Dear Faculty of Mathematics colleagues,
It is with a heavy heart that I connect with you this month. On June 28, our campus was targeted by a hate-motivated attack, which left one professor and two students with serious injuries. While it is good to know they are expected to recover from their injuries, the knowledge that such an attack was targeted against gender identity and gender expression is deeply troubling. This was an attack on 2SLGBTQIA+ people and their rights, and thus, by extension, on all our fundamental human rights.
One of the most important things I feel we can do right now is to reaffirm our commitment to an open and inclusive University of Waterloo community. We must stand firm on our values and principles, and not allow hatred and bigotry to silence us. And we must especially stand in solidarity with and support 2SLGBTQIA+ people in our community.
While it is important to show our collective solidarity, this does not mean that the events have not impacted us individually. Some of our colleagues will require our support as they continue to process the events of last week, which may take some time. If you need support related to this attack, know that the University and the Faculty have resources in place. To learn more about available supports and resources, and about the Faculty of Mathematics response, see our recent post on the Math site.
Equity, diversity and inclusion
Consultations on our Faculty’s Draft EDI-R & I Principles officially wrapped up at the end of June. Thank you to everyone who submitted their feedback. The drafting committee is now actively consolidating the feedback and using it to finalize the principles. You can visit the consultation webpage to review the principles and receive updates on the feedback to date. If you have feedback but missed the opportunity to attend a focus group or complete the feedback form, please contact matheqcp@uwaterloo.ca as soon as possible to discuss how you can forward your feedback to the committee.
Want to keep up to date on all the work happening in the Math Equity Office? Subscribe to our Information Bulletins to stay informed about EDI-R and Indigenization events at Waterloo.
Math Strategic Plan 2018 progress report
The Math Strategic Plan 2018 progress report is now available. I encourage everyone to take a few moments to read about all we’ve achieved and the many promising initiatives we’re still piloting in support of our strategic goals.
Having completed five cycles of implementing the current strategic plan, we are beginning work to develop a new Math Strategic Framework, which will contextualize the Waterloo at 100 institutional vision for the Faculty of Math.
This framework will inform decisions and guide activity in support of our common goals. As was the case with our current strategic plan, this framework will be grounded in the insights and perspectives of our internal and external community members.
Phase I consultations, over May and June, captured diverse perspectives through small-group discussions with over 70 employees and students from across the Faculty. Parallel discussions with external partners and alumni are ongoing.
Phase II consultations are about to start. We’ll be sharing what we’ve learned to date with all our students and employees, asking you to prioritize some early themes and tell us what’s missing. Watch your email later this month for more information or join the mailing list to receive Math Strategic Framework updates directly to your inbox.
Events
The major event in June was Spring Convocation 2023. I was honoured to participate in the ceremonies and to meet so many wonderful new Waterloo Math graduates. Congrats to all the recent graduates, and to the instructors and supervisors who helped our students along the way.
In June we also hosted the annual Alumni Weekend, with special events for Math on June 3. We held a celebration of life in honour of Distinguished Professor Emeritus János Aczel and awarded several awards to distinguished alums at the Faculty of Mathematics Recognizing Success Reception. More details here.
Waterloo hosted the International Conference on Computational Creativity (ICCC), which was held over five days at Federation Hall. The conference was organized by Dan Brown from Computer Science and was a wonderful success. Read more here.
As for upcoming events, I’m looking forward to a day of events for Math Ready, set to take place on July 13. I’ll be attending and giving a welcome address to some of our new students, and there will also be a special guest lecture by Jordan Hamilton, our new Assistant Dean, Core and Service Teaching. More details here.
Women in Math
Women in Mathematics announces that the Directed Reading Program for Fall 2023 is now open for graduate student applicants. This program provides an opportunity for graduate students to gain invaluable mentoring experience as they work towards their future career goals. Registration for the program will open on July 17 and will remain open until July 31. Any graduate students with a passion for mathematics are encouraged to take advantage of this unique chance to enhance their academic journey. To learn more about the program and to access the registration link, visit the Women in Math website.
Faculty awards and accolades
Congratulations to our wonderful faculty members who won awards or were recognized for their research and teaching in the past month.
- The Faculty of Math recently announced the winners of the annual Distinction in Teaching Award. Congratulations to Alexandru Nica, Professor in the Department of Pure Mathematics, and Peter Buhr, Associate Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science.
- Jeffrey Shallit, a Professor of Computer Science, has been named a 2023–26 Marsland Fellow in Information Technology. Read more here.
