Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca
Office of the Ombudsperson releases inaugural Annual Report
A message from the Office of the Ombudsperson.
The Office of the Ombudsperson has released its inaugural Annual Report, covering operations from its opening in January 2025 to August 31, 2025. As the first report of its kind at the University of Waterloo, it offers a detailed look at how the Office was established, the types of concerns students brought forward, and the early patterns that emerged as students began engaging with this new resource.
The report provides an overview of the Office’s role and approach, including how it supports fairness across policy, process, and practice, and how it works with students who are navigating academic or non‑academic challenges. It also outlines areas where students experienced confusion or barriers, and highlights opportunities to clarify documentation, strengthen communication, and improve consistency across the University’s systems.
The report includes data on student visits, trends across concern types, examples of complex situations that required deeper review, and the Office’s early systemic observations. It also reflects on the first year of relationship‑building across campus, including ongoing conversations with student leaders, faculty, and staff about how the Ombudsperson can best support a fair and accessible experience for all students.
You can read the full report on the Ombudsperson website.
About the Ombudsperson
Whitney Barrett is the Ombudsperson at the University of Waterloo. She joined the University in January 2025 to establish the Office of the Ombudsperson, which was created through sustained student advocacy. The Office operates through a Memorandum of Understanding between the University, the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association, and the Graduate Student Association.
As Ombudsperson, Whitney serves as an independent and impartial resource for students. She works confidentially with individuals who are navigating concerns related to policy, procedure, or practice, and supports fairness across the University. She holds an MBA from James Cook University and is completing her Master of Education at York University. Her work focuses on fairness in higher education and approaches to resolving and preventing student concerns.
Move over, Daft Punk: robots translate music into light and motion
A news release from the Media Relations team.
A system developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo lets people collaborate with groups of robots to create works of art inspired by music.
The new technology features multiple wheeled robots about the size of soccer balls that trail coloured light as they move within a fixed area on the floor in response to key features of music including tempo and chord progression.
A camera records the co-ordinated light trails as they snake within that area, which serves as the canvas for the creation of a “painting,” or visual representation of the emotional content of a particular piece of music.
“Basically, we programmed a swarm of robots to paint based on musical input,” said Dr. Gennaro Notomista, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Waterloo.
“The result is a cohesive system that not only processes musical input, but also co-ordinates multiple painting robots to create adaptive, expressive art that reflects the emotional essence of the music being played.”
The robots represent emotion as they “listen” to music via the colours, intensity and width of their lights trails, as well as their position on the canvas and the speed with which they move within it.
People can simultaneously influence a painting in progress using controls to change the width of light trails and their location on the virtual canvas.
“We included the human control input to allow people and robots to work together,” said Notomista, whose interests include the intersection of art and technology. “The human painter should complement and be complemented by what the robots do.”
The first challenge for researchers was developing an algorithm to control multiple robots within a given area. They tested the system with up to 12 robots, but it can be scaled to handle any number.
Step two involved creating technology to extract and analyze musical features that express emotion so they can then be translated into light trails that appropriately represent them.
Lessons learned during the project have potential applications in other areas requiring the control and co-ordination of multiple robots working in unison, such as environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, search and rescue missions, and planetary exploration.
The research also reflects the University of Waterloo’s Global Futures initiative, which advances interdisciplinary work that considers how emerging technologies can shape society, culture and the human experience.
Later, Notomista plans to enlist professional painters and musicians to explore the possibilities of the new tool in user studies and stage public exhibitions.
A paper on the system, Music-driven Robot Swarm Painting, by Notomista and Jingde Cheng, a former Waterloo graduate student, was presented at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts.
Waterloo launches PAIR: Black-led, inclusive, and globally engaged
Dr. Vivek Goel and Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor standing outside the place known as “the gate of no return” in Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast of Ghana.
A message from the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity, and Anti-Racism (EDI-R).
The University of Waterloo has launched the Pan African Initiative for Research (PAIR), a new interdisciplinary research initiative designed to advance collaborative, community-rooted, and globally engaged scholarship across Pan African contexts, including Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Afro diasporic communities worldwide.
