Welcome, alumni and friends, to the first E-Ties of the new year!
2025 is a notable year for us Mathies. For starters, it’s a perfect square year: when you multiply 45 x 45, you get 2,025. But that’s not all. For a deeper dive into this unique number, check out this article featuring our own Craig Kaplan, who explains its full mathematical significance.
We are in full swing here at the Faculty of Mathematics. Our 2024 alumni award winners were announced in early January, and tonight we celebrate their excellence at a special career panel and reception. As always, they are an inspiring group of individuals. If you know someone deserving of an alumni, please fill out our nomination form.
In early February, Interop Labs, a company founded by Waterloo Professor Sergey Gorbunov, announced a generous $1 million USD gift in support of the Computer Research Endowment at the University of Waterloo. This transformational donation will support the creation of an AI and blockchain research laboratory in the Cheriton School of Computer Science. We are incredibly grateful for Interop Labs’ gift and excited to translate their support into research breakthroughs that benefit the world.
Last Fall, we celebrated the groundbreaking of our first new math building in over a decade and the fourth in our 58-year history. Mathematics 4 (M4) provides us with much-needed room to grow while strengthening our position as leaders at the forefront of technology. We want to use E-Ties to keep you abreast of the latest developments—whether that’s photos of the building construction, news about the students, researchers and spaces that will fill M4, or profiles of our generous M4 donors. In this issue’s update, we share the perspective of a student on the new building, some exciting news about advances in green computing (an area of research that M4 will accelerate), and photos of the bridges connecting MC and DC coming down.
Having started with an exciting number, it’s only fitting that I end with another. Pi Day is just around the corner. We will again be celebrating by giving away free pies to alumni living in select cities and prizes to alumni who share a math memory on social media. Keep an eye on your inbox for more information. In this issue of E-Ties, we are honouring Pi Day featuring a Q&A with Math alum Candice Riley, a partner at Deloitte and a finalist on the Great Canadian Baking Show. She talks about her journey in math, her commitment to diversity and inclusion (she is also a WiM and WiCS donor) and her experience on the show. She also shares her favourite pie recipe.
We hope you enjoy this issue of E-Ties and remain connected!
Warmest regards,
Mark Giesbrecht