- Research Associate Professor Khuzaima Daudjee and Associate Professor Toshiya Hachisuka have been named 2023–26 Cheriton Faculty Fellows. Read more here.
- Anton Mosunov, Lecturer with the Mathematics Undergraduate Group, and Amanda Garcia, former lecturer in the Digital Assets Group, won the 2022 Excellence in Online Course Design award from the University of Waterloo. Read more here.
- Shane McIntosh, Associate Professor in Computer Science, has been named 2023–26 Ross & Muriel Cheriton Faculty Fellow. Read more here.
- Lap Chi Lau, Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, has been named a University Research Chair. Read more here.
- Muhammad Sulaiman, Mahdieh Ahmadi, Mohammad A. Salahuddin, and Raouf Boutaba from the Cheriton School of Computer Science and their colleague Aladdin Saleh from Rogers Communications have won the NOMS 2023 Best Paper Award for “Generalizable Resource Scaling of 5G Slices using Constrained Reinforcement Learning.” Read more here.
- Bill Cook, University Professor in Combinatorics and Optimization, received the INFORMS Journal on Computing Test of Time Award for the period 1990-1994, for his paper, “A computational study of the job-shop scheduling problem,” co-authored with David Applegate, which appeared in the ORSA Journal on Computing 3 (1991), 149–156.
- Penny Haxell, Professor in Combinatorics and Optimization, was an invited plenary speaker at the Canadian Discrete and Algorithmic Mathematics conference held in Winnipeg from June 5-8.
- The following faculty members were recently recipients of the Waterloo Outstanding Performance Award: N. Asokan, Professor in Computer Science; Jeffery Avery, Continuing Lecturer in Computer Science; Therese Biedl, Professor in Computer Science; Shoja’eddin Chenouri, Professor in Statistics and Actuarial Science; Charles Clarke, Professor in Computer Science and Associate Dean, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Richard Cook, Professor in Statistics and Actuarial Science; Hans De Sterck, Professor and Chair in the Department of Applied Math; Burcu Karabina, Lecturer in the Math Undergrad Group; Spiro Karigiannis, Professor in the Department of Pure Mathematics; Martin Karsten, Professor in Computer Science; Matthew Kennedy, Associate Professor in Pure Mathematics; Judith Koeller, Continuing Lecturer in CEMC; Edith Law, Associate Professor in Computer Science; Anita Layton, Professor in Applied Mathematics; Christiane Lemieux, Professor in Statistics and Actuarial Science and Associate Dean, Operations and Academic; Meiyappan Nagappan, Associate Professor in Computer Science; Sophie Spirkl, Assistant Professor in Combinatorics and Optimization; Marek Stastna, Professor in Applied Mathematics; Douglas Stebila, Associate Professor in Combinatorics and Optimization; Stefan Steiner, Professor in Statistics and Actuarial Science; and Ruodu Wang, Professor in Statistics and Actuarial Science.
Student awards and accolades
Please join me in congratulating some of our outstanding students for winning academic awards or being recognized for their achievements in the past month.
- At the recent convocation, three graduating students represented the Faculty of Math as valedictorians and gave wonderful speeches. Thanks and congrats to Carolyn Wang, who completed a Bachelor of Mathematics in Statistics, Vincent Macri, who completed a double major in Pure Math and Combinatorics and Optimization and Advitya Chhabra, who completed a degree in Software Engineering. Read more here.
- Xinyue Xie won the 2023 President’s Award for the Faculty of Mathematics. Xie recently graduated with a triple-major, completing an Honours Bachelor of Mathematics in Mathematical Physics (Co-op), Pure Mathematics (Co-op) and Combinatorics and Optimization (Co-op), as well as a minor in Astrophysics. Read more here.
- The Pure Math Undergraduate Research Award also went to Xinyue Xie, for work done with Professor Barbara Csima.
- The Pure Math Silver Medals, for excellent students in Pure Math and Mathematical Finance went to Sam Senko, Yixuan Wu, Maya Gusak and Zev Friedman.
- Ramazan Rakhmatullin, a master’s student in Combinatorics and Optimization, Andrew Qi Tang, a third-year Computer Science and Combinatorics and Optimization student and Kevin Wan, a fourth-year Computer Science and Combinatorics and Optimization student, won first place at the 2023 International Collegiate Programming Contest North America Championship. Read more here.
