Current students

A team comprised of Waterloo management engineering students Helen Jiang and Sally Lee, and math students Larry Xing and Jonathan Yim took first place in the University of Waterloo Capital One Data Mining Cup held November 24. The goal of the competition was to apply data mining techniques to the problems associated with approving credit card applications and setting spending limits. The winning team used a simple but effective strategy of predicting customer spending patterns using decision trees and least-squares linear regression.

The Women’s Studies Society and the Women’s Centre at the University of Waterloo are hosting a December 6th Remembrance Ceremony to commemorate the lives of the women killed at Ecole Polytechnique on December 6, 1989 and to raise awareness of the continued need to prevent violence and abuse against women. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, December 6 in the Student Life Centre, Multi-Purpose Room (attached to the Great Hall) from 12 noon-1 pm. All are welcome. White ribbons can be picked up at the Women’s Centre in the SLC for those unable to attend the event.

Industry representatives, students and the public had a first-hand look at Waterloo Engineering’s innovative engineering research at this year’s We Innovate held in Engineering 5 on December 7. The research on display ranged from work on quieter wind turbines, flood resistant housing and fire-retardant material to crashworthy auto parts, anti-icing agents for concrete and 3D scanners that could help surgeons and dentists.

Zero emissions, no noise was the promise of the ZENN Low Speed Vehicle (LSV), produced by the ZENN Motor Company of Toronto between 2006 and 2010. A rare pre-production model is on display to the public in the Engineering 5 lobby until mid-January. It was brought to the university by Mehrdad Kazerani, a Waterloo professor of electrical and computer engineering, whose research team will be using the vehicle after the exhibition ends. The ZENN is a fully functional, two passenger, front wheel drive, electric vehicle that was produced at an assembly plant in Saint-Jerome, Quebec.

Geoff Christou (BArch ’10) has teamed up with a childhood friend to create Our Paper Life, a company that sells an environmentally-friendly shelf and a desk made from paper. The adult-size desk and shelf, each costing $19.99, are ideal for university students because they can be easily assembled and recycled when they’re no longer needed.

Stephen Teeple, a School of Architecture graduate, is piloting an award-winning architecture firm called Teeple Architects, which specializes in a broad range of institutional, commercial and residential projects, including community and recreation centres, libraries, schools and university buildings. The current mix includes The Stephen Hawking Centre (a major expansion of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo) where Mr.

Jackie Rehkopf, who graduated from civil engineering with both her BASc and PhD, has had her book “Automotive Carbon Fiber Composites: From Evolution to Implementation” published by SAE International. Rehkopf is a senior researcher at Plasan Carbon Composites, a Tier 1 producer of carbon fiber composites for the U.S. automotive industry. She is also a principal investigator of a three-year project on predictive modeling of carbon fiber composites in automotive crash applications.

Engineering 5, designed by Perkins+Will of Toronto, has won a 2011 Global Excellence Award Best of Category in the Cultural/Institutional/Educational Category, by the International Interior Design Association (IIDA). Winners of the competition were chosen from 92 international design firms from 32 countries judged on representation of outstanding originality, and excellence in the creation of international interior design and architecture projects. Awards will be presented at the Maison & Objet Show in Paris in mid January.