Feature

A radical response to the housing crisis

Waterloo PhD student and entrepreneur Sean Campbell is creating a new model for affordable housing

Sean Campbell (MES ’16, PhD in progress) is best described as restless in his work to create a more liveable community for people in Waterloo region.

Green Care Farms takes root

Rebekah Churchyard launched Canada’s first care farm for people with living with dementia

Nestled between apple and cherry tree orchards on a half-acre of rural land between Milton and Guelph, Ont., Green Care Farms is ready for planting. Incorporated by Rebekah Churchyard (BA ’13, BSW ’14) in 2021, it is Canada’s first care farm specifically for adults living with dementia, a disease that affects at least 597,000 Canadians today.

The mushroom startup with the power to heal

Indigenous entrepreneur wants to use his mushroom-supplements business to start a dialogue for a positive future

Indigenous entrepreneur Evan Vandermeer (BSc in progress) is the founder of MycoNutrients, a mushroom-supplements distribution business grounded in Indigenous values of nurturing family, the Earth and one another.

When there is no 9-1-1

Emergency Response Africa is connecting people experiencing medical emergencies to the care they need

Originally from Nigeria, Folake Owodunni (MBET ’21) was compelled to create Emergency Response Africa to address the gaps in health services available to people living in Africa.

Innovating better ways to care for people using technology

Velocity health entrepreneurs turn research into health-care solutions

From automating a medical imaging device to developing a health-care platform to reduce anxiety, the Velocity health stream is creating the next generation of innovators working to transform their research into real-world technological solutions.

LiftOff takes flight to support Black entrepreneurs in Waterloo region

Dr. Trevor Charles creates an incubator and accelerator program for Black early-stage and growth entrepreneurs

Charles co-founded Metagenom Bio Life Science Inc. and is the executive director of LiftOff by CCAWR, the region’s first and only Black-led incubator and accelerator program for Black early-stage and growth entrepreneurs.

How universities grow entrepreneurs

Dr. Karim S. Karim advocates for universities as drivers of entrepreneur-led economic growth

The growth of the Canadian economy depends on the success of its entrepreneurs. But the country’s current innovation and productivity gap risks stymying its entrepreneurial ambitions.

AI personalization is transforming e-commerce

Digital expert Nicolas Darveau-Garneau explains how AI is reshaping the customer experience

As Chief Evangelist at Google, Nicolas Darveau-Garneau (BMath ’92) spent his time with top e-commerce executives, explaining how AI could drive more traffic to their platforms and increase sales. About three years ago, he noticed executives were more interested in a new topic.

Trailblazing eco entrepreneurs

Green founders are disrupting traditional industries to create a sustainable future

Bio-Brick Labs, Material Futures, Nfinite Nanotechnology Inc. and Recyclable Materials Marketing (ReMM Group) are driven to create environmentally-friendly products for a sustainable future.

An outlook to change the world

Microsoft’s partnerships and talent pipeline help create world-changing products and services

As one of the largest tech companies in the world, Microsoft employs more than 500 Univeristy of Waterloo alumni.

There’s something in the Water(loo)

The University fuels a collaborative spirit by attracting the best talent to a thriving community

John Baker (BASc ’00) remembered exactly where he was when he had a eureka moment that would not only change his life, but the lives of more than 15.5 million people worldwide. It happened in the late 1990s when Baker was walking to his systems design engineering class.

That band played here?

From Stevie Wonder to Joni Mitchell, iconic musicians rocked this town

For people coming of age in the late ’60s and early ’70s — when politics, protest, free love and Vietnam were top of mind — Waterloo wasn’t exactly ground zero for the prevailing counterculture.

Celebrating the impact of Glow

The Glow Centre spans decades of making a difference to thousands of 2SLGBTQIA+ folks

The Glow Centre (previously GLOW, GLLOW and WUGLM) is the oldest continuously running university-based 2SLGBTQIA+ group in Canada. The group of dedicated student volunteers provide a wide variety of peer support, social events, advocacy work and resources for anyone who needs it. 

