Tuesday, June 3, 2025

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• Six honorary doctorates recognized at Spring 2025 Convocation

• Waterloo Centre for German Studies announces graduate research award winners
• Hitting the right notes to play music by ear
• Tuesday's notes

Six honorary doctorates recognized at Spring 2025 Convocation

This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

The University of Waterloo is pleased to award six honorary doctorates at Spring 2025 Convocation, the highest honour conferred by the University. 

Honorary doctorates recognize individuals with outstanding achievement, whether academic or through service to society. This year’s recipients have made significant developments and contributions to their fields in engineering, healthcare, finance and science. 

“Our honorary doctorates exemplify the outstanding achievement, excellence and service our University values and to which we aspire,” says Dr. Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. “Their leadership in their respective fields, exceptional service and contributions to society serve as inspiration to our new Waterloo graduates as they seek to make an impact on their communities and the world.” 

Learn more about this year’s honorary doctorates and their outstanding accomplishments: 

Armughan Ahmad

Doctor of Laws, honoris causa

Armughan Ahmad is a global technology executive, investor and board director. He is the executive chairman of RxFoodAI, a general partner at Vision Studio Ventures and a CEO advisor at ServiceNow, Telus and OMERS. He leads the firm’s digital transformation solutions, bringing them to market for large enterprise, commercial and public sector clients. For more than two decades, he has guided teams in developing practical digital tools that improve how people work and live across industries, including health care, finance, education and government. He has previously held senior leadership roles at Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard and Huawei 3Com. Deeply committed to equity and access, Ahmad advises national organizations on skills development and responsible AI and supports initiatives focused on STEAM education for girls, mental health and housing stability.

Neil Cawse

Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa

Dr. Neil Cawse is the founder and chief executive officer of Geotab, the world’s largest commercial telematics company. An engineer by training and entrepreneur by instinct, he founded Geotab in 2000 to help businesses make better decisions through vehicle data. Under his leadership, the company has grown into a global leader and is recognized among the fastest-growing technology companies in North America. Known for his long-term thinking and hands-on approach, Cawse continues to guide product design and engineering for Geotab. In 2015, he was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Gina Cody

Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa  

Dr. Gina Cody is an engineer and business leader who has helped shape Canada’s cities and communities through decades of work in the private sector. As executive chair and owner of CCI Group Inc., she led complex engineering projects for major developers, financial institutions and public agencies across the country. Cody was the first woman to earn a PhD in building engineering from Concordia University, and she remains a strong advocate for inclusion in STEM. Her leadership and generosity led Concordia to name its Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science in her honour, recognizing both her professional achievements and commitment to the next generation.   

Paul Corkum  

Doctor of Science, honoris causa

Dr. Paul Corkum is a pioneering Canadian physicist renowned for his foundational contributions to attosecond science –the study of ultrafast phenomena on the scale of attoseconds (10⁻¹⁸ seconds). He earned his PhD in theoretical physics from Lehigh University in 1972. He joined the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in 1973, where he transitioned to experimental physics and developed groundbreaking models of atomic ionization. His recollision model enabled the generation of attosecond laser pulses, allowing scientists to observe electron dynamics in real time.  Corkum holds a joint chair in Attosecond Photonics at the University of Ottawa and the NRC. His numerous accolades include the 2022 Wolf Prize in Physics and the 2025 APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research.  

John English

Doctor of Laws, honoris causa

Dr. John English is one of Canada’s most acclaimed, best-selling historians and experts in international relations. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and has the Order of Merit of Germany. English was the Member of Parliament for the federal riding of Kitchener from 1993 to 1997, serving with distinction as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. The founding executive director of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, he was for four decades an outstanding member of the University of Waterloo’s history department. He is now a Senior Fellow at the University of Toronto and chairs the Canadian International Council.  

Tim Jackson (BA '92)

Doctor of Laws, honoris causa

Tim Jackson is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, not-for-profit leader, and community builder. He is the president and chief executive officer of Shad, Canada’s premier high school student summer program. He co-founded Tech Capital Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm and led the Accelerator Centre, an incubator for technology startups. He was executive president at the MaRS Discovery District, one of the world’s largest urban innovation hubs. As a University of Waterloo Accounting graduate, Jackson has a long history of service at Waterloo. He held the position of vice-president, University Relations in addition to five years on the Board of Governors and seven years as chair of the Student Venture Fund Investment Committee. Tim was recognized with the prestigious title of Fellow Chartered Public Accountant for his exceptional service to the profession and his community.

