KI Through the Years

Dr. Ed Jernigan, Professor and Chair of Systems Design Engineering at Waterloo and Program Director of Shad Waterloo from 1984 to 2016, is asked by the Provost to build a week-long enrichment program for high school students modeled after Shad. This new program is called Waterloo Unlimited and will run from 2004 to 2017, bringing together over 1,600 students from across Canada during its existence. Waterloo Unlimited later inspires the design of the KI program

Ed Jernigan leads the effort to design an undergraduate degree inspired by his experience at MIT, in Systems Design Engineering at Waterloo, and Waterloo Unlimited. He is joined by Kim Boucher, Linda Carson, Rae Crossman, Paul McKone, and Stephanie Schmitke. They name the program Knowledge Integration due to its interdisciplinary nature and the way it integrates knowledge from multiple disciplines.

Kim Boucher officially starts working for KI as its Outreach and Administrative Manager. She is a perfect choice to support the program given her background in engineering and teaching, years of working in recruitment and admissions for the Faculty of Engineering, and her experience with Shad and Waterloo Unlimited. For the next 15 years, Kim plays a key role in supporting the program’s growth before passing the torch to Solène Jollivet in 2023.

Linda Carson becomes the first Undergraduate Officer for KI, having played a pivotal role in its design. In September, she starts teaching KI’s first course, INTEG 120. Linda goes on to inspire countless students through her interdisciplinary courses, including the much-beloved ‘Art, Science, and History of Colour’. In 2013, Linda takes on a new role at Waterloo, where she continues to work with students from across campus for years before her passing in 2021. KI is tremendously grateful for Linda’s hand in shaping its teaching philosophy and design, and for her invaluable contributions to KI.

Paul McKone joins KI from the Engineering Computing department as Senior Design Demonstrator. Paul’s background in watchmaking, Shad, and Waterloo Unlimited – where he mixes masking tape, cardboard, and computer science – adds to the multi-disciplinary Swiss Army Knife quality of KI. Paul teaches a variety of core KI courses until his retirement in 2022, including the Museum Course sequence alongside Rob Gorbet.

Darlene McGeer is hired as KI’s first Undergraduate Advisor. With her experience working at five universities, Darlene is familiar with university processes and protocols and is ready to support students academically throughout their time in KI. During her 12 years as academic advisor, Darlene supported over 300 students before retiring in 2020.

The first cohort of Knowledge Integration students begin their academic journey! As a starting cohort of 32 students, they are ready to be trailblazers for the new interdisciplinary program that is KI.

The KI students form the Knowledge Integration Student Society (KISS) – a committee of executives committed to building community, supporting students, and bridging communication between students, staff, and faculty. Its logo, designed by Paul McKone, spells out K-I-S-S through 4 riddles: K for the chemical symbol of potassium, I for the imaginary number i which is the square root of -1, S for the curved winding road ahead sign, and S for the ellipsis morse code symbol. These symbols together represent research, numeracy, trailblazing with caution, and connecting with others.

The first weekly KI seminar takes place, setting up a tradition of coming together in “the living room of the program” to learn from guest speakers and connect as a community. KI seminars continue to be an important part of the program – since 2008, KI has hosted more than 300 seminars with over 15,000 attendees!

Katie Plaisance joins KI after completing a PhD in philosophy at the University of Minnesota and a postdoctoral fellowship in Germany. Katie’s experience as an International Baccalaureate (IB) student and her interdisciplinary background in philosophy of science sets her up perfectly to teach KI’s second-year courses on the nature of knowledge, INTEG 220 and 221. Katie goes on to serve as KI’s third  Department Chair in 2023.

KI’s first cohort flies to Amsterdam to research museum exhibits in preparation for their third-year Museum project. Thus begins a new tradition, with future cohorts travelling to Berlin, Copenhagen, and Barcelona on a rotating basis to learn about museum design, immerse themselves in other cultures, and bond as a cohort before spending eight months working in teams to design and build a museum exhibit.

