Sunday, January 1, 2023

Letter from the Editor: Celebrating alumni achievement and impact

by Christiane Lemieux

Christiane Lemieux

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

Often, these alumni share with us that the University of Waterloo Faculty of Mathematics played a key part in their career trajectory­–that a special professor, course or co-op term inspired them to think differently and aim higher. In truth, their success is entirely their own, a product of the same passion, intelligence and drive that led them to Waterloo in the first place. Nevertheless, it makes me proud to think that we might have helped to nurture and hone that talent.

With alumni as visionary as ours, I’m thrilled that, after a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, our Alumni Achievement Awards will be celebrated in person again this year.

2022 was the 20th anniversary of the Alumni Achievement Medal and the 10th anniversary of the Young Alumni Achievement Medal. The committee chose five winners for each award this year; one for each year from 2019 to 2021 and two for 2022 in recognition of this being a special anniversary year. The medallists will be featured in the Spring issue of the Waterloo Magazine and presented their medals at an event during Alumni Weekend on June 3, 2023.

Starting in 2023, to better align our Awards program with our equity, diversity and inclusion commitments, the Young Alumni Achievement Medal will be renamed the G.O.L.D. (graduate of the last decade) Achievement Medal and the criteria will be changed from age-based to ten years from obtaining their degree. 

In this issue of E-Ties, you can learn more about the exceptional individuals who are receiving awards this year. We're also sharing the following stories about remarkable Waterloo Mathies, whether alumni, faculty or students:

I hope you enjoy the issue!

I also hope you will take advantage of some of the opportunities we offer to connect back with the Faculty. I have highlighted some exciting upcoming events and activities this spring. 

The fourth and final event in the Data + event series, Data + Diversity, will take place on March 7 in Toronto at the Gardiner Museum. Join us for an important discussion of the role of ethical data governance in creating more diverse and equitable institutions. The panel will be moderated by Charmaine Dean (MMath ’84, PhD ’88), Vice-President of Research and International, as well as a Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science. 

Celebrate Pi Day with alumni around the world. Watch the Faculty’s social media channels for more details in March about how you can win a prize and maybe even get a pie! A special video that will share the recent accomplishments of the Faculty will land in your email on March 14th. Let’s join together virtually and celebrate! 

The Math & Computing Research Discovery Days is a new multi-day showcase featuring research from the University of Waterloo Faculty of Mathematics and taking place on April 17 and 18. The inaugural iteration of this annual event will bring together current and prospective industry partners to engage in discussion about leading research topics and the impacts this research will have.

Volunteer Appreciation Week is from April 24 to 30. Stay tuned to Volunteer Ties for more information on what we will be doing to celebrate our amazing volunteers who mark contests, serve on committees, speak at events, mentor our students and so much more.

Finally, join us on June 3 to celebrate Alumni Weekend. We will be recognizing our alumni award winners and holding a celebration of life for Distinguished Professor Emeritus János Aczel.

Please check our upcoming events page for more opportunities to connect with us.

Christiane Lemieux

Associate Dean, Operations and Academic, Faculty of Mathematics

I cannot perceive a time when the universities will not be challenged by new requirements from our society. Equally, I cannot foresee a time when the University of Waterloo will be so hidebound by tradition that it cannot adjust itself to providing education to meet these needs.

Waterloo can only stay true to its identity by continually changing–by adapting to an ever-evolving world and addressing new challenges as they emerge.

At the core of Waterloo at 100 is a vision of how we will deploy our unique differentiators to create a better future. We imagine five global futures–societal, health, sustainable, technological and economic–that are aligned with our academic and research strengths and outline how, through cross-disciplinary collaboration, we’ll set about to achieve them. The Faculty of Mathematics will play a leading role in the realization of all five global futures. After all, mathematics, statistics, and computer science are foundational to today’s technologically-advanced society and developing solutions to any major problem will require deep expertise in these fields.  

Looking at the stories in our Spring E-Ties gives me confidence that there is nothing in our bold vision that we cannot achieve. 

Waterloo at 100 envisions us building on our unconventional foundation, which includes our world-class strengths in fundamental and applied research. In this issue, we feature the remarkable story of how Associate Professor of Computer Science Craig Kaplan helped solve a nearly 60-year-old problem. Craig and a team of researchers discovered the einstein tile, a geometric shape that does not repeat itself when tiled. The only caveat was that it required reflections to do so, but shortly after this initial breakthrough, Kaplan and his team discovered another aperiodic monotile that did not require reflections. It’s a story that has captured the imagination of audiences globally and has been featured in the pages of the New York Times (1, 2), among other major publications.

Entrepreneurship will remain a major focus as we build toward 2052. To this end, the Faculty of Mathematics continues to expand our already extensive suite of entrepreneurial resources, helping students and faculty translate big ideas into world-changing innovation. This E-Ties features a perfect example of our entrepreneurial prowess: Safi, a company launched by Math students, that is creating an inexpensive, portable and easy-to-use device that will aid East African farmers in pasteurizing milk, with the ultimate goal of reducing milk-borne pathogens and illnesses. The company has received support from the Math Innovation Office and the Math Entrepreneurship Fund to do their exceptional work.

Waterloo at 100 also envisions deploying our greatest differentiator and founding innovation, our co-operative and work-integrated education program, to an even greater impact. In this issue, we feature the story of the wildly successful e-commerce company Perpetua, which was founded by Waterloo alumni Rosco Hill (BASc ’03) and Joe Rideout (BMath ’03) and is powered by Math co-op students.

During the consultation process for Waterloo at 100, diversity emerged time and time again as a key concern for our community. As a result, one of Waterloo at 100’s major objectives is to continue building an equitable and inclusive culture at the University. To this end, we feature a story about the Glow Centre at Waterloo, which, for 50 years, has been supporting LGBTQ+ people on campus and in the community. It’s an important story and one worth honouring as we celebrate Pride Month. We also highlight a recent event hosted by the Waterloo Women’s Impact Network, which featured a keynote presentation by Hilary Bergsieker, associate professor of psychology, about her research into promoting inclusivity in STEM fields. The Faculty of Mathematics and the University of Waterloo remain committed to indigenization and reconciliation. Please read more about how we are celebrating Indigenous History Month in June.

And, as always, the participation of our exceptional alumni will be essential to achieving our vision. In this issue, we feature a story about Mathies transforming the world of sports: it includes alumni Calvin Wang (BMath ’95), who is leading technological operations for the Vancouver Canucks; April Gale-Seixero (BMath ’95) and Steve Seixero (BMath ’95), who are bringing the game of curling to new audiences; and Arda Öcal (BMath '05), who is the host of Sportcentre and NHL on ESPN. Finally, Alex Hudek (PhD ’10), co-founder and former CTO of Kira Systems and Advisor to Zuva and Vigilant AI, shares his views on the use of generative AI to solve problems.

I hope you enjoy the stories in this issue of E-Ties. We look forward to connecting with you in the near future as we embark on this exciting next chapter of our history.

Warmest regards, 

Mark Giesbrecht 
Dean, Faculty of Mathematics