Waterloo Centre for German Studies announces graduate research award winners

A message from the Waterloo Centre for German Studies (WCGS).

Hitting the right notes to play music by ear

A young person learning to play the guitar by watching an online video on a laptop while listening to music on headphones. (mixetto / Getty Images)

Learning to play music by ear is challenging for most musicians, but research from a team at the University of Waterloo may help musicians-in-training find the right notes.

The Waterloo team analyzed a range of YouTube videos that focused on learning music by ear and identified four simple ways music learning technology can better aid prospective musicians – helping people improve recall while listening, limiting playback to small chunks, identifying musical subsequences to memorize, and replaying notes indefinitely.

“There are a lot of apps and electronic tools out there to help learn by ear from recorded music,” said Christopher Liscio, a recent Waterloo master’s graduate in computer science and the study’s lead author. 

“But we see evidence that musicians don’t appear to use them very much, which makes us question whether these tools are truly well-suited to the task. By studying how people teach and learn how to play music by ear in YouTube videos, we can try to understand what might actually help these ear-learning musicians.” 

The team studied 28 YouTube ear-learning lessons, breaking each down to examine how the instructors structured their teaching and how students would likely retain what they heard. Surprisingly, they found that very few creators or viewers were using existing digital learning tools to loop playback or manipulate playback speed despite their availability for over two decades.

“We started this research planning to build a specific tool for ear learners, but then we realized we might be reinforcing a negative pattern of building tools without knowing what users actually want,” said Dan Brown, professor of Computer Science at Waterloo. “Then we got excited when we realized YouTube could be a helpful resource for that research process.”  

The research, “Helping popular musicians learn by ear: Analyzing video lessons to inform the design of memory-oriented human-recording interactions,” appears in the proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction. 

Tuesday's notes

A pride flag re-raising ceremony will take place today in the H Lot near the south campus flagpoles at 11:45 a.m., with remarks at 12:15 p.m. This year's program includes two speakers from GLOW and a speaker from the Waterloo Indigenous Student Association. All members of the campus community are invited to attend. Frozen treats will be available while supplies last.

Plant Operations is reporting that there will be a scheduled outage related to the Archibus work request portal on Tuesday, June 3 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. "Users will be unable to submit or view work requests during this outage," says the note from Plant Ops. "Please note that urgent requests can still be made by directly calling the 24-Hour Emergency Service Line at x43793."

Practice difficult conversations with Ovation VR: The Conflict Management Office (CMO), in collaboration with the Staff Enhancement Fund, invites all University of Waterloo staff (full-time, part-time, contract, and student staff) to a hands-on workshop exploring how virtual reality can support you in preparing for difficult conversations. "Ovation VR uses AI-driven avatars to simulate challenging scenarios such as performance reviews, job interviews, and conflict resolution," says the note from the CMO. "By allowing you to practice these interactions and receive feedback, this immersive tool can help helping you build confidence and reduce workplace stress."

In this session, you will:

1. Get comfortable using a VR headset
2. Set up your Ovation VR account and explore its features
3. Become familiar with CMO resources available to guide you in preparing for a difficult conversation
4. Have the option of practicing a challenging conversation using Ovation during the session or at a later time on your own.

This group workshop is open to all staff, but capacity is limited. Individual consultations are also available if you would like personalized support for a specific situation and want to explore how Ovation VR can help you build confidence beforehand. To register, email Lynn Long at l3long@uwaterloo.ca.

There are two sessions scheduled:

• Tuesday, June 3, 12 noon to 1:00 p.m.; and
• Thursday, July 10, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The location for both of the sessions is Dana Porter Library, LIB 407.

The Waterloo Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE) is hosting a Geothermal Workshop on June 16 and 17. "This 1.5-day hybrid workshop at the University of Waterloo will explore advances, opportunities, and challenges in geothermal energy development," says the announcement from WISE. "The workshop focuses on the development and use of geothermal technologies in Canada to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy. Researchers, policymakers, industry representatives, and community stakeholders from Canada and beyond are invited to participate in person or online." The event takes place in person at Federation Hall and online via Zoom. Register today.