Part of Canada’s inventive story

Waterloo’s spirit of innovation helps make Canada great

Canada’s 150th birthday this year is very much a celebration of this nation’s spirit of innovation.

From the establishment of the first transatlantic telegraph cable connection a year before Confederation, to the development of artificial intelligence and quantum computers today, ingenuity, innovation and a pioneering entrepreneurial spirit make this country great.

Feridun HamdullahpurThe telephone, the first external pacemaker, the first web search engine — known as Archie — the Waterloo pump and the BlackBerry smartphone are just a few of the Canadian innovations that have transformed not just our country, but the world.

The University of Waterloo has embodied Canada’s inventive story from our earliest days. Co-operative education challenged traditional views of higher education, and Waterloo further defied convention with its creator-owns intellectual property policy.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are embedded deeply in Waterloo’s DNA. Our successes advance Canada and the world — from research and technology breakthroughs to sector-leading startups created by our professors, students and alumni.

From the student-developed WATFOR compiler that put Waterloo on the global map as a technology leader in 1965, to established companies like BlackBerry and Open Text, to emerging startups like Voltera and Qidni Labs, innovations rippling from this campus transform the way we live and work.

We continue to shape the future, with research into robotics, autonomous vehicles, healthy aging, cryptography, water security and sustainability, nanomaterials and much more.

It is with great pride that we share our story of innovation this year, through public lectures and a Canada 150 signature initiative called Quantum: The Exhibition developed by the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo and now on a coast-to-coast tour of Canada.

But as we look back at what made this country great, and forward to discoveries to come, we need to remember that science and technology are not enough. The significant challenges facing our world will require connections across disciplines.

We need scholarship, research and knowledge that explores the intersection of innovation and the human condition, so that we can better understand not just what is technologically possible, but create a better society for Canadians and global citizens.

With 190,000 alumni leading change around the world, top researchers in cutting-edge disciplines and a new generation of learners building knowledge and experience on our campuses, that’s exactly what the University of Waterloo is poised to do.

FERIDUN HAMDULLAHPUR @UWaterlooPres


Feature image: Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan visits the Institute for Quantum Computing.