Rob Gorbet joins KI from Electrical and Computer Engineering after being involved in Shad Waterloo with Ed Jernigan since 2008. Rob’s expertise combining technology and sculpture further expands the department’s disciplinary breadth. Rob goes on to lead the department as Chair from 2014 to 2023 while teaching the Museum Course, KI’s third-year capstone design project, alongside Paul McKone.

The first annual Knowledge Integration eXhibition (KIX) is held in East Campus Hall. Seven groups of third-year students design exhibits on concussions, the Uncanny Valley phenomenon, how dreams are shaped by reality, math instruments, archaeology, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 protest, and grapheme synesthesia with the support and instruction of Rob Gorbet and Paul McKone. In 2017, KIX is hosted at St. Jerome’s University, where it continues to be held every March.

KI students welcome Arts & Science students from McMaster University and the University of Guelph for a weekend of presentations, discussions, and workshop sessions on the theme of “Failure: not final or fatal.” Initiated by McMaster Arts & Science students in 2010, Combining Two Cultures (C2C) is an annual conference that gathers undergraduate students in interdisciplinary programs to network, collaborate, and explore themes related to their degrees. KI goes on to host four more C2C conferences in 2013 (“Boundaries”), 2016 (“Explore: Past, Present, Future”), 2018 (“Knowledge Sharing”), and 2024 (“Jack of All Trades”).

Fourth-year KI students showcase the first annual poster symposium for their capstone Senior Honours Project. These projects represent eight months of work under the guidance of a KI faculty member and one or more supervisors from a discipline related to the student’s chosen topic. Students pursue a wide range of subjects including ecology, philosophy, psychology, languages, marketing, and mathematics.

The first cohort of KI graduates goes out into the world. While some directly join the workforce, others choose to pursue advanced degrees in a wide variety of fields such as systems design engineering, environment and resources studies, veterinary medicine, science policy, philosophy, public administration, and law. As of 2024, our first cohort of KI graduates includes creative directors, corporate energy analysts, freelance designers, content marketers, veterinarians, web developers, senior consultants, game designers, marketing and communication managers, and university professors!

John McLevey joins KI after completing a PhD in sociology at McMaster University. His expertise in the sociology of knowledge and science, as well as his multi-method and interdisciplinary background, helps reimagine the first-year KI course, INTEG 120, and contributes to KI’s Science, Technology, and Society Specialization (STSS).

Vanessa Schweizer joins KI from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the U.S. Her background in engineering, public policy, and climate change allows her to teach design thinking and problem-solving in KI, particularly the first-year core course, INTEG 121.

Dan Beaver, Workshop Manager & Design Instructor for the Environment Technology & Instructional Support (ETIS – formerly MAD), starts to support the third-year museum projects and the annual KIX exhibition. Dan’s expertise in workshop machinery, and his power tools, help students transform their ideas into reality.

Knowledge Integration transitions from a Centre to a Department. After serving as KI’s inaugural Director since 2008, Ed Jernigan becomes the department’s first Chair.

KI students on the KInnovations committee, a subgroup of the Knowledge Integration Student Society, develop the idea for a Collaborative Design Specialization (CDS). They work with KI faculty to design the CDS for KI students seeking a concentration in design thinking skills and practice.

KI students Georgia LaMarre, Akanksha Madan, and Shane Morganstein are awarded a Learning Innovation and Teaching Enhancement grant with Katie Plaisance to design a university-wide conference on interdisciplinary collaboration. They offer workshops on communication, conflict management, and diversity in teams, with the aim of addressing the ‘collaborative skills gap’. This work sets the foundation for a new university-wide course, INTEG 210: Making Collaboration Work.

The DTA is Waterloo’s most prestigious teaching award. Katie’s ability to challenge her students while simultaneously building their academic confidence is just one of the reasons her success was recognized. As an emerging educational leader, Katie also trained many instructors how to implement collaborative learning experiences in their own teaching.