Outreach and media
The Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC) hosted two student workshops for participants from across Canada in June 2023. The 58th Lloyd Auckland Invitational Workshop for grade 11 students was hosted on campus at Waterloo. This prestigious week-long workshop provided a platform for 70 math enthusiasts to enhance their problem-solving skills, cultivate a deeper appreciation for mathematics and connect with like-minded math students and faculty at the University.
The Seeing Possibilities and Rewards in Computer Science (SPARCS) workshop was hosted virtually for grade 9 and 10 students belonging to gender identities under-represented in computer science. Some 67 students registered for this workshop to gain an understanding of computer science, programming and careers in computer science.
The CEMC also hosted the Canadian Computing Olympiad (CCO), a week-long immersive educational program for exceptional participants from the Canadian Computing Competition. The CCO encompassed both in-person learning sessions and a competition, involving a total of 21 participants ranging from grades 9 to 12. An outcome of the CCO was the selection of the Canadian team competing in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), to be held at Hungary later this summer.
In related news, two teams of Waterloo Region elementary school students progressed to the semi-finals in the junior division of the 2023 Technovation Girls Challenge a program offered and run by Women in Computer Science. Read more here.
The Faculty of Mathematics was featured in several media stories in June, including the following top media hits:
- Craig Kaplan from Computer Science continued to make media headlines this month with the announcement of the second discovery of an aperiodic monotile, this time without reflection, a so-called “vampire einstein.” We have been watching this story develop with great interest. What’s next? Read more here.
- A team including Math undergraduate and graduate students competed at the Indy Autonomous Challenge, achieving a personal best speed of 173.8 kph at a race on the Monza F1 Circuit in Milan, Italy. Read more here.
- Computer Security and Privacy PhD candidate Andre Kassis and his supervisor, Computer Science professor Urs Hengartner, were featured in a media release for their work on voice authentication security. The story was picked up by several media outlets including PC Magazine.
New administrative roles
Please join me in welcoming and recognizing our colleagues who are taking on or renewing their service to the Faculty in administrative roles.
- Sue Ann Campbell, Associate Dean, Research
- Cecilia Cotton, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies
- Lori Case, Associate Dean, Co-Op Education (renewed)
- Hans De Sterck, Chair, Applied Math
- Ilham Akhundov, Director, Math Business & Accounting Programs (renewed)
- Brent Matheson, Director, Financial Analysis & Risk Management Program (renewed)
- Victoria Sakhnini, Director, Software Engineering Program
- Martin Lysy, Director, Statistical Consultation and Survey Research Unit (renewed)
- Sean Speziale, Director, Mathematics Undergraduate Group
- Jordan Hamilton, Assistant Dean, Core and Service Teaching
- Peter Wood, Assistant Dean, Online Education and Educational Technologies (renewed)
- David Harmsworth, Assistant Dean, Students (renewed)
- Thanks also to our colleague Justin Wan, who will be joining Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs in September as one of the incoming Assistant Vice-Presidents.
Faculty hires and departures
A warm welcome to new faculty members starting July 1:
- Jeffrey Negrea, Assistant Professor, Statistics and Actuarial Science
- Graeme Smith, Associate Professor, Applied Math
- Sepehr Assadi, Associate Professor, Computer Science
Staff hires and departures
Congratulations to:
- Laura Wilson, who joined Statistics & Actuarial Science, as the Senior Project Officer for the FINCAPES project, on June 19.
- Jo-Ann Hardy, who moved from Computer Science to join Pure Mathematics, as the Administrative Coordinator, Graduate Studies beginning on July 1.
All the best to:
- Crystal Cooper (Math Advancement) has taken a new role in Systems Design Engineering as the Academic Services Coordinator on June 26.
- Bonnie Yi (CEMC) has taken a secondment opportunity in Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering on June 19.
- Dan Hergott retired from CSCF as Information Technology Specialist on July 1.
- Nancy Maloney retired from Pure Math as the Administrative Coordinator, Graduate Studies on July 1.
- Nadia Linares (Applied Math) has taken a new position off-campus, and her last day will be July 7.
Community announcement
Stephen Melczer from Combinatorics and Optimization welcomed a new baby boy, Arthur Melczer, on May 27.
Looking forward
While all these pieces of good news were overshadowed by tragedy, it is important that we continue to recognize success in the Faculty of Mathematics. We should not aim to forget or to just move on, but to take forward learnings about what we need to do better and how we can better support an open and inclusive university community. Thanks for all the work you do on behalf of our students and our community. We are making a difference in the lives of so many.
Sincerely,
Mark Giesbrecht
Dean, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo
