Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Previous | Next

• Introducing the 2025 Global Futures: Innovation Update

• Exploring the tensions in freedom of expression

• Love Data Week is coming

• Welcoming the Year of the Snake and other notes

Introducing the 2025 Global Futures: Innovation Update

A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor.

Humanity is in a transformational period in history resulting in challenges that have never before been faced. Bold and curious pioneers are needed to find solutions that are acceptable, workable and scalable. Those who are willing to think differently, ask questions and challenge the status quo.

I have seen this bold spirit of curiosity at Waterloo, and it propels students, alumni and researchers to be the leaders and problem-solvers we need for our global future. They act with purpose to collaborate on innovative and sustainable solutions for humans and the planet.

I’m inspired by Waterloo’s unconventional students like Sarah Odinotski and Jack deGooyer who are pushing the boundaries of technology to advance what’s possible in health diagnostics. Imagine a camera that doesn’t miss anything, one sensitive enough to detect individual photons of light. It’s a future being built here at Waterloo. These Vanier Scholars are combining their different fields of study in nanotechnology and biomedical imaging to design a quantum camera that can accurately and quickly detect cancerous cells.

This collaborative approach to tackling real-world challenges is where discoveries are born. In the intersections between our global futures, Waterloo is thinking differently and working across disciplines to transform societies, health, economies, technologies and the environment. It’s through interdisciplinary collaboration that research and innovation thrive.

As we think about big challenges, like scaling electric vehicles for impact, solutions lie within transforming current technologies, society and the economy. It’s a challenge that Dr. Linda Nazar from the Faculty of Science and Dr. Michale Pope from the Faculty of Engineering are working together to solve at Waterloo’s new Ontario Battery and Electrochemistry Research Centre. Not only are they developing sustainable lithium battery alternatives, but they’re also working to train the next generation of talent equipped to support this growing industry.

Waterloo was founded alongside business and community members to solve the most pressing local and global challenges of the time. I am filled with hope and pride that this tradition continues to attract and nurture a curious community of innovators working together to uncover solutions for the future.

Inside this publication, you will find more examples of Waterloo faculty, staff, students and alumni developing solutions for our global futures. I invite you to read and share these inspiring stories of our Waterloo community, who are shaping the world. 

Meet some of the innovators shaping our Global Futures

Exploring the tensions in freedom of expression

By Megan McGarry.

The Antagonism and Intimidation in Academia Speaker Series is back this year with new panel discussions that explore different perspectives on contested issues. The first event, Freedom of Expression and Inclusive Engagement, was delivered to an online and in-person audience.

From protests to encampments, 2024 was a noteworthy year for the issue of freedom of expression. In November, Waterloo’s Freedom of Expression and Respectful Engagement Task Force was created to review existing institutional policies and practices relating to freedom of expression. In June, the group released a report with principles and recommendations to guide actions on campus.

In the spirit of academic discourse and its exploratory approach to complex issues, this event sought to elucidate the tension between freedom of expression and protection from harm, and the antagonisms inherent in drawing expressive limits. Dr. Emmett Macfarlane, who was the moderator for the discussion, introduced panelists Dr. Dax D’Orazio and Dr. Laura Mae Lindo. Dr. Lindo contextualized the land acknowledgement, emphasizing that “it’s important to do the work of understanding how this impacts the conversation we’re about to have. Reconciliation efforts are incomplete without truth, and we can’t create a compassionate community without a willingness to look at the truth.”

Lindo’s work is characterized by a commitment to love: an ethic that was apparent as she spoke of freedom of expression and how reasonable care must be taken to avoid conduct that poses harm to others. “Since ‘reasonable’ could be seen as a subjective term,” said Lindo, “the onus is largely with leaders to at least create the climate that this care should be well nurtured. To do this work honestly, the debate about freedom of expression must happen alongside a conversation about this duty of care.”

Dr. D’Orazio began his talk with a provocative question: “is it possible to have a principled approach to freedom of expression?” D’Orazio highlighted that the last year has seen some of the most intense campus protests since the 1960s in North America, arguably making it the most significant test for freedom of expression since then. “The real challenge lies in drawing a clear line between reasonable expression and hate speech — a task universities face with increasing discomfort,” D’Orazio said. “The bar is so high on hate crimes that so much is dismissed under freedom of expression.”

In response to an audience question about self-censorship, D’Orazio highlighted why the case of Israel-Palestine is instructive: “I haven’t visited a single university campus where someone isn’t petrified of talking about the topic, no matter how they feel.” To close, Lindo urged that we do not rely too heavily on old policies, but instead look at historic ways they’ve been applied, and scrutinize how they’re being used in the moment.

Across various topics, the Speaker Series continues to promote critical, respectful dialogue while our world grows increasingly polarized. It endeavours to strengthen our ability to hear and hold opposing ideas and opinions, and as Dr. Lindo so aptly put it, be willing to look at truth from all sides with compassion and care.

The next event in the series, Surveillance, Privacy, and Algorithmic Power in the Workplace, will take place on Thursday, February 27. Register today.

Love Data Week is coming

A message from the Library.

Love Data Week is an international celebration of data that takes place every year during the week of Valentine’s Day, this year from February 10 to 14. The aim of this week is to celebrate data in all its forms, promote good research data management strategies, share data success and horror stories, and ask hard questions about the role of data in our lives. This year’s theme is “Whose data is it, anyway?” asking us to consider who owns data compared to who uses data. 

The Libraries are celebrating all things data with a series of online events on topics such as Indigenous data sovereignty, navigating data collected from online forums, and how to make your own Spotify Wrapped!

Register now by going to the Libraries’ website.

Welcoming the Year of the Snake and other notes

Today, the University of Waterloo joins people around the world in celebrating the Year of the Snake on the traditional Chinese lunar calendar.

Traditional observances take place over 15 days of celebration, ending with the Lantern Festival.

The night of the Lunar New Year is one of the four times of the year that the City of Waterloo sanctions fireworks displays on private property, alongside Victoria Day, Canada Day, and Diwali.

How low can you go? The Noon Hour Concert Series at Conrad Grebel University College continues today with Low Pair. The concert features Cathy Anderson on cello and Ian Whitman on double bass, who will be performing pieces specifically composed for this combination of instruments.

The concert takes place, appropriately enough, at 12 noon in the Conrad Grebel chapel. Admission is free.

Fentanyl: a harm reduction forum will go ahead from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon today in EC5's Enterprise Theatre (Room 1111) and online via Zoom. The panel discussion promises to be a collaborative conversation to spotlight the severe risks associated with fentanyl: a highly potent synthetic opioid. 

"The event will feature a panel of experts from the university, including those who have been personally impacted," say organizers. "The discussion on the growing opioid crisis across the Region of Waterloo will include dispelling myths and discussing harm reduction strategies to prevent or address overdose."

As part of the ongoing sustainable transportation plan consultation initiative, an Accessible transportation engagement session takes place today from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Student Life Centre's Black & Gold room. A nearby elevator is available.

Do you have an item that needs a small fix to get it working again? Don't toss it - instead, bring it to the 4Repair event going on tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in E7 1401.

Employers hosting Employer Information Sessions this week and next week include Dow Chemical, Indigenous Tech.ai, Ontario Energy Board (OEB). Make sure to register through WaterlooWorks and check the calendar for any updates.