The old saying, “when it rains it pours” has never been more true. Having reoccupied the Physics buildings following the fire of 2018, we were directed to decamp again in March in our effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Faculty, students, and staff had one week to move back home and prepare for the remaining weeks of Winter term. We pulled it off. With finals behind us and the Spring term in full-swing, our faculty and staff have retooled to deliver classes and most labs remotely for the Spring and Fall 2020 terms. Despite this adversity, I am pleased that we are on-target to recruit a full, incoming Fall 2020 Physics & Astronomy class. And we are preparing to resume laboratory research safely in the July timeframe. My thoughts go out to those students and families struggling physically and financially throughout this hardship. We are here for you.
Ingenuity thrives on adversity. In this edition of the Entangler you will see how one of our award-winning astrophysicists, Niayesh Afshordi, pivoted away from pondering the origins of the Universe to help slay the pandemic. You will learn how Physics & Astronomy graduate Mike Rossi founded Smile.io, and how the “soft skills” acquired through a physics education translate to eCommerce. Then find out how Professor Mike Hudson and his students imaged bridges of dark matter stretching tens of millions of light years between galaxies. Waterloo astrophysicists yet again have “seen the unseeable”.
I am thrilled to share the accomplishments of several of our award-winning faculty and students. They include the Order of Canada, the Buchalter Cosmology Prize, the 2020 Breakthrough Prize, the Laird Memorial Lectures, the Nicholas Metropolis Award, the CAP Medal, Destination Physics Awards, the Lazaridis Scholarship in Theoretical Physics, and more. We are fortunate to have attracted so many talented individuals to our department. With that, let me extend a warm welcome to Alan Jamison, who joined our faculty in January from MIT. Finally, while you are enjoying the latest edition of the Entangler, try your hand at SIN Bin problem 10. Enjoy and thank you to all who made it happen.
Be well.