PAIR is Black-led by design, grounded in African and Afro-diasporic intellectual traditions and shaped by scholars with deep disciplinary expertise and lived connection to the regions and communities engaged in the research. At the same time, the initiative is intentionally inclusive. PAIR welcomes researchers of all backgrounds whose work is focused on Pan African contexts, particularly those conducting research on the African continent and across diasporic regions. This approach reflects PAIR’s commitment to collaboration, reciprocity, and rigorous scholarship rather than exclusivity.
Dean Alexie Tcheuyap’s formal support for PAIR underscores the Faculty of Arts’ recognition of the initiative’s alignment with its strategic vision, interdisciplinary collaboration, and commitment to inclusive excellence and global engagement.
PAIR at BRIDGE event
At a recent fireside chat at the Laterna Black Innovation Hub’s BRIDGE event, PAIR researchers highlighted PAIR’s emphasis on research conducted with communities and partners, and its role in fostering dialogue across institutional and geographic boundaries.
Exhibition examines temporary structures and enduring institutions
A message from the School of Architecture.
The School of Architecture warmly invites the community to its upcoming faculty research exhibition titled "Provisional Lives: The Portable Barrack-Hut and a University under Occupation." The exhibition brings together two separate yet complementary research projects by Professor Robert Jan van Pelt and Professor Anwar Jaber.
The exhibition examines the idea of the provisional both as a building and as a condition: Professor Robert Jan van Pelt’s long historical study of portable emergency barracks, conceived as standardized temporary structures designed for mobility and planned impermanence; and Professor Anwar Jaber’s investigation of Birzeit University in Palestine, a campus built for continuity yet developed incrementally under the provisional, unstable conditions of military occupation.
Together, the exhibition maps a spectrum from architecture intended not to last to institutions determined to endure without certainty, showing how architectural research clarifies urgent ethical and political questions. Check out this recent Cambridge Today article for more information.
The exhibition opens on Thursday, March 5, at 6:00 p.m, and runs until June 25 at the School of Architecture’s Riverside Gallery.
Upcoming office closure
The International Experience Centre (IEC) and the Student Success Office (SSO) will be closed today from 9:00 a.m. until noon for an all-staff event.
Link of the day
Marilyn Denis leaving CHUM FM after 40 years
When and where
The Campus Wellness Student Medical Clinic offers healthcare visits with Physicians and Nurse Practitioners to current undergraduate and graduate students. Services include: vaccinations, immunity testing, naturopathic services and more. Counselling Services offers appointments with counsellors in person as well as via phone and video. Students can book appointments for these services by calling Campus Wellness at 519-888-4096.
The privately-run Student Health Pharmacy (located in the lower level of the Student Life Centre) is now offering new COVID booster shots and flu shots. Covid booster shots are available by appointment only – please call ext. 33784 or 519-746-4500. The Student Health Pharmacy’s summer hours are Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Naloxone kits are still available – pick them up in the pharmacy at no charge.
The Waterloo Eye Institute optometry clinics in Waterloo and downtown Kitchener offer comprehensive eye exams and eyewear, including glasses and contact lenses, with the Waterloo location offering various specialized services including urgent eye care. Discounts apply for University of Waterloo students and employees. The Waterloo Clinic is at a nearby interim location, 419C Phillip St, during construction at the School of Optometry and Vision Science. The Kitchener Clinic remains at the Health Sciences Campus, 10B Victoria St. S. Book online or by phone at 519-888-4062.
Warriors Winter Youth Camps, registration is now open for multi-sport and games, baseball, basketball, eSports, football and hockey camps for boys and girls ages 5 to 18. Register today!
Systematic and Scoping Reviews: Systematic Search Methods, Tuesday, March 3, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., online.
Public talk: He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada, Tuesday, March 3, St. Jerome’s University, SJ2 2002.
SIGNAL Summit, Wednesday, March 4 to Friday, March 6,
Fruit and Veg Market, Wednesday, March 4, 12 noon to 4:00 p.m., Student Life Centre Marketplace, PSE 1st floor. $10 for a bag of assorted produce while supplies last.
Into the Open: An exploration of education without paywalls, Wednesday, March 4, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., SLC Black & Gold Room (SLC 2144).
Velocity presents Give to Rise: An International Women’s Day Micro-Retreat and Skill Session, Thursday, March 5, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., MC 2037.
