Friday, August 22, 2025

“The best thing we can do for our health and happiness is cultivate positive relationships of all kinds,” he said. “Those investments pay off as social capital that we can draw upon to get by and get ahead in life.”

Glover added, “Through my research, I've learned that leisure matters because it creates the conditions for sociability that help relationships grow rather than wither, thereby renewing our stores of social capital. If social capital is the dividend of relationships, then leisure is how we earn and renew it.”

2025 Tech Horizons Executive Forum will take place in November

By Emma Pavlovich. This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

In a world marked by relentless technological change, economic volatility and global complexity, optimism is no longer just a mindset — it’s a strategic advantage. Today’s leaders must not only respond to disruption but harness it to fuel reinvention and growth.

On November 10, the University of Waterloo’s Tech Horizons Executive Forum, presented by WatSPEED and hosted by CIBC, will return to CIBC Square in Toronto. This exclusive, one-day event will convene Fortune 500 leaders, innovators and policy influencers for candid, high-impact conversations on the future of leadership, technology and business strategy.

“Technology is no longer just transforming industries — it’s creating entirely new markets, leadership models and opportunities,” says Sanjeev Gill, associate vice-president, Innovation at Waterloo. “The Tech Horizons Executive Forum delivers a new leadership playbook that embraces change, activates innovation and helps leaders turn complexity into competitive advantage.”

Tailored for senior leaders and executives, the Forum offers a powerful blend of inspiring keynotes, provocative panels and interactive sessions designed to unlock new thinking on how to lead with agility and harness technology for organizational success. Through a unique blend of cutting-edge business and academic insights, attendees will gain actionable strategies on how to navigate uncertainty, adopt emerging technologies and lead through disruption with confidence.

This year’s theme, Leadership Unleashed: Harnessing Technology to Outpace Uncertainty, challenges executives to rethink their role in shaping the future. Beyond reacting to change, today’s leaders must architect it by adopting new technologies, building adaptive organizations and accelerating growth with vision and agility.

Attendees will hear from Frank Baylis, executive chairman of the board at Baylis Medical Technologies; Linda Hasenfratz, executive chair of Linamar Corporation; Christian Exshaw, group head at CIBC Capital Markets; Rex Lee, CITO, Canadian Tire; Matt Lyteson, CIO, Technology Programs at IBM; Farhan Thawar, vice-president and head of engineering at Shopify, and many others. World-renowned experts from Waterloo will also share the groundbreaking technological innovations and research reshaping industries and accelerating reinvention. Together, they will showcase how innovation can be harnessed to navigate change, scale impact and shape the future.

Key topics for 2025 include:

• Technology as a growth catalyst: How to use emerging tech not just to manage disruption, but to enter new markets and future-proof your organization.
• Lessons in reinvention: What resilient industries can teach us about agility, customer-centricity and scaling through uncertainty.
• Canada’s innovation imperative: How bold leadership can position Canadian enterprises to compete globally — by investing in talent, tech adoption and strategic partnerships.

Now in its third year and recognized with multiple awards, the Tech Horizons Executive Forum continues to grow in scope and impact. More than 300 senior leaders are expected to attend, creating opportunities to share insights, spark collaboration and shape the future of Canadian innovation.

Tickets for the Forum are now on sale. To learn more or register, visit the Tech Horizons Executive Forum website.

Warriors Football home opener this weekend and other notes

August continues to grind on, with the Labour Day long weekend taking forever in coming while at the same time feeling like it's just around the corner. I guess that's what a five-week pay period does to your perception. But I digress. One of the surest signs of the fall term's arrival is the Waterloo Warriors football team home opener game, which is set to take place on Saturday, August 23 against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Waterloo Field. The kick-off is at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are still on sale.

It's Camp and Minor Leagues Day, so youth wearing their football jersey will receive free admission on-site (limited quantities available). There will be a W Store Pop-Up Shop where you can shop and indulge in University of Waterloo merchandise, gifts, and more. With the purchase of a child ticket you can join in the fun at King Warrior's Kids Zone, which offers free sports and craft activities to keep kids entertained throughout the game. No reservations are needed. 

Waterloo students receive free admission to all regular season home games by reserving in advance or tapping their WatCard at the gate (all students must activate their ticket account in advance or upon arrival at their first game). Students must reserve their tickets in advance if they wish to sit in grandstands. Gates open at 2:30pm!

It's also Employee Day! There are limited free tickets available for University of Waterloo employees, sponsored by Hilton. Email warriorstickets@uwaterloo.ca while they last.

In other campus news, today marks the end of the spring co-operative work term. If you have a co-op student in your area, wish them well today as they prepare for their fall academic term. The Daily Bulletin counts a number of co-op students from several departments and units across the University as key contacts for campus communication, and we couldn't do what we do without them. Thanks, co-op students!

Information Systems & Technology (IST) has published the latest in the Atlassian Blog Series entitled Public Forms Are Coming to Jira.