Thursday, March 13, 2025

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• Ready player one: Warriors Esports and Gaming Lounge opens its doors

• Shoot for the stars, aim for the Moon

• Map the System campus finals coming up

• Science researchers receive $9M in NSERC Quantum Grants

• Computers @ the Movies and other bits and bytes

Ready player one: Warriors Esports and Gaming Lounge opens its doors

A message from Athletics and the University of Waterloo Interdisciplinary Network for Esports (UWIN).

Warriors Esports and University of Waterloo Interdisciplinary Network for Esports (UWIN) are excited to announce the opening of the new Esports and Gaming Lounge located in the Physical Activities Complex. This new space is open to students and researchers who are interested in both esports and video games. This space was opened thanks to support provided through the Provost’s New Interdisciplinary Networks, Programs, and Initiatives Funds and donations from Odyssey Interactive.  
 
“The opening of this space marks a key chapter in our growth as a program, as we continue our journey to become one of the top esports programs in the country” said Greg Mittler (co-Director of UWIN).   

The official opening took place on Tuesday, February 11, where we were honoured to welcome several key members of our community to celebrate this achievement. Attendees included Dean Lili Liu (a key champion of our esports proposal), Roly Webster, UWIN’s leadership team, representatives from the Waterloo Region Esports Commission, and some of our outstanding students. 

“This program shaped my university experience in such as positive way, and I can’t wait to see how opening this space influences the next generation of students,” said Elissa Chen, Warriors Esports student employee. Jackie Yi, another Warriors Esports student employee, delivered a speech highlighting the skills he developed and the community he developed through this program, saying, “I can’t imagine my university experience without being here, I’ve made what I consider lifelong friends here while developing an inclusive community for everyone.”

Dr. Luke Potwarka, an Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies and co-Director of UWIN is excited to see the space open for teaching/learning and research opportunities. “We envision this space as not only serving to enhance student experiences; but also a space that connects esports athletes and technology with researchers from across faculties and disciplines," Dr, Potwarka says.

For any questions about the space or collaboration opportunities, please reach out to Greg Mittler. 

Shoot for the stars, aim for the Moon

In addition to being an internationally renowned researcher in software engineering, Professor Jo Atlee is a transformative educator, and a life-long advocate for women in tech.

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

Professor Jo Atlee is an internationally renowned researcher in software engineering, who is a pioneer in automated analysis of software requirements. Recently, Virtualware featured her in a video of remarkable women researchers, alongside Marie Curie and Margaret Hamilton. She co-penned one of the classic software engineering textbooks, Software Engineering: Theory and Practice.

But over the years, she noticed there was something that held her and other women back: how they were socialized to be risk-averse.   

“Stereotypically, when it comes to proposing a big project, men will shoot for the moon and women will propose something they know is doable. Women will outline all the steps needed to achieve their goals. But at the end of the day, the people who evaluate these proposals prefer the moonshots. I definitely recognize myself in the camp of someone who would propose an achievable project.”

She notes the irony of this statement since women mathematicians, like Katherine Johnson and Margaret Hamilton, played key roles in the first-ever moon landing. 

It was this “moonshot” mindset that pushed her to transform and lead several equity-based initiatives in the Region of Waterloo. In 2014, as the Chair of the University of Waterloo’s Women in Computer Science (WiCS), she attended the Grace Hooper Conference, the largest tech conference for women. Inspired by this grand celebration of women in computing, she “came back with a mission to create a bigger and well-financed centre.” She grew WiCS from a school-level committee to an administrative entity, supported by staff, volunteers, and donors. Professor Atlee garnered various industry sponsors, helping WiCS organize large-scale networking and community-building initiatives including workshops, conferences, and an orientation for first-year women computer science students. With her leadership, WiCS was able to send more students to national and international conferences for women in tech, giving them a rare opportunity to be surrounded by hundreds of successful technical women and varied role models with whom they can identify.

Read the full article on the Computer Science website.

Map the System campus finals coming up

A message from the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement.

The UWaterloo Map the System campus finals are coming up Monday, April 7 from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. in the Great Hall at Conrad Grebel University College.

Register online! 

