handed and right-handed shapes can behave differently. You can’t, for example, wear a right-handed glove on your left hand.

“If you tiled a large bathroom floor aperiodically with hat-shaped tiles that had been glazed on one side you would need hats and mirror images of hats,” Kaplan says.

But it was not this quibble that motivated the recent discovery.

The discovery of the vampire einstein began with the musings of David Smith, a retired print technician and self-described shape hobbyist from Yorkshire, England, whose curiosity months earlier led to the original einstein discovery.

Read the rest of the article on Waterloo News

Remembering Cassie Bechard

A message from Information Systems and Technology (IST).

The campus community is mourning the loss of friend and colleague Cassie Bechard, who passed away unexpectedly on June 24 as a result of a pulmonary embolism related to their broken ankle. 

Cassie came to Waterloo in 2007 for an undergraduate degree in Honours Applied Mathematics. In addition to three co-op terms in the Arts Computing Office (ACO), Cassie also spent a co-op term with the Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program, as a Web Developer. In 2013, shortly after graduation, Cassie joined Information Systems and Technology as a Computing Consultant, supporting the ACO during their first year, followed by what is now the Faculty of Health, for almost a decade. More recently, Cassie also began supporting Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.  

In Cassie’s role, they taught courses, lead projects and provided outstanding IT support to students, staff and faculty. Whether working with new students or senior administrators, Cassie was equally adept at explaining introductory computing concepts and helping to navigate more complex IT issues, devoting the time and attention needed to put every client at ease. Cassie will also be remembered for their passionate approach to the provision of accessible web sites and documents. 

Cassie was an engaged member of the Waterloo campus community, and within Waterloo Region. Cassie had been a core member of W3+ since 2017 and played an important part of their expansion to be explicitly nonbinary-inclusive. Cassie will also be missed by members of the Rainbow Coalition of Waterloo Region (RCWR), where they were a long-serving volunteer and a founding Director and Officer when RCWR incorporated in 2021. Cassie was strongly motivated by a desire to ensure inclusive, safe spaces, are available to all.  

Cassie possessed a welcoming presence which people gravitated toward. They brought their unique style everywhere, inspiring others to be themselves. Cassie possessed a rare gift for appreciating the small things and taking pleasure in life’s daily joys. In their spare time, Cassie enjoyed UW Fitness sessions, knitting, crafting and of course, their cat, Toby. 

Cassie was a bright light who will be dearly missed by friends and colleagues and the University of Waterloo community.  

A private, family funeral will take place. There will be a memorial for Cassie in Kitchener-Waterloo in the coming weeks. University flags will be lowered to half-mast on the day of Cassie's memorial to honour them. 

Engineering Science Quest camps kick off and other notes

Engineering Science Quest's summer day camp programming got started this week. ESQ campers from grades 2 to 9 explore the world of science, engineering and technology through participation in hands-on projects in such areas as physics, chemistry, biology and health science, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and more. So keep an eye out for scampering campers on campus this summer.

Campus Wellness has been facilitating virtual healing spaces this week for students impacted by the hate-filled attack that took place on campus June 28. A healing space for 2SLGBTQIA+ students will take place today from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Please email Tanya Andrews at tanya.andrews@uwaterloo.ca for the link to join the session.