The golden era of computing at Waterloo

A pioneer of computing recalls the early days of computer science at Waterloo and the spirit of openness that set the University apart

What makes computer science at Waterloo so special? You could point to the larger-than-life figures, the spin-off successes or the technological breakthroughs.

Coming home

For more than six decades, the Waterloo campus has been the backdrop to many of Ken McLaughlin’s fondest professional and family memories

As a professor of history, Dr. Kenneth McLaughlin (BA ’65) is skilled at piecing together records and events to tell stories that make sense of our past. He is fondly known around campus as the expert on the University of Waterloo, carefully documenting the University’s origins and important milestones.

Going the distance

Waterloo alum brings a decade of student experience to her innovation work

Stephanie Whitney's (BASc ’04, MEB ’13, PhD ’19) Waterloo experience has been a marathon, not a sprint.

The Collective Movement Award cultivates positive change

Inspired by Waterloo’s student-led clubs, Arts alum gives back with award to help African, Caribbean and Black undergrads build community

Initially drawn to Waterloo's Speech Communication program, Michael Robson (BA ’13) began playing varsity football at Waterloo. As an athlete, he was familiar with team spirit and building community with his teammates. Through interactions with student clubs, he discovered a different aspect of the importance of community.

Keep Your Head Up

Two Waterloo alumni launch foundation to help those recovering from traumatic brain injuries

Athletes are often at risk of experiencing sports-related concussions — a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that can result in temporary or persistent symptoms and can have a lasting impact beyond physical symptoms.

From capstone project to international success

Throughout Vidyard’s evolution there has been one constant: Talent from the University of Waterloo

When Michael Litt looks back at Vidyard’s 12-year timeline, he is amazed.

Building bridges and satellite campuses

Away from the main Waterloo campus, specialized schools are anything but isolated

When many people think of the University of Waterloo, they think of the sprawling main campus, with its iconic buildings and courtyards, bustling with students.

The big potential of tiny homes

An academic and municipal partnership provides hope for Waterloo region’s homeless

A lack of available and affordable housing in the Region of Waterloo is affecting a growing number of people. An estimated 1,000 people in the region have no home to call their own, and almost half experience chronic homelessness.

A community of builders

Waterloo is building a transformational path to its 100th anniversary

Waterloo at 100 is an exercise to move us beyond five-year planning cycles toward a longer-term vision that will answer: What do we as an institution aspire to become by our 100th anniversary in 2057?

A role model for math — and life

Anita Layton is building math models to get lifesaving treatments to people faster

Layton, a leader in a field attracting the brightest mathematicians and clinicians in the world, is using math models — much like scientists have used microscopes for hundreds of years — to reveal otherwise invisible processes in the body.

Global connections, forged in honey

Nohemie Mawaka’s venture employs women in her father’s community in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Current student Amy Suresh (BSc in progress) chats with serial entrepreneur Nohemie Mawaka (BA ’13) about her most recent business venture, Lubembo, which brings Congolese forest honey to North American markets.  

How to build an anti-bullying robot

Theatre and role play with social robots will help children learn bullying intervention skills

Children who have been bullied or have witnessed a friend being bullied often suffer in silence, not knowing how to process their traumatic experiences or respond to bullying in the future. 

A Waterloo squash dynasty

The seven members of the Seth family are equal parts athletic and academic

An Indigenous sense of place

David Fortin and team to represent Canada at the prestigious Venice Biennale, where he hopes to share Indigenous design principles and raise awareness about Canada’s housing crisis

“Go Mommy”

Tracelyn Cornelius says equality for all is a fundamental component of sustainability

As a full-time employee, mature part-time student and mother of three, I often question whether my decision to embark on PhD studies was a wise one.

Cybersecurity builders

A cluster of cybersecurity companies grows from talent emerging at the University of Waterloo

She may not have been aware of that when she took a co-op job at the cybersecurity company Arctic Wolf in Waterloo, but she is part of a new generation helping build the region’s cybersecurity cluster today.

Building a portable brain scanner

Dr. Atefeh Zarabadi co-founded AiimSense to help first responders and doctors diagnose strokes more quickly

Fast identification and early treatment of a stroke can mean the difference between a speedy recovery and a lasting brain injury or even death. 

