Class notes

Paul Ross (BMath ’81): Paul Ross, a retired partner at KPMG Canada, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra Association. His involvement is expected to support the organization’s efforts in fostering musical excellence within the region. Read More about Paul Ross

Yee May Leong (BMath ’85): Yee May Leong has played a pivotal role in managing and expanding Equinix's data center portfolio in Singapore. Under her leadership, the company has become a key player in the Singaporean government's Green Data Center Roadmap, a national strategy aimed at ensuring sustainable data center practices. Read More about Yee May Leong

John Gossling (BMath ’89): John Gossling has been named co-chief executive officer at Corus Entertainment Inc., a leading television and radio broadcaster in Canada. Gossling’s promotion follows the retirement of the former CEO, positioning him at the helm of Corus during a pivotal time for the company. Read More about John Gossling

Eldon Sprickerhoff (BMath ’91): Eldon Sprickerhoff joined the Advisory Board of White Tuque. Read more about Eldon Sprickerhoff

Judy Dinn (BMath ’94): Judy has been named TMX Group Limited's Chief Information Officer (CIO) effective April 1st, 2025, where she will be responsible for the strategic leadership of all aspects of technology at TMX, and play an important role in the evolution and execution of the corporate strategy and global growth agenda over the coming years. Read more about Judy Dinn

Krates Ng (BMath ’96): Krates Ng joined the AI Research Services company, Unlearn.AI, as the Chief Technology Officer. Read more about Krates Ng

Steven Binioris (BMath ’96): Steven Binioris was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at Jackson National Life (Jackson). Read more about Steven Binioris

Sreela Venkataratnam (BMath ’97): Sreela Venkataratnam, formerly of Tesla, was appointed Chief Accounting Officer at Rivian. Read more about Sreela Venkataratnam

Kris Braun (BMath ’01): Kris Braun, founder and CTO of runQL, has been selected to join the 2024 cohort of the Google for Startups Accelerator Canada. This 10-week program offers a mix of remote and in-person learning, connecting participants with mentors and experts in areas such as product design, customer acquisition and leadership. Notably, AI startups, including runQL, are a dominant force in this year’s cohort. Read more about Kris Braun
 

Monisha Sharma (BMath ’05): Monisha Sharma, Chief Revenue Officer at Fig, has overseen the launch of the company’s personal loans platform, which is marketed directly to consumers. Fig, a digital lender focused on simplifying the borrowing process for Canadians, aims to automate and streamline personal lending to make it more accessible and efficient. Read More about Monisha Sharma

Bill Zhang (BMath ’05): Bill Zhang has been appointed President of Consumer Lines, Asia Pacific, at Sompo. In this role, he will oversee the Consumer Lines strategy and operating model while focusing on talent development and building capabilities across the APAC region. Read More about Bill Zhang

Simone Reitzes (BMath ’05): Simon Reitzes is a leader in financial services, with a strong belief in the value of pension plans and workplace benefits. His latest achievement is the creation of the Medicus Pension Plan, the first multi-employer pension plan specifically designed for incorporated physicians in Canada. Simon is dedicated to addressing the unique financial challenges faced by physicians, who often start their careers with considerable debt and professional pressures. Read More about Simone Reitzes

Jianwei Niu (PhD ’05): The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has appointed Jianwei Niu, professor of computer science, as the dean of University College, effective September 1. Her appointment follows an internal search process. Jianwei’s research focuses on software engineering, security, and privacy. Read More about Jianwei Niu

Karamdeep Nijjar (BMath ’06): Karamdeep Nijjar, a venture capitalist and general partner at Inovia Capital, has announced that the firm has secured an initial $300 million USD for its third growth equity fund. This funding brings Inovia two-thirds of the way toward its $450-million target for Inovia Growth Fund III, led by returning limited partner Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). Read More about Karamdeep Nijjar

Matei Zaharia (BMath ’07): Matei Zaharia is a co-founder and CTO at Databricks, a Data and AI company relied upon by over 10,000 organizations worldwide, including Block, Comcast, Condé Nast, Rivian, Shell, and more than 60% of the Fortune 500. Databricks continues to enhance its platform to better support AI and analytics workloads, solidifying its position as a leading choice for analytics solutions. Read More about Matei Zaharia