Culture Fest 2026, Thursday, March 5, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Conrad Grebel University College, Room 2202 (Community Education Room).
Provisional Lives exhibition opening reception, Thursday, March 5, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Riverside Gallery, School of Architecture, Cambridge.
Diefenbaker Lecture: “Swiss Postcolonial Literature? Reading Martin Dean’s Meine Väter (2003) through Trauma, Mutism, and Third Space” featuring Professor Priscilla Layne, University of North Caronlia at Chapel Hill, Thursday, March 5, 7:00 p.m., Balsillie School of International Affairs.
The Value Crisis & the Science of Happiness, Friday, March 6, 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., United College Alumni Hall. Register now.
International Women’s Day 6th Annual High Tea Social, presented by the Faculty of Science. Friday, March 6, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., virtual discussion on Zoom. Register today.
Home Routes folk concert: Onna Lou and Keri Latimer, Friday, March 6, 7:00 p.m., Brubacher House - North Campus.
Jude Abu Zaineh artist talk and closing reception, Saturday, March 7, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., University of Waterloo Art Gallery.
Agri-Food Innovation Challenge, Monday, March 9 to Friday, March 20.
Systematic and Scoping Reviews: Systematic Screening using Covidence and Zotero, Monday, March 9, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon, online.
Agri-Food Innovation Challenge kick-off event, Monday, March 9, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., South Campus Hall second floor cafeteria.
Unlock the Power of Linear Regression, Tuesday, March 10, 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon, DC 1568.
Faculty of Health International Women’s Day panel event, Tuesday, March 10, 12 noon to 1:00 p.m., online.
GIS Speed Run: Creating Map Layouts, Tuesday, March 10, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., online.
Master of Taxation Virtual Information Session, Wednesday, March 11, 12 noon.
WICI Talk - "Systems Mediation" with Dr. Maryam Mohiuddin Ahmed, Wednesday, March 11, 2:00 p.m., M3 3127.
NEW - Science in the City - Health Futures, Wednesday, March 11, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Velocity Innovation Arena.
NEW - Lectures in Catholic Experience presents Micah True, “Anne of Austria's Surgeon: François Gendron, the 17th-century Jesuit Mission to the Wendat, and the History of Medicine,” Thursday, March 12, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., St. Jerome’s University.
NEW - 43rd MacKinnon Dinner, Friday, March 13, 6:00 p.m., St. Jerome’s University atrium.
PhD oral defences
Computer Science. Nandan Thakur, "Benchmarks, Data, and Evaluation for Robust Retrieval and Retrieval-Augmented Generation on Heterogeneous Domains and Languages." Supervisor, Dr. Jimmy Lin. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Monday, March 23, 11:00 a.m., DC 2310.
Pure Mathematics. Amanda Petcu, "Some results on hypersymplectic structures." Supervisor, Dr. Spiro Karigiannis. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Tuesday, March 24, 9:00 a.m., MC 5479.
Recreation and Leisure Studies. Veronica Stephenson, "Towards a deeper understanding of organizational leadership development in nonprofit community sport.", Supervisor:,Dr. Katie Misener; Email Health Graduate Administration for a copy. Oral defence Wednesday April 1, 1:00 p.m., remote.
Economics. Sudipto Ghosh, “Three Essays on “Good” and “Bad” Volatility: Modeling, Dynamics, and Classification.” Supervisor, Dr. Dinghai Xu. Available upon request from the Faculty of Arts, Graduate Studies and Research. Oral defence Friday, April 10, 12 noon, remote.
Upcoming service interruptions
Stay up to date on service interruptions, campus construction, and other operational changes on the Plant Operations website. Upcoming service interruptions include:
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School of Pharmacy, Integrated Health Building, Innovation Arena (OSC) fire alarm testing, Wednesday, March 4, 6:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
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University Club, Bauer Warehouse, Avril fire alarm testing, Wednesday, March 4, 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
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Energy Research Centre, Math 3, Burt Matthews Hall fire alarm testing, Friday, March 6, 6:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
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Minota Hagey, Mackenzie King Village, Ron Edyt Village fire alarm testing, Friday, March 6, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.