Wednesday, February 4, 2026

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• Global Futures: Student startup makes hiring engineering talent easier
• Weiyi Shang named 2025 ACM Distinguished Member
• Velocity presents four cool opportunities for students this term

• Warriors clinch Battle of Waterloo series with 4-3 women's hockey win

• Wednesday's notes

Global Futures: Student startup makes hiring engineering talent easier

This article is published as part of the Global Futures: Innovation Update.

From a young age, third-year electrical engineering student Nain Abdi saw business opportunities everywhere, often turning his hobbies into ventures and ideas into action. That entrepreneurial drive only grew stronger at the University of Waterloo.

Inspired by his own co-op experience, Abdi and his co-founder Esther Thomas built Colare to help companies better assess engineering talent. The platform uses simulation-based assessments to evaluate candidates in real-world scenarios, helping employers understand how candidates think, build and solve before they even come on-site.

Read more on the Global Futures: Innovation Update website 

Weiyi Shang named 2025 ACM Distinguished Member

This article was originally published on the Electrical and Computer Engineering website.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is proud to announce that Dr. Weiyi (Ian) Shang, has been named a 2025 Distinguished Member by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the world’s leading computing society.

This year, ACM recognized 61 Distinguished Members from leading universities, corporations, and research institutions across 16 countries, honouring individuals for significant technical contributions and impactful service to the computing community. The ACM Distinguished Member designation highlights up to 10 percent of ACM’s global membership, celebrating leaders whose work is shaping the future of technology.

ACM President Yannis Ioannidis emphasized the importance of this recognition, noting that the annual announcement “is our opportunity to recognize computing innovators whose efforts and creativity underpin the technologies that shape our world,” and to acknowledge volunteers whose service strengthens the global computing community.

Celebrating Dr. Shang’s research leadership

Dr. Shang, who leads the Software Engineering and System Engineering (SENSE) Lab at the University of Waterloo, is recognized for advancing how modern software systems are built, monitored, and understood. His research delves into the realities of ultra-large-scale systems—the massive, distributed platforms that support today’s digital world—and seeks new ways to enhance their reliability and performance.

Through the SENSE Lab, Dr. Shang and his students collaborate closely with industry partners and work with large-scale datasets drawn from real production environments. Their findings influence both academic research and practical engineering, helping shape the next generation of dependable, data-informed software systems.

A distinguished recognition

This prestigious honour places Dr. Shang among an exceptional global cohort advancing fields such as AI for healthcare, computing education, data management, human-computer interaction, mobile computing, networked systems, security, sustainability, and more.

Congratulations Ian on this outstanding achievement!

Velocity presents four cool opportunities for students this term

A message from Velocity.

The days of the winter term can start to blur together: classes, assignments, co-op applications, repeat. Velocity’s winter lineup is designed to break that cycle with hands-on experiences that aren’t lectures or info sessions. They're opportunities to try things, test ideas, and apply what you’re learning.

1. The Co-op Workplace Simulation
   Practice real co-op skills in a simulated workplace, build confidence before day one, and qualify for $500 tuition awards. Save your spot.
2. Future Cities x Velocity Speed Hack
   Tackle real urban challenges in just three hours—no technical experience required. Fast, collaborative, and beginner-friendly. Give it a shot. 
3. Cooperathon Powered by Desjardins
   Learn from founders and compete nationally for up to $100,000 in funding, mentorship, and post-competition support. Join us. 
4. Agri-Food Innovation Challenge
   Work on real food-system challenges with industry experts and compete for a share of $10,000 in prizes. Be part of it. 

If you want to add hands-on experience to your winter term—building skills, meeting new people, and working on real problems—there’s something here for you.

Warriors clinch Battle of Waterloo series with 4-3 women's hockey win

Brooke Williams wins a faceoff against a Laurier centre. Photographer: Hailey Tripodi

By Sam Bellerose. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on the Athletics and Recreation website.

For the second consecutive season, the Waterloo Warriors have won the Battle of Waterloo, a season-long series that sees Waterloo and Laurier's teams compete across 16 sports. 

With the score at 10-9 with just two games remaining on the schedule between the rival schools, Saturday night's women's hockey showdown at Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex was the Warriors' second crack at clinching the 2025-2026 series, after the Golden Hawks men's basketball team kept it alive last weekend. 

They'd have to do it against maybe the hottest team in U SPORTS, with Laurier's women's hockey team riding a 12-game winning streak into Saturday's tilt. Over that span, they'd allowed only six goals against, recording seven shutouts along the way. 

None of that seemed to faze the Warriors, who'd won 10 of their last 12 and were quickly climbing their way back up the OUA standings and U SPORTS rankings. A scoreless first period gave way to a back-and-forth final two frames that saw Waterloo stave off a late comeback attempt for a 4-3 victory. 

"It does feel good for sure… this is a big statement game for us," said Warriors Head Coach Shaun Reagan, who admitted the greater context of this game was not lost on his team. 

"That was definitely on the bulletin board, the Battle of Waterloo, so we're pretty pumped that we were able to bring it home for us." 

While the win was all the Warriors were after, they didn't have to wait until the final buzzer for a moment to get excited about. After Ell Spencer opened the scoring for the Golden Hawks in the second period, Tatum James, buried a feed Nikki McDonald to even the score. It was the 43rd goal of James's career, which sets a new all-time program record, surpassing Leah Herrfort's total of 42. 

McDonald set up Gracey Smith for the go-ahead goal a few minutes later, and Sarah Hirst extended the lead to 3-1 just five minutes into the third period. 

Read the full story on the Athletics website.

Wednesday's notes

Voting has opened for the WUSA elections: "Voting in the WUSA General Elections is now open and runs until February 5," says a note from the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA). "All undergraduate students are eligible to vote online at vote.wusa.ca. "Through voting, students help shape the direction of their student association and ensure undergraduate perspectives are part of decisions that affect campus life. Students who vote will be entered into a prize draw, including a MacBook Air or Dell XPS 13, an iPad, and a $200 Visa gift card."

This week’s Fruit and Veg Market will take place from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m. on the first floor of Pearl Sullivan Engineering (formerly E7) and in the Student Life Centre’s lower atrium. As usual, $10 will net you a bag of assorted produce while supplies last. All members of the University of Waterloo community are welcome.

The Noon Hour Concert Series continues with Anatomy of the Recovering Brain. Kitchener-based Dr. Kathryn Ladano is an award-winning bass clarinetist, the winner of the most recent Distinguished Alumni Award from Conrad Grebel University College. Kathryn was the director of NUMUS for many years and specializes in contemporary music and free improvisation in solo and chamber settings. The featured piece is called “Anatomy of the Recovering Brain”, a piece she commissioned, performed, and recorded. It is a 60-minute solo work which was composed by Frank Horvat as an integral part of her recovery journey. It is thematically about brain injuries and tells the stories of six different survivors, including her own story.

The concert takes place at 12 noon in the Conrad Grebel Chapel. Admission is free.

Employers hosting Employer Information Sessions this week include CIBC and next week, Palona AI and MappedIN. Register if you plan on attending through the Employer Information Sessions calendar on WaterlooWorks and check for any updates!