Diana Skrzydlo (BMath ’06, MMath ’07): Diana Skrzydlo, Lecturer and Math Faculty Teaching Fellow at the University of Waterloo, has become the first-ever recipient of the 2024 Society of Actuaries (SOA) Outstanding Educator Award. This award recognizes her significant contributions as an influential educator in the field of actuarial science. Read More about Diana Skrzydlo

Tina Yang (BMath ’10): Venerable has welcomed Tina Yang as Vice President of Financial Strategy and Analysis. Tina, a BMath alumnus with extensive actuarial experience, will lead activities related to the financial and strategic analysis of business projects. Read More about Tina Yang

David Iudiciani (BMath ’14): David has been hired as Partner for Technology Alliances at BDO Canada. With over 10 years of experience in the technology sector, he has held various roles in alliance management, consulting, and product marketing. David is an expert in leveraging strategic planning, relationship-building and execution to drive mutual impact for partners and clients. Read More about David Ludiciani

Qasim Farasat (BMath ’15): Qasim Farasat has been honored as one of ApplyBoard's 2024 International Alumni of Impact for his outstanding contributions to global communities and the Canadian economy. He co-founded DelayDollars and the Institute for Sustainable Development and Cooperation (ISDC), focusing on youth engagement in climate change, gender equality, education, health and anti-discrimination efforts. Read More about Qasim Farasat

Chris Tsui (BMath ’16): Chris Tsui began freelancing for The Drive in 2017, specializing in new cars, industry news and automotive media. His car reviews are featured on AutoTrader Canada. As a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), he also serves as a juror for the annual Canadian Car of the Year awards. Read More about Chris Tsui

John Donohue (PhD ’16): John Donohue emphasized the need to demystify quantum mechanics in his TEDx talk, calling it “the rule book of the universe.” He advocates for using quantum computing to simplify complex concepts and promote interdisciplinary collaboration. Through initiatives like the Quantum School for Young Students, he has helped educate over a thousand students, inspiring future generations in the field. Read More about John Donohue

Albert Heinle (PhD ’17): As the CTO and co-founder of CoGuard, a company dedicated to combatting the global rise of data breaches, Albert Heinle has secured funding from OpenAI’s Cybersecurity Grant Program. CoGuard scans configurations and their interconnections for potential security risks and deviations from best practices, actively working to resolve these issues. Read More about Albert Heinle

Martin Derka (PhD ’17): Martin Derka is the co-founder of Zircuit, a fully EVM-compatible zero-knowledge rollup harnessing the potential of web3. Now backed by Binance Labs, Zircuit’s network currently hosts over $3.5 billion in staked assets, and its “Build to Earn” program has attracted more than 1,100 applications. Read More about Martin Derka

Jacob Jackson (BMath ’19): Jacob Jackson, founder of Supermaven, recently raised $12 million in a funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from notable investors like OpenAI’s John Schulman, Perplexity’s Denis Yarats, and Intercom founder Eoghan McCabe. Supermaven’s in-house AI model, Babble, optimizes developer workflows and the funding will be used to expand the team and develop a text editor designed to help experienced developers. Read More about Jacob Jackson

Yang Lu (BMath ’10, MSC ’11): Yang Lu, Senior Data Scientist & Machine Learning Engineer at Ellipsis Health, has been integrating AI to address mental health challenges through a voice-based mental health assistant. Her innovative work focuses on utilizing AI to develop advanced models for detecting and treating depression and anxiety, revolutionizing the approach to mental health care. Read More about Yang Lu

Feng-Xuan Choo (MMath ’10, PhD ’18), Daniel Rasmussen (MMath ’10, PhD ’14), Travis Dewolf (MMath ’10, PhD ’15), Trevor Bekolay (MMath ’11, PhD ’15): Co-founders of Applied Brain Research (ABR), these University of Waterloo alumni have achieved a significant breakthrough by demonstrating the world’s first single-chip solution for full vocabulary speech recognition. Read More about Feng-Xuan Choo