Doing the right thing

Guided by faith, entrepreneur Majid Mirza helps investors and private companies create sustainable impact together 

During his 10-year career in impact investing, Majid Mirza (BA ’08, MBET ’09, PhD in progress) saw the difference that socially conscious investors can make — generating not only wealth but greener, healthier and more equitable communities. 

Starting a new chapter

Making new friends as an adult can be hard. Alumni groups around the world provide new and unexpected opportunities

Meighan Bell (BA ’06, BSW ’07) was keenly aware of how difficult establishing new connections is as an adult when she moved back to the Toronto area after eight years in London, England.

Building a bridge between two cultures through a beloved game

Jennifer Guo and her husband reimagine the centuries-old game of mahjong as a tribute to their grandmothers 

When Jennifer Guo (BA ’10) and her husband Adam Szakacs were expecting their first daughter, they thought of ways their child could connect with her Chinese and Jewish heritage in a personal way.   

Waterloop: Building the future of transportation

A student-run team is using hyperloop technology to build a pod expected to travel faster than a Boeing 747 aircraft

The University of Waterloo campus is not only home to a new flock of geese every year, but also to a diverse group of student volunteers working together to turn the vision of hyperloop into a reality.  

Representing your authentic self in digital spaces 

Waterloo alum who co-founded Bitmoji hopes personalizing your avatar will bring you closer to the people you communicate with online 

Among the great liberating qualities of the digital world is that it allows many people to express themselves, free from the constraints of the physical world.

Keeping tech talent in the region

200+ Waterloo co-op work terms have been based at Google in Kitchener

Through its reputation and ability to provide impactful work, Google remains a local staple employer for University of Waterloo co-op students and an essential part of a booming downtown tech core. 

Star quarterback shows why it takes more than talent to succeed

The systemic racism that has historically kept Black athletes from the quarterback position denies opportunity off the field in business, academia and other sectors in society

Relentless and beautiful: Serving those left out of the economy

40 years after they established the Working Centre, Joe and Stephanie Mancini are serving a new generation of people unhoused and unemployed in the wake of a pandemic

How does Waterloo produce so many founders?

Investing in universities and the talent that is derived from them will have to be a central pillar of Canada’s innovation strategy.

From building robots in the basement to putting algorithms on the moon

Four Waterloo Engineering students started building robots in a basement. Today, the company they founded is a global enterprise with a team working on Canada’s first lunar rover.

Gen Z: Changing the world one co-op term at a time

Waterloo co-op students are a force for good, advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in organizations and workplaces around the world.

How do we support talent when life happens?

Employers are losing talent as women carrying the physical, emotional and financial burden of fertility treatments take a step back — or leave the workforce entirely

Investing in a 'uniquely human' future of work

Brigette Lau wants nothing less than better opportunities for all. Her venture fund, Firework Ventures, is betting on tech companies that ignite human potential

Brigette Lau wants nothing less than better opportunities for all. Her venture fund, Firework Ventures, is betting on tech companies that ignite human potential

Seeing the quantum light

Researchers from vastly different disciplines — quantum physics and vision science — collaborate on new device that may one day prevent vision loss

This is how you make a dent in the universe

Janelle Resch changed career plans and launched a biotech company with her husband Eric Ocelewski after he was diagnosed with cancer.

When co-op comes full circle

Alumni share how their own co-op experiences shape how they mentor the next generation of talent

Remembrance Day: Uncovering my grandfather’s story of war

The long night in a lifeboat on the Atlantic Ocean

My grad studies in history helped lead me to details of the night in 1941 that my grandfather narrowly escaped death after a Nazi sub attack

78,000+ vaccine doses

Tears of joy and smiles behind the masks of clinic volunteers

During a critical moment in our history, Waterloo alumni found connection and purpose at the University’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic

The connection that saved her life

From battling depression on her own to a circle of support

Caitlin Brydges was a varsity hockey player secretly living with depression. Then one day she opened up to her coach.

Beyond Ring Road: Where will Waterloo's self-driving shuttle go next?

The WatonoBus has gained attention around the world

Technology driving the WATonoBus may find its way into hospitals and long-term care homes and mine sites