The third-year Knowledge Integration eXhibition (KIX) projects are reframed to align with the Faculty of Environment’s focus on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This new direction leads students in the coming years to focus on food insecurity, sustainable consumption, volunteerism, health and wellbeing, activism, and other themes focused addressing the SDGs.

KI students launch the Journal of Integrative Research & Reflection (JIRR), a student-run, peer-reviewed undergraduate academic journal. JIRR aims to provide a venue for cross-disciplinary work done by undergraduate students – be it applied research that employs multiple ways of knowing, creative projects that disrupt disciplinary boundaries, or theoretical work on interdisciplinary education. Three more issues are published in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

INTEG 210: Making Collaboration Work is first offered, attracting students from all faculties across campus. The course is based on the ‘Breaking Down Barriers’ conference, co-designed by Katie Plaisance and three KI students, with another 12 KI students providing input on the final course design. During its first two offerings, Katie studies the effectiveness of the course and publishes the results in the Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in 2024.

The KI Experience Fund is created to provide funding for the KI Experience Awards and the KI Museum Field Trip Bursaries. These awards enable students to participate in an activity that enhances their learning experiences. KI students who have received the KI Experience Award have gone on to attend the Redfish School of Change in B.C.; participate in field courses in Nova Scotia, South Africa, and Jordan; present at conferences in the U.S.; and develop research projects.

Ed Jernigan is designated Honorary Member of the University at the June 2019 Convocation in recognition of his four decades of impactful service in teaching and administration, and for his work to break down disciplinary silos. Ed’s passion is legendary for giving students the knowledge to understand the world and the skills to change it for the better.

KI launches a second specialization on ‘Science, Technology, and Society’ (STSS) based on the research and teaching strengths of the department, and many KI students’ interests in STS.

As part of an update to KI’s curriculum, the Conflict Management breadth requirement replaces one of the three Science breadth requirements in the Bachelor of Knowledge Integration. This addition is an effort to develop students’ practical knowledge and skills in conflict management in a world of increasing conflict.

Vanessa Schweizer works with KI students and alumni, including Alexandra Andratis, Anvita Desai, Sally Lu, Chloé St Amand, and Allen Lu, to form the Anti-Oppression Knowledge Integrators working group (AOK). Their goal is to identify opportunities to advance anti-racism and anti-oppression through KI’s curricular and extracurricular activities and to contribute to broader consultative processes within the University of Waterloo and extended community. AOK continues to this day, with new KI students, alumni, and faculty serving on a rotating basis.

Mathieu (Matt) Feagan joins KI from Arizona State University. Matt’s background in sustainability, futures thinking, communication, and culture allows him to thrive in KI and bring practices of critical pedagogy and decolonization to the program.

This award recognizes his pedagogical approach, which embodies the experiential learning methods at the University of Waterloo, and utilizes hands-on learning, lively discussion, and collaborative projects to engage students. Paul is the third KI instructor to win the DTA after Ed Jernigan in 1986 and Katie Plaisance in 2016.

Following Darlene’s retirement in 2020, Jessica Martinson and Tawnessa Carter take on the responsibility of the Undergraduate Advisor role until 2022, when Solène Jollivet is hired. Solène is a BKI 2020 graduate with design thinking and consultation experience; she joins the KI team to provide academic support to students, as well as marketing and recruitment support to the department. In September 2023, Solène takes over for Kim Boucher as KI’s Outreach and Administrative Manager.

Emily Beilby joins KI as the program’s newest Undergraduate Advisor. With a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Waterloo and years of experience organizing and participating in community groups, Emily is excited to bring her skills and love for people to advise KI students.

Together with its students, alumni, faculty, staff, Faculty of Environment colleagues, donors, community members, and friends, KI celebrates its 15-year anniversary and the KIX 2024 exhibits. The event is filled with inspirational speeches, good food, nostalgic conversation, and a special ‘walk down memory lane’ exhibit. With 150 in attendance, the KI community rejoices in the impacts it has had, and what is yet to come.