Dear Faculty of Mathematics colleagues,
With the beginning of July and the warm weather, summer is here! It is a wonderful time to enjoy our beautiful community and to see friends and family. I hope everyone can take some much-deserved time off.
In the past month, the university celebrated convocation, which was truly a wonderful experience. There was a total of 16 separate ceremonies, including special ceremonies for the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021. I was pleased to officiate and read names for the five ceremonies for the Faculty of Mathematics and congratulate our wonderful students as they take the next steps in their professional or academic careers.
As you will have noted in email communications and in other university channels, the campus is lifting its mask ordinance as of July 1. I stated in my latest Dean’s Town Hall that my own view is that masking is only a small inconvenience for a greater good as we (hopefully) transition out of the pandemic, and that the mask guidelines could well have stayed in place until the end of Spring term. That said, I hope that any of our faculty and staff members who want to continue masking will feel comfortable and welcome to do so.
It is my honour as always to share news about upcoming events and initiatives in the Faculty of Mathematics, and some of the successes of our wonderful researchers and students in the past month.
Wellness
We are excited to once again offer wellness programming for our staff and faculty. While much of our programming has already filled up, there are still several opportunities. Visit our wellness website to find out more about what we have planned through July!
Did you know that the Faculty of Mathematics will provide financial support for its staff members to participate in professional development activities that contribute to skill development, personal growth or career advancement? Check out the details to learn more about our program and how you can pursue a professional development opportunity at no cost.
Do you have an idea for how we can improve the health and well-being of our community? If so, submit your idea now and be entered into a draw for a chance to win a $50 gift card for the W Store. Next draw is Tuesday, July 26.
Equity, diversity and inclusion
The Mathematics Equity Office is leading the development of a high-level equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism and Indigenization strategy for the faculty, which will provide an important lens through which we can examine our work. Information sessions were held in June and applications to join the committee leading these efforts are currently being reviewed. If you are interested in participating in this work but missed the information sessions or the June 24 application deadline (or just want to learn more about this initiative) contact matheqcp@uwaterloo.ca. There may still be some positions available.
The Math Equity Officer has been hosting a series of circle discussions each month. In my role as Dean and UW community member, I had the opportunity to participate in the June Capacity Building Circle focusing on Inclusive Leadership. I really appreciated both the opportunity to engage colleagues in this important discussion and how well the circle format leant itself to supporting meaningful conversation, even in a virtual format. The July Circle will focus on Neurodiversity and some of our Waterloo colleagues working in accessibility will be participating in some of the circles. Contact matheqcp@uwaterloo.ca to attend.
Research
One-year membership with Community-Based Research Canada (CBRCanada) is now available to all University of Waterloo faculty, staff and students. The mission of CBRC is to advance community-based research excellence in Canada by strengthening partnerships, bridging capacity, mobilizing knowledge and championing community-based research among individuals, communities and institutions. More information about opportunities including conferences, awards, community of practice, connections to local and international partners, training and more can be found on the CBRCanada website and by subscribing to the CBRCanada e-newsletter.
A new agency created by the Government of Ontario, Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON), will provide Intellectual Property (IP) knowledge, advice and services to support innovators, researchers, businesses and entrepreneurs in Ontario. The agency was created under the recommendation of the province’s IP Action Plan. The government has also introduced its Commercialization Mandate Agreement (CMA) framework, which applies to all publicly assisted colleges and universities, including the University of Waterloo. Under the CMA framework, affected institutions are expected to establish practices that support the proactive management and commercialization of IP for the socio-economic benefit of Ontario. Read about the University of Waterloo’s Commercialization framework for information about engaging in IP and commercialization activities.
Register for faculty and grad student Pivot-RP training taking place on July 26. This session will include a review of the key functionalities of Pivot-RP for researchers. After a brief overview of Pivot-RP, the facilitator will move into a live demo covering topics such as claiming your profile, searching for funding, tracking, sharing and exporting funding opportunities and highlighting available resources. For more information and to register for this workshop, visit the Pivot-RP training webpage.
