Waterloo Math’s ‘Hidden Figure’

How Marian Forster became one of the first female employees in Wes Graham’s computing group

“I decided to do mathematics out of defiance,” Marian Forster says, chuckling and leaning forward in her chair. “I pretty much got a message from society, my school, and my family that I was not very smart, and that I should take typing in Grade 10 and become a typist like my mother. And then that would be it.”

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Category: Feature

Unlocking human potential through a universal basic income

Floyd Marinescu launched UBI Works to reframe the debate about basic income — and his message is catching on

Growing up in a family where money was scarce, Floyd Marinescu (BMath ’02) saw firsthand the impacts of working class poverty. “Money was a source of a lot of conflict in my house,” he said. “I knew that if there was financial security, it would have been a lot better for my family.”

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Category: Feature

Math Marvels: Benoit Charbonneau

Charbonneau talks about his research and administrative work, his love of geometry and why he does what he does.

Benoit Charbonneau is an associate professor of Pure Mathematics who has been at Waterloo since 2010. We sat down with him to talk about his research and administrative work, his love of geometry, and why he does what he does. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Category: Feature

Identifying the next deadly virus

Waterloo researchers use machine learning to classify 191 of the world’s most damaging viruses

Researchers from the University of Waterloo have successfully classified 191 previously unidentified astroviruses using a new machine learning-enabled classification process.

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Category: Feature