News archive - November 2020

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Changing Direction

$Jaqui Parchment$

Like many first-generation Canadians, Jaqui Parchment (BMath ’87) and her parents struggled financially when they moved here from Jamaica. “My parents couldn’t find work in their field,” she shared. “At the time, if you studied actuarial science, you were guaranