Feature

Letter from the Editor: Celebrating alumni achievement and impact

One of the greatest pleasures of my role as Associate Dean Operations and Academic of the Faculty of Mathematics is getting to meet with our talented alumni. It is inspiring to hear about their innovative work–how they’re using their mathematical training in highly creative ways to solve big problems­.

Announcing the 2022 Alumni Achievement Medal winners

For this special anniversary year, the Faculty of Mathematics is recognizing 10 remarkable Mathies

The awards committee chose 5 winners for each award this year: one for each year from 2019 to 2021 and two for 2022 in recognition of it being the 20th anniversary of the Alumni Achievement Medal and the 10th anniversary of the Young Alumni Achievement Medal. The medallists will be presented their medals at an event during Alumni Weekend on June 3, 2023.

Representing your authentic self in digital space

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.  David Kennedy's BitmojiFor David Kennedy (BMath ’02), vice-president and co-founder of the digital avatar company Bitmoji, the ways people represent themselves and identify online should be about empowerment and breaking free of constraints. 

Student-produced mathNEWS turns 50

The first issue, published January 25, 1973, was introduced as an informal alternative to existing student publications, containing “not much math and even less news.”

mathNEWS (the title styling has remained both consistent and deeply insistent) featured a mixture of hand-drawn comic strips, fiction, nonfiction pieces on everything from mathematical proofs to cafeteria food, and classified ads. Students advertised intramural sports teams and looked for missed connections, conducted interviews with experts and wrote long musings on failed romantic endeavors.

Black History Month

The University of Waterloo and the Faculty of Mathematics celebrate the contributions and achievements of Black community members during Black History Month and throughout the year.

Read stories about Black alumni and community members.

These 5 Math alumni are blazing trails for women in mathematics

With International Women’s Day just around the corner, we celebrate exceptional alumni who identify as women

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. To mark the occasion, we are sharing the stories of the 5 pioneering Waterloo alumni who identify as women.

Can your Wi-Fi devices be used to spy on you?

The many Wi-Fi devices that pervade our homes, workplaces and lives use an encrypted network to communicate securely, yet despite cryptographic protection they may be leaking sensitive information.

The many Wi-Fi devices that pervade our homes, workplaces and lives — from phones and smartwatches to TVs and voice assistants to desktops, laptops, tablets, security systems, and more — use an encrypted network to communicate securely, yet despite cryptographic protection they may be leaking sensitive information.

Optimizing surgical plans: an update on donor-supported research

Safer, quicker surgeries for babies with craniosynostosis are possible thanks to Waterloo alum’s generous support

Our donors make possible research that improves, and sometimes even saves, lives. That may sound like an exaggeration, but it’s true. Case in point: Steve Cheng (BMath ’77), the Founder, Chair and Executive Director of Telefield International (Holdings) Limited, is generously funding research that enables more precise and effective surgical plans.

Class notes

Find out what your former classmates are up to now!

Alumni on the move and getting noticed, kudos, what's happening in maths, newly named scholarships, and in memoriam.

Alumni Events

Join us for in-person and virtual events

Alumni events are a great way to stay connected to the Faculty of Mathematics and your fellow University of Waterloo alumni.

Is there a formula for success?

Alex and Heather Hoff share how they’ve used the same approach to build two very different businesses

What does it take to become a successful entrepreneur? According to Alex Hoff, founder and chief product officer at Auvik, and his wife Heather Hoff, founder of Amarok IP law firm, there are some constants: good ideas, hard work, and commitment. But for this family, the optimized variable is balance.

Help the Faculty of Mathematics unlock over $15,000 this Giving Tuesday!

Giving Tuesday is a worldwide 24-hour celebration of generosity

Three donors have come forward to be Challenge Champions for the Faculty of Mathematics. If 20 people donate to the fund they are championing, it will unlock their gift.

Later.com co-founder Ian Mackinnon helps launch the Entrepreneurship Fund

MacKinnon (BMath ’06, MMath ’08) gave to the Fund with the aim of strengthening the culture of entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Mathematics

The Faculty of Mathematics has been a home to bold and visionary creators since day one.

Alumni Events

Join us for virtual and in-person events

Alumni events are a great way to stay connected to the Faculty of Mathematics and your fellow University of Waterloo alumni.

Class notes

Find out what your former classmates are up to now!

Alumni on the move and getting noticed, kudos, what's happening in maths, newly named scholarships, and in memoriam.

Don Cowan receives honorary J.W. Graham Medal in Innovation and Computing at Graham Symposium

On Saturday, October 1, distinguished professor emeritus Don Cowan (MSc ’61, PhD ’65) received an honorary J.W. Graham Medal in Innovation and Computing at the Wes Graham Symposium.

Co-op student uses computer science and psychology skills to help bring people joy through a mental health app

When Colorful Zone needed a helping hand to launch their mobile app Joyi, they looked to emerging talent like co-op students for solutions.

Waterloo math alumnus helps develop world's fastest computer

Noel Chalmers (PhD ’15) wrote the LINPACK benchmarking code for Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Frontier, establishing it as the world’s first exascale computer

How did Waterloo alumnus Noel Chalmers end up a key member of the team responsible for the world’s fastest computer?

Letter from the Dean: Wes Graham and the future of computing at Waterloo

At the beginning of October,I had the great pleasure to participate in the Wes Graham Symposium. What struck me about the event was that, while celebrating and remembering the ‘father of computing’ at Waterloo, the occasionfelt uniquely forward-looking. Graham Research Fellows shared their groundbreaking work and gave us a glimpse of the future.

PureFacts CEO, Robert Madej: Dream big and go for it!

One family’s spirit and resilience led them to Waterloo – now they’re helping others

Robert Madej, CEO of PureFacts Financial Solutions Inc., was a young man with a plan. His dream was to study mathematics and start a business, and he was going to make it happen. But his high school guidance counselor had doubts and encouraged him to become a math teacher or an actuary instead, both lucrative professions with job security. Despite the counselor’s best efforts, there was no changing Madej’s mind.

How co-op alumni founders are shaping the future through innovation

The road to entrepreneurship begins with an idea. For Pooja Viswanathan (BMath ’06) and Joseph Lee (BMath ’99), their journeys began with ideas that sparked during their co-op student work term experiences.   Viswanathan (she/her), CEO and founder of Braze Mobility, provides navigation solutions for wheelchair users. She has spent over a decade researching smart wheelchairs to make them safer and increase user independence.  

Letter from the Editor

Building on an entrepreneurial tradition

The Faculty of Mathematics’ entrepreneurial prowess is no secret. We’re known in Canada and across the world as a hotbed for innovative new ventures. I like to think the entrepreneurial spirit is embedded in our institutional DNA and thus central to who we are and how we see the world. Our early visionaries—giants like Don Cowan and Wes Graham—were among the first to recognize the revolutionary potential of the computer. Unwavering in their conviction that computing would shape the future and that Waterloo could be one of its birthplaces, they worked tirelessly to bring an IBM 360/75 mainframe—the most powerful computer in Canada at the time—to the Davis Centre.

From bars to the boardroom, building a startup at UWaterloo

Waterloo’s unique education helped Ronuk Raval (BMath ’15) become the successful founder of Encircle. Now he’s training the next generation of math entrepreneurs.

Ronuk Raval had a mix of hardware and software focus in high school and felt it was a tie between computer science and mechatronics when deciding what to study at university, but the flexibility of computer science really won him over. Ronuk specifically applied to Waterloo because the idea of trying out six different jobs through co-op in a short time frame was a unique experience and something you seldom get the chance to do in your professional career.

Innovation and entrepreneurship for a better world

Faculty of Mathematics student Jason Amri takes on global plastic waste with his company 3cycle

Jason Amri is an undergraduate student and Schulich Leader in the Faculty of Mathematics, currently working on a double degree in computer science and business administration. Along with taking classes and working 9 to 5 for a co-op employer, Amri is an entrepreneur and a shining example of Waterloo’s spirit of innovation. The star student is a natural leader and has tirelessly worked to create opportunities to make the world a better place.