Events
As I mentioned above, in the past month we celebrated convocation, and a truly great time was had by all! We also hosted the latest edition of the Dean’s Town Hall, which was in a hybrid format with both a live audience and an online option. I greatly appreciated the chance to speak in person, and hope that circumstances allow us to expand this in the future, while continuing the broader reach of the hybrid format. In June, we also hosted the Alumni Weekend, with a special ceremony to celebrate 20 years of the double degree program. Thanks to everyone on the events team and the advancement team for their work organizing these great events.
The Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing was thrilled to host two workshops for young women and people of other gender identities under-represented in STEM. SPARCS Lite – a computer science workshop – virtually brought together over 80 students from across Canada to explore the field and grow their skills with fun, hands-on activities. The CEMC was also excited to host their Think About Math! workshop for the first time on campus since 2019. Split into two workshop days, participants completed problem-solving activities, met with alumni and were shown how math can lead to fun, relevant and exciting careers.
Advancement
Joanne McKinley (MMath ’02), Director of Software Development at Google, received the JW Graham Medal in Computing and Innovation at the June 16 computer science convocation ceremony. The medal recognizes her exceptional contributions and leadership in software development, as well as her work as an advocate and role model for women in technology. McKinley co-founded the Google Waterloo office in 2005 as one of the first developers of mobile Gmail. More recently, she assembled a team of 40 software developers to build the next generation of tools for large-group communication in Google Workspace. While McKinley is the 2020 recipient of the JW Graham Medal, this year’s convocation was the first opportunity to celebrate her medal in person. Read more about McKinley’s accomplishments.
The Advancement team continues to roll out travel plans for the summer. We’ve just completed some enjoyable visits to Seattle and Vancouver, to meet with Alumni and discuss CEMC and research connections. We’re all looking forward to reengaging our alumni across the world.
Faculty awards and accolades
Join me in congratulating our colleagues who received awards and commendations in the past month, once again showing the level of talent and research excellence in the Faculty of Mathematics. Congratulations to the following:
- Jochen Koenemann is completing his position as Chair of the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization after six years in the role. Many thanks to Jochen for his dedication and service to the department and to the faculty. I have greatly enjoyed working with him while I was Director of CS and now as Dean. Chaitanya Swamy takes over as new Chair on July 1.
- Stefan Steiner is completing his position as Chair of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science after eight years in the role. It has been great to work with Stefan over the past years, as Director of CS and now as Dean. Changbao Wu takes over as the incoming chair on July 1.
- Pengfei Li, a Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, was the winner of the 2022 CRM-SSC Prize in Statistics. Read more here.
- Karen Yeats, Associate Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization, has recently been awarded a renewal of her Canada Research Chair. Read more here.
- Jun Liu, Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, has recently been renewed as Canada Research Chair. Read more here.
- Florian Kerschbaum, an Associate Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, was one of two 2022 recipients of the Faculty of Mathematics Golden Jubilee Research Excellence Award. Read more here.
- Aukosh Jagannath, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, was one of two 2022 recipients of the Faculty of Mathematics Golden Jubilee Research Excellence Award. Read more here.
- University Professor Ming Li from the Cheriton School of Computer Science was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. Read more here.
- 22 faculty members from the Faculty of Mathematics were named among the winners of the 2021 Outstanding Performance Award. Congratulations to:
- Andrew Beltaos, Lecturer in the Faculty of Mathematics
- Sue Ann Campbell, Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics
- Benoit Charbonneau, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor in the Department of Pure Mathematics
- Robin Cohen, Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science
- Khuzaima Daudjee, Research Associate Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science
- Ian Goldberg, Canada Research Chair in Privacy Enhancing Technologies and Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science
- Kevin Hare, Professor in the Department of Pure Mathematics
- Jesse Hoey, Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science
- Florian Kerschbaum, Associate Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science
- Emily Kozlowski, Lecturer in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
- Jimmy Lin, Professor and Cheriton Chair in the Cheriton School of Computer Science
- Eduardo Martin-Martinez, Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics
- Stephen New, Lecturer in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies
- Martin Pei, Lecturer in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization
- John-Paul Pretti, Lecturer in the Faculty of Mathematics
- Victoria Sakhnini, Continuing Lecturer in the Cheriton School of Computer Science and Associate Director of Software Engineering
- David Saunders, Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
- Alexander Schied, Professor and University Research Chair in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
- Sean Speziale, Lecturer in the Faculty of Mathematics
- David Tompkins, Lecturer and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Cheriton School of Computer Science
- Stephen Vavasis, Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization
- Changbao Wu, Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
Student awards and accolades
It is a privilege as always to recognize the successes of some of our amazing students. Pass on your congratulations if you had these wonderful students in your class or worked with them.
