Global Futures: Innovation Update

Our global futures

The 2025 Global Futures: Innovation Update showcases the incredible work of Waterloo’s students, faculty and alumni as they tackle society’s most pressing challenges. From advancing health care with quantum cameras and nanotechnology to creating sustainable cities and transformative technologies, these stories highlight bold innovation shaping our future. Be inspired by how the Waterloo community is stepping forward with ideas and solutions that reimagine what’s possible.

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Vivek Goel

"The future we imagine for humanity and our planet is at the core of the Global Futures. Waterloo is thinking differently and working across disciplines to transform societies, health, economies, technologies and the environment."

— Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Waterloo

Read the President's message →

Meet the innovators

Robots supporting human-centric health care →

Cobionix’s collaborative robot Codi automates routine tasks, empowering professionals to focus on critical patient care

Turning food waste into a new bioplastic →

Co-founders of MetaCycler BioInnovations leverage the Entrepreneurial PhD Fellowship program to scale their research solution for plastic pollution

Building the perfect quantum camera →

Vanier scholars collaborate to reach new levels of precision and reveal a new world of possibilities

Uncovering the invisible side of tech →

Waterloo researchers are decoding new technologies by asking why they were made and who they are made (or not made) for

CELLECT. transforms cervical cancer diagnosis with nanotechnology →

Using menstrual products as a diagnostic tool could replace invasive Pap smears with a non-invasive alternative

Scaling the electric vehicle economy →

OBEC paves Canada's path to building a green economy and maximizing impact on both technological and economic development

Global Futures in Focus

A podcast that explores the transformative forces shaping our world and uncovers solutions to compounding global crises, featuring insights from chancellor emeritus Dominic Barton and University of Waterloo experts. Keep an eye out for Season 2, launching in spring 2025.

Listen to each of the five episodes wherever you get your podcasts.

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Global Futures in Focus with Dominic Barton