Class notes

Find out what your former classmates are up to now!

Alumni on the move and getting noticed, kudos, what's happening in maths, newly named scholarships, and in memoriam.

Alumni events

Join us for virtual and in-person events

Alumni events are a great way to stay connected to the Faculty of Mathematics and your fellow University of Waterloo alumni.

Letter from the Dean

Mathematics for a green future

Our climate is changing rapidly. And the impacts can be seen all around us, from uncontrollable wildfires to devastating floods to severe heat waves.

Eye in the Sky

Waterloo startup SkyWatch is using satellite imagery to protect the planet

When Hurricane Dorian battered the Bahamas in the Fall of 2019, Waterloo-based satellite imagery startup SkyWatchwas quick to assist the reeling nation.

Applied mathematicians using artificial intelligence to reveal climate-change tipping points

Researchers in the Faculty of Mathematics are developing artificial intelligence that could assess climate change tipping points.

Multiplying change -environmental organizations utilize math co-op students to make an impact

In the world of climate change, sustainability and environmental work, co-op students use math to help develop solutions for the future.

A Better Weather Forecast

Waterloo Applied Mathematics professor Michael Waite is helping weather forecasters and climatologists make more accurate and localized predictions

Climate change is making wild weather increasingly common—and raising the stakes for weather forecasters.

Alumni events

We are virtual and connecting globally!

We are virtual and connecting globally!

Letter from the Dean

Waterloo Mathies are trailblazers in the data revolution

Thanks to modern technology, we are amassing data at an incredible pace. This data is revolutionizing the way we see and interact with our world.

End the pandemic with half the number of vaccines? There’s an app for that

Researchers in applied mathematics are developing a program that could be added onto the COVID alert app used on smartphones to better target vaccination campaigns.

Cheriton School of Computer Science Professor Xi He coauthors book, Differential Privacy for Databases

Xi He is an Assistant Professor at the Cheriton School of Computer Science and a member of its Data Systems Group. Her research interests span privacy and security for big-data management and analysis.

The results are in: Data science is #1

It’s been five years since Forbes magazine declared that the world's hottest commodity is now data, the first time a commodity has surpassed oil in many, many years.

Math co-op students bring fresh perspective to AI and big data work

The growth of data is transforming our world. When collected, itcan drive insights to assist in making betterdecisions across industries.

University Professor Ian Munro’s Golden Jubilee—50 years at the University of Waterloo

Ian Munro joined the University of Waterloo as a faculty member 50 years ago this fall, just before defending his PhD thesis at the University of Toronto.

Class notes

Find out what your former classmates are up to now!

Find out what your former classmates are up to now!

Alumni events

We are virtual and connecting globally!

Letter

from the Dean

Teaching math during a pandemc

A passion for programming: An interview with Professor Ondřej Lhoták

Ondřej Lhoták is an Associate Professor at the Cheriton School of Computer Science.

From problem of the week enthusiast to aspiring math teacher: Passion turns to profession

It all started at the International School of Manila in the Philippines.

Shaping the world through digital learning

When the education world shifted online due to the global pandemic, DigitalEd was ahead of the curve.

Math model helps major league sports safely welcome fans back

Waterloo grad’s startup analyzes the health risks of attending games in different venues during the pandemic

Class notes

Alumni on the move and getting noticed…

Alumni on the move and getting noticed…

Alumni events

We are virtual and connecting globally!

We are virtual and connecting globally!

Letter

from the Dean

Letter from the dean

Tech industry thought leader turned diversity ally

Facebook’s Rico Mariani (BMath ’88) is taking action on diversity and equity—and he hopes others will follow his example.

A recent gift from Waterloo alumnus Rico Mariani is creating a new scholarship for Black and Indigenous students in the Cheriton School of Computer Science. The gift extends Mariani’s commitment to diversity and equity. In 2015, he created similar scholarships to support female students in computer science.

Recruiting the brightest for the Faculty of Mathematics

For Pavak Vyas, the last twelve months have proved to be a year full of change, challenges and zoom meetings.