- Leni Ven, a recent graduate of the Cheriton School of Computer Science, was awarded the Governor General’s Silver Medal. Read more here.
- Robin Wen, a recent graduate of the Mathematical Physics program, was this year’s winner of the Alumni Gold Medal. Read more here.
- Anil Pacaci, a PhD student in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, along with his supervisor University Professor M. Tamer Özsu and their colleague Professor Angela Bonifati from Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University in France, received a best paper award at ICDE 2022, the 38th IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering. Read more here.
- David Radke, a PhD student in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, and his supervisor Professor Tim Brecht, along with his brother Daniel Radke, received the Best LINHAC 2022 Research Paper Award for "Identifying Completed Pass Types and Improving Passing Lane Models." Read more here.
- A team of programmers, including Chris Trevisan, a first-year Computer Science student, Wen Yuen Pang, a second-year Computer Science student, and Marian Dietz, a Computer Science master’s student, placed second in east division and fourth overall at 2022 ICPC North America Championship. They now advance to the ICPC World Finals to be held in Egypt in 2023. Read more here.
- The Department of Pure Mathematics awarded four silver medals to the following students: Lila Huang, Sam Senko, Zhi Quan Shu and Ziyu Chi. The medals are given to four high-achieving undergraduates in Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Finance and come with a $1000 prize.
Faculty hires and retirement
In the coming month, we are welcoming some new faculty members among our ranks. Congratulations and welcome to the following:
- Andrew Zucker, who will be joining Pure Mathematics at the rank of Assistant Professor
- Xuemiao Chen, who will be joining Pure Mathematics at the rank of Assistant Professor
- Mina Arashloo, who will be joining Computer Science at the rank of Assistant Professor
- Zelalem Negeri, who will be joining Statistics and Actuarial Science at the rank of Assistant Professor
Staff hires and departures
Congratulations to the new and continuing staff members, and best wishes to those departing for other opportunities.
- Congratulations to Anthony Brennan (CSCF) who has joined the department, on an ongoing basis, as an Information Technology Specialist, beginning on June 1.
- Welcome to Hannah Clyde, who joined the Survey Research Centre as a Project Manager, on a contract basis, beginning on June 15.
- Welcome to Muhammad Shahmir Masood who joined Computer Science as the Recruitment Coordinator, on a contract basis, beginning on June 27.
- Congratulations to Marie Kahkejian, who will be continuing her secondment for another year with the Dean of Math Office as the Events Specialist.
- Welcome to Hemant Desai, who will be joining the Survey Research Centre as the Data Analyst/Programmer, on a contract basis, beginning on July 4.
- Welcome to Beth Harris, who will be joining the Dean of Math Office as the Alumni Engagement Program Specialist, on a contract basis, beginning on July 25.
- All the best to Jon Parsons who will be leaving the Dean of Math Office to take a new role within University Relations as the Manager, Integrated Communications beginning on June 27.
Community announcement
Congratulations to Vicky Liu (Undergraduate Admissions & Outreach) on the birth of her son, Frederik Bentley Chen, who was born on May 27, and weighed 8lbs, 2 oz.
Looking forward
Once again, my congratulations to everyone on so many wonderful accomplishments and successes. It truly is an all-star cast here in the Faculty of Mathematics, and it is an honour and pleasure to work with you all. Thanks for the work you do in support of our students and of one another. I wish you happiness and health through July and hope you can unplug and spend time with family and friends while the nice weather lasts!
Thank you all so much.
Yours truly,
Mark Giesbrecht
Dean, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo
