Nikolay Videnov, a master’s student at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) has won the title of Best University of Waterloo Presenter at the virtual research colloquium, jointly hosted by the University of Waterloo and the University of Strathclyde, last Thursday.
Nikolay’s presentation was selected from a short list of 11 presenters, out of a field of 28 submissions from Waterloo, which focused on research areas such as, Nuclear Engineering, Quantum Technology, Digital Health, Sustainable Energy and Entrepreneurship.
The IQC student’s presentation of his research on Building an Open-access Quantum Information Processor won a $500 award. Nikolay said he was extremely impressed with the diversity of the research shared by his colleagues at both institutions. He added that he valued the opportunity to receive feedback from international scholars.
“Collaboration with different institutions is very useful to see what other people are doing,” he said. “On top of that, there’s an element of discipline collaboration, which is also extremely useful to get new ideas from fields that you wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to interact with.”
President Feridun Hamdullahpur and Principal of the University of Strathclyde Sir Jim McDonald opened the one-day research colloquium with a fireside chat that discussed the challenges facing higher education in light of COVID and the value of strengthening international collaboration among strategic partnerships. They also reiterated their commitments to working together to continue to provide ideas and research that solve vexing global challenges. The video of this chat will be available on UWaterloo YouTube channel.
“We hope this colloquium opened international research and networking opportunities for our students, who received valuable feedback from international experts while gaining conference and presentation experience,” said Bessma Momani, Interim Assistant Vice-President, International Relations, Waterloo International.
Organized by Waterloo International, in collaboration with Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs, the Office of Research, and several faculties, the virtual research colloquium drew wide campus involvement and strengthened international partnerships.