Over 40 teams from over 20 academic programs across campus are hard at work mapping social and environmental issues they care about. The 5 top teams will present their systems research to a panel of judges and compete for cash prizes. The finalists' topics will be announced in early April on Instagram (@grebelcpa) and LinkedIn (Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement).

Science researchers receive $9M in NSERC Quantum Grants

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Science website.

Quantum research is thriving at the University of Waterloo and five Science researchers have just received almost $9M in funding for their exceptional projects. Researchers from Physics and Chemistry were awarded funds from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to take quantum research to the next level.  

The money comes from the Alliance Quantum and Alliance International Quantum grant funds and is part of the National Quantum Strategy (NQS) set up to amplify Canada's significant strengths in quantum research; grow its quantum-ready technologies, companies and talent; and solidify Canada's global leadership in this area. 

All the projects funded through the Alliance Quantum Grants are focused on strengthening Canada's quantum research and innovation capacity.  

Alliance Quantum Grants and Alliance Consortia Quantum Grants 

Dr. Jonathan Baugh, Professor, Chemistry

• Next-generation photonic source to enable quantum remote sensing and communications - $1,481,200

Dr. Kazi Rajibul Islam, Professor, Physics and Astronomy 

• Benchmarking and optimizing a large-scale trapped ion quantum processor - $2,128,817

Dr. Jan Kycia, Professor, Physics and Astronomy 

• Low-temperature material characterization of superconducting devices for quantum computing - $1,113,491

Dr. Adrian Lupascu, Professor, Physics and Astronomy 

• Development of a scalable superconducting quantum computing platform based on fluxonium qubits - $1,137,724
• Superconducting levitation in the quantum regime - a platform for quantum science and technology - $1,465,706

Dr. German Sciaini, Professor, Chemistry 

• Unlocking quantum secrets: The CanCL initiative for atomic-level characterization of quantum materials and single-photon sources - $1,480,000

Alliance International Catalyst Quantum grants

The following researchers each received $25,000:

• Dr. Rajibul Islam, Professor, Physics and Astronomy 
  • Simulating driven-dissipative systems on a trapped ion quantum processor  
• Dr. Anna Klinkova, Professor, Chemistry
  • Proof-of-Concept Quantum Shells with Boosted Quantum Confinement Obtained Using Customized Nanoreactors 

Read more on Waterloo News.

Computers @ the Movies and other bits and bytes

The University of Waterloo Computer Museum is having an open house on Tuesday, March 18, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in DC 1301, otherwise known as the Fishbowl. The theme for this open house is “Computers @ The Movies.”

"We’ll be featuring items in our collection that have appeared in various movies and TV shows—some well known, some obscure—with clips and screenshots on display," says a note from Dr. Scott Campbell, co-curator of the Computer Museum. "That includes clips from Utilities, a 1983 movie staring Robert Hays and Brooke Adams that included several scenes filmed in the MC building and the famous Red Room, and used the diagnostics panel from the decommissioned IBM System/360 as a prop."

Utilities is available in its entirety on YouTube. I'm no Roger Ebert, but let me say that it's a thing that exists and is definitely one of the movies of all time.

The scenes from Utilities may very well be the only surviving video footage of the Red Room.

The Computer Museum will have some working artifacts to play with, and recent acquisitions will be on display.

"The Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) is back with another round of pop-up tutoring!" says the WCC. "Catch us at one of our pop-up booths across campus to get support on your assignments, ask all your writing-related questions, and enter a contest for your chance to win a UWaterloo backpack filled with $300 worth of awesome stuff! Visit our website for dates, times, and locations."

UW Food Services is serving up some fun stuff this month, including:

• Pi Day (March 14) – Celebrate Pi Day this Friday, March 14, with fresh and ready to eat pie slices available in residence at CMH, V1, and REV!
• Eco Mug Day (March 18) – Bring your reusable mug to Ev3rgreen Café in EV3 on Tuesday, March 18, and enjoy a free coffee or tea with any purchase as thanks for being sustainable.
• Ramadan Ready-Made Meals (all month) – Throughout March, students observing Ramadan can purchase ready-made meals during regular hours at CMH, V1, and REV to reheat later when they break fast.

"Stay tuned for more by keeping up with us on Instagram or visit the event page on our website to learn more," says the note from Food Services.