Maplesoft plus Waterloo co-op students equal mathematics software innovation
By: Jed Bick (he/him)
The early Waterloo startup has grown to a large established software company with the benefit of student insights as both employees and target customers.
Maplesoft provides mathematics-based software and services for companies and individuals in the education, engineering and research industries. Its software solves math problems and tedious equations to help users quickly and easily progress in their tasks, projects and lessons.
University of Waterloo professors Gaston Gonnet (he/him) (PhD ’77) and Keith Geddes (he/him) conceptualized Maplesoft in 1980 as a research project in the School of Computer Science. Their project aimed to run symbolic computations by working with math equations. The software was a success and demand grew, so Gonnet and Geddes launched the company and subsequently expanded.
Maplesoft now owns several products, including Maple Learn ─ a tool for students to explore concepts and solve problems and for teachers to create rich, online math content.
Maplesoft employs Waterloo co-op students for a variety of positions including math content developers. During their co-op work terms at Maplesoft, students produce documents to explain mathematical concepts and create interactive demo applications to help users understand the mathematics.
“Because we create mathematical education content and software, the most important skill to have is a solid understanding of mathematics,” says Dr. Paulina Chin (she/her) (PhD ’95), a senior architect and manager of the content team for Maple Learn. “We’ve found that the students who come to us from Waterloo are very well prepared from their courses.”
Paulin Chin, (PhD ’95), senior architect and manager of the content team for Maple Learn.
Students help enhance products by applying skills they learn in class on the job
When Michael Carvalho (he/him) (BMath ‘24) saw the co-op job posting at Maplesoft, he was confident his classroom knowledge and experience would make him an ideal fit for the role. As a Mathematics/Teaching major with minors in Computer Science, Computational Mathematics and Combinatorics and Optimization, he was excited about the opportunity.
His innovative skillset was what Maplesoft was looking for and Carvalho spent a co-op work term as a math content developer with the company. In this role, he utilized his mathematics and programming skills to create math applications for the software.
By speaking to customers directly, Carvalho gained an understanding of which areas of the software and math content needed improvements or upgrades. From customer feedback, Carvalho was able to identify a new concept for a Maple Learn product tutorial.
Mike Carvalho, (BMath '24), math content developer at Maplesoft
“As someone using this software, my first question would be, ‘How do you use this?’,” says Carvalho. “I looked to have the tutorial break down the software into small, manageable chunks for the user.”
He quickly and effectively designed the product tutorial, which was implemented by the team. By creating a smoother and more efficient learning process, Carvalho's tutorial improves upon previous iterations. He also applied the product tutorial framework to math content that helps users work through math problems more effectively.
Carvalho’s background in computer science provided him with the scripting and programming skills he needed to develop the software on a short timeline. His teaching background gave him insights into what customers, who are mostly teachers, would want from a tutorial.
“Because I've been in a classroom, from an educator's point of view, I could imagine the different ways the program would be used,” says Carvalho. “To understand those different contexts of how math is presented really helped me design the tutorial documents.”
Co-op student solutions benefit Maplesoft clients
Maplesoft implemented Carvalho’s product and content tutorials and Maple Learn customers continue to use it. They are satisfied with the software’s improvement and newfound functionality.
Co-op students, like Carvalho, can create and improve products’ design and functionality. As tech companies like Maplesoft look to stay ahead in their competitive industries, innovative Waterloo co-op students can help.
“Waterloo co-op students supply companies in the tech sector with innovative product designs and solutions,” says Marlene Griffith Wrubel (she/her), account manager for Co-operative and Experiential Education at the University of Waterloo. “From their first day on the job, they enter the workforce prepared to help companies, like Maplesoft, to thrive.”
A vital aspect of Maplesoft’s product development is the fresh ideas and relevant insights Waterloo co-op students provide.
It’s important to involve the students when creating our content and developing our software since they're one of the main customers and audience of our products. We trust them and take their opinions greatly into account.
This culture of trust, and the opportunity to provide meaningful work, is motivational for both students and staff. Carvalho was excited to return to Maplesoft when he was hired for a full-time role at the company after graduation. He's seen growth on the job as his responsibilities have increased, including mentoring current co-op students.
“My return to Maplesoft was mutual and I’m super excited to kick-start my career at this company,” says Carvalho.