Monday, April 29, 2019

Remembering Professor Emeritus Ric Holt

The Cheriton School of Computer Science has announced that Professor Emeritus Richard Craig Holt died on April 12 at the age of 78.

"Ric attended Cornell University on a bet, starting in 1959, where he completed their five-year engineering physics program," his wife Marie-France wrote in a memorial posted on the Computer Science website. "Ric found quantum physics purposeless, so joined the Peace Corps in southeast Nigeria, where he taught secondary school chemistry and physics from 1965–66 before the Biafran War. After his time in Nigeria, Ric got involved with computers, working at IBM briefly in Texas then in Almaden, California, which turned out to be a useful way to avoid Vietnam. At Richard Conway’s suggestion, Ric returned to Cornell University’s new computer science program." 

Holt joined the University of Waterloo in 1997 after nearly two decades at the University of Toronto. 

During his career, Holt made a number of seminal contributions in a variety of computer systems research areas, from work on operating systems and programming languages, compilers and computer science education, to software architecture modelling and software analytics.

Holt supervised many PhD students who have themselves become leading academics. He authored and coauthored dozens of highly cited journal and conference publications, many of which are classics in their field. For example, his 1972 paper on properties of deadlock is commonly referenced in operating systems textbooks, and his 1998 paper on Tarski relational algebra to model software architecture won a most influential paper award. In addition to his academic publishing record, Ric co-authored 16 books on programming, operating systems and computer science education.

Holt served as chair of the Nortel Networks Institute at the University of Waterloo and he held an NSERC Industrial Research Chair sponsored by Nortel Networks. He was also the director of the University's Software Telecommunications Group. In 2005, he was named one of Canadas Top 30 IT Movers and Shakers.

For many years, he ran Holt Software Associates, his own software company, to support use of the Turing programming language in high schools and universities.

Holt retired from the University in 2014.

In 2017, Holt received a Lifetime Achievement Award from CS-Can/Info-Can for his seminal contributions in a variety of areas of computer systems research, including operating systems; programming languages, compilers and computer science education; software architecture modelling; and software analytics.

A private family celebration of his life will be held later in 2019.

Read more of Marie Holt's tribute to Professor Emeritus Ric Holt on the Computer Science website.

CataLight shines at world's largest student startup competition

This is an excerpt of an article originally published on the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business website.

CataLight, a University of Waterloo social impact startup shone brightly at the 2019 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) competing head-to-head with students from the world’s top schools like MIT, Notre Dame, Penn State and Northwestern. After three days of competition, Co-founders Ashley Keefner, Ph.D., MBET and Kevin Dang, MBET advanced to the Final Round as one of only two Canadian teams competing, defeating 35 teams in the process.

While CataLight’s competition success among the 42 teams is a prestigious honour, the real excitement was the more than $190,000 CAD in combined cash prizes and offered investments they won. They have been offered a $125,000 USD investment from a ‘Super Angel Investor Network’ the Grand Order of Successful Entrepreneurs of Texas (GOOSE), a $15,000 USD cash for the Women’s Health and Wellness Prize, and $3000 USD for finishing seventh overall.

Not their first rodeo

CataLight arrived in Houston, Texas, a well-seasoned team with extensive business and pitch competition experience. Having participated in competitions like the Hult Prize, The World’s Challenge Challenge, and Velocity Fund Finals in the past, they were expected to perform well at the 2019 RBPC.

“This didn’t just happen by accident. The CataLight team have been very receptive to the feedback they have received from everyone along their journey. Of course, they are incredibly hard-workers. They’ve probably rehearsed their pitch hundreds of times. In the question and answer period, the investors understood the breadth and depth of their experience to date, and their investments reflected confidence in CataLight’s accomplishments.” said Mentor and Advisor David Rose, associate director of graduate studies at the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business who travelled with the team for the competition.

Exceeding even their close mentor’s expectations, Rose went on to say that “we knew from early on that it was going to be a strong finish for them based on the interest expressed by those at the competition. I may be biased, but CataLight was the talk of the competition amongst the investors and competition stakeholders I spoke with.”

Read the full story on the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business website.

Fire drills tomorrow and other notes

The Safety Office and Plant Operations will be conducting fire drills for most academic and administrative buildings on campus on Tuesday, April 30, weather permitting.

The rain date for this drill is May 1.

The Safety Office would like to remind faculty and staff that when the fire alarm in their building goes off, they are required to evacuate. Check out the Safety Office's generic building evacuation procedures, and check in with your department or unit's fire warden to stay updated on procedures for your particular workplace.

All W Store, W Print, and W Store Essentials locations will be closed for their annual inventory-taking on Tuesday, April 30. The locations will reopen at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 1.