Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Previous | Next

• Campus Watch: Stay alert, PAUSE, and honk for the flock!
• Distinguished Lecture by Professor Erhan Bayraktar
• Three paths, one launchpad: From Waterloo co-op to Canada’s space sector
• Symposium on the Reception of the Ancient World in Germany

Campus Watch: Stay alert, PAUSE, and honk for the flock!

A message from IST.

Honk! Welcome back to Cyber Awareness Month!

Last week, the Goose taught us how to build a secure digital home through security by design, in depth, and detailing. This week, the Goose is back with another lesson from the flock: the importance of a campus watch!

Every spring, members of the University of Waterloo community become familiar with another well-known goose behaviour: vigilance. Whether protecting a nest, grazing with the flock, or watching over goslings, geese are constantly aware of what is happening around them.

A strong digital community works the same way. Cyber security is more than individual security habits. It depends on all of us staying alert, recognizing threats, and helping protect the broader Waterloo community.Visit the Cyber Awareness website to learn more!

Distinguished Lecture by Professor Erhan Bayraktar

A message from the Faculty of Math.

On Tuesday, October 20, the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science's David Sprott Distinguished Lecture Series presents Dr. Erhan Bayraktar, Susan M. Smith Professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan, who will explore continuous-time causal optimal transport. His talk, "Analytical Approach to Continuous-Time Causal Optimal Transport," examines how a finite-state Markov source can be coupled with a diffusion target, and how the resulting problem can be characterized through a nonlinear parabolic master equation and equivalent stochastic control formulations. These ideas lead to numerical schemes that approximate the value from above and below.

Bayraktar directs the Quantitative Finance and Risk Management Master's Program at Michigan. His research develops mathematical tools for decision-making under uncertainty, spanning stochastic analysis and control, applied probability, mean field games, mathematical finance and machine learning. 

The lecture series honours Professor David Sprott, the first Chair of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science and the first Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, recognizing his leadership at a formative time for the department and his highly influential research in statistical science.

Register to attend the in-person lecture.

Three paths, one launchpad: From Waterloo co-op to Canada’s space sector

This article was originally published in Waterloo News.

From supporting Canadarm2 operations aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to helping advance the next generation of Canadian space robotics, three Waterloo alumni are building careers at MDA Space, one of Canada’s leading space technology companies.

While their paths into the space sector were different, Mary McPhee (BASc '23), Emily Pittman (BASc '23) and Elodie Xie (BASc '23) each drew on the problem-solving mindset, hands-on learning and work-integrated experiences that define Waterloo’s co-operative education program. Today, they are helping advance Canada’s legacy in space robotics.

Their journeys also share a common starting point: Waterloo’s Systems Design Engineering (SYDE) program. The close-knit cohort remained connected after graduation, sharing advice, recommending opportunities and helping one another navigate career transitions. As McPhee explored opportunities at MDA Space, the company’s hiring manager was eager to see another SYDE candidate from Waterloo, building on positive experiences with Xie and the program’s reputation. Later, McPhee helped connect Pittman to opportunities at MDA Space, demonstrating the lasting value of Waterloo’s alumni network.

The Waterloo connection that reached orbit

Space wasn’t always the destination McPhee envisioned when she arrived at Waterloo. While studying systems design engineering, she became fascinated by robotics and the Canadarm2 after encountering it in upper-year dynamics and robotics courses. That curiosity would lead her to MDA Space.

“Systems design gives you that breadth of knowledge to be able to go into various applications,” McPhee says, who has spent the past two years on MDA Space’s Mission Operations Engineering team.

For Pittman, her pathway was shaped by exploration rather than a single career goal. Although she grew in a household fascinated by space, she chose Waterloo’s SYDE program because it could take her in many directions. Through Waterloo’s co-op program, she intentionally explored roles spanning manufacturing, software development and product design, building the broad technical foundation that ultimately led her to a career in space operations.

“Even though I didn’t have aerospace experience, all of the different co-op roles I did kind of contributed,” Pittman says. The varied experiences helped her develop skills that proved valuable in an industry she hadn’t initially considered.

Xie’s experience illustrates the direct pathway Waterloo co-op can create between the classroom and industry. She first joined MDA Space as a Control Systems Engineering Intern supporting Canadarm2 before returning two years later for a second co-op term on the newly launched Canadarm3 program. At the time, the project team consisted of only Xie and a lead engineer working to define the system’s foundational requirements.

“It was a significant responsibility to be given as a co-op student,” Xie says. “But because of the success of my first work term, the team trusted me with the role and gave me the opportunity to help shape the project from its earliest stages.”

In 2023, Xie transitioned from co-op student to full-time engineer, continuing to support some of Canada’s most ambitious space robotics initiatives. Although she has since moved on to pursue new opportunities, her journey reflects the impact Waterloo co-op can have in launching careers in emerging industries.

Building Canada’s next chapter in space

Today, McPhee and Pittman are tackling present-day challenges in space, supporting Canadarm2 operations aboard the ISS. The robotic system plays a critical role in maintenance, inspections, cargo handling and imaging, helping reduce the need for astronauts to perform risky spacewalks.

“Anything that we can replace with robotics instead is super desirable,” McPhee says. “That’s kind of the point of external robotic systems such as the Canadarm2. It’s able to replace that need for a spacewalk.”

As Canada prepares for the next era of lunar exploration and autonomous robotics, the alumni are helping build on decades of Canadian leadership in space. Their experiences also highlight the growing opportunities available to Waterloo students interested in emerging fields such as robotics, autonomy and aerospace.

For employers like MDA Space, these students bring more than technical skills. Through co-op, they gain real-world experience, adapt to new challenges and learn how to contribute to complex projects from day one. From co-op work terms to full-time careers supporting Canada’s space ambitions, McPhee, Pittman and Xie demonstrate how Waterloo’s talent network continues to help drive innovation in robotics, autonomy and space exploration.

Symposium on the Reception of the Ancient World in Germany 

A message from Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies and Classical Studies in School of Social, Political and Historical Research.

You are invited to attend Ancient Greece and Rome in German Scholarship and Culture, 18th to 20th Centuries from Monday, October 19 to Tuesday, October 20 at the DRAGEN Lab at St. Jerome’s University College. 

This two-day interdisciplinary symposium explores the influence of the ancient world on German scholarship, literature, philosophy, archaeology, and culture from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries. Participation via Zoom or attendance in person is free and open to everyone for all events that take place on the University campus. 

About the event

The impact of the ancient Greeks and Romans on German culture has been substantial, while in reverse German scholars made fundamental contributions to the study of the ancient world especially during the ‘long 19^th century’. These efforts not only lifted ancient studies to a scientific level, henceforth often called Klassische Altertumswissenschaften (Classical Studies), but also fostered the emancipation of History, Archaeology, Art History, Philosophy, Linguistics, and Literary Studies as disciplines. 

The symposium will trace important stages in this process of Classical reception while also highlighting the deep cultural roots and ramifications that the fascination with the ancients had (and still has) in German societies. Presentations by leading and emerging scholars from Europe and North America will engage Faculty and students from across a variety of the Humanities disciplines but also from the Classics and German communities in Canada and beyond. 

The symposium is generously sponsored by of the Waterloo Centre for German Studies (WCGS), UW Classical Studies, the DRAGEN Lab at St. Jerome’s University College at UW, and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies (WIHS).

Find out more about the full program and register. For questions contact the organizer Dr. Altay Coşkun by October 14.