Ruslan Nikolaev (BCS ’20): Before graduating, Ruslan Nikolaev co-founded Float in 2019, an all-in-one corporate card and spend management solution that helps Canadian businesses control their spending. Recently, Float launched a new bill pay product, powered by Australian-founded, Singapore-headquartered FinTech firm Airwallex. Read more about Ruslan Nikolaev

Kyne Santos (BMath ’21): Kyne Santos, a University of Waterloo math alumnus and drag queen, is blending math communication with entertainment. In her new miniseries, she explores the beauty and practical power of mathematics, aiming to demystify the subject and make it accessible to a broader audience. Read more about Kyne Santos

Robin Wen (BMath ’22): Robin Wen has authored a paper demonstrating that quantum effects prevent black holes from forming from light alone. His groundbreaking work was featured on the New Scientist website, highlighting significant advancements in our understanding of black hole physics. Read more about Robin Wen

Saralin Zassman (MMath ’23): Saralin Zassman, a recent master’s graduate in Computer Science, is now collaborating with internationally renowned media artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Her work exemplifies the innovative intersection of computer science and art, showcasing how technology can enhance creative expression. Read more about Saralin Zassman

Nils Lukas (PhD ’24): The University of Waterloo has honored recent PhD graduate Dr. Nils Lukas, assistant professor at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), with the 2024 Alumni Gold Medal in recognition of his outstanding academic achievements in his doctoral program. Read more about Nils Lukas

Andreea Pocol (BCS ’21, MMath ’23): Andreea Pocol, an instructional assistant for CS 116 at the University of Waterloo, authored a study investigating whether and how humans can discern if an image was created by AI. Her research contributes valuable insights into the perception of AI-generated content. Read more about Andreea Pocol

Two computer scientists from Waterloo investigated whether limiting the number of words a user can highlight could improve reading comprehension.

Thirty-eighft Waterloo Math and Computer Science professors received NSERC grants totaling $1,811,766.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-creator of the Ethereum blockchain and a former University of Waterloo student, visited Waterloo.

Two students from the Faculties of Science and Mathematics are using AI to explore new ways to make seafood more sustainable.

The evolution of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute (CPI) began under the leadership of Dr. Florian Kerschbaum, a professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science.

Xi He and Graeme Smith received Golden Jubilee Research Awards.

A team of University of Waterloo students used statistics to determine when Olympic track-and-field athletes reach their peak performance.

Math students won big at Velocity $5K.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo explored the math behind four Olympic sports: fencing, swimming, badminton and rock climbing. 

Ondřej Lhoták and Laurent Marcoux received Awards for Distinction in Teaching.

Mohsen Rezaeian's project aims to develop a 3D cancer-on-a-chip microfluidics device to replicate tumor conditions and create a computational framework to predict treatment outcomes.

The new app "Mindful Scroll" combines principles from art and technology to encourage mindfulness on-the-go.

The Faculty of Math celebrates its first Equity and Inclusive Communities Awards.

The Faculty of Math hosts the first-ever Ontario Graduate Math Conference (OGMC).

A team of undergraduate Computer Science students placed in the top eight at a recent AI Hackathon with "Skyline," a project that has the potential to reduce carbon emissions from transportation by up to 18 percent.

The 2024 Loran Scholar recipients include two incoming Math students.

Professor Ihab Ilyas of the Cheriton School of Computer Science has been named a 2024 Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Students may develop unrealistic expectations of success, which puts their mental health at risk.

Seven Faculty of Math students are among the 2024 Schulich Leaders.

Eclipse, a smart digital wallet startup co-founded by CS student Mingchung Xia, maximizes credit card savings.

We are sad to announce that on August 11, 2024, at the age of 87, Howard Orvil Boyd passed away peacefully at Freeport Hospital.

It is with great sorrow that we announce that on July 19, 2024, Andrew (Andy) Haycock, born in Galt, Ontario, passed away.

James E. Riegert passed away at Freeport Hospital, Kitchener, on Thursday, June 6, 2024, in his 60th year.

James E. Riegert passed away at Freeport Hospital, Kitchener, on Thursday, June 6, 2024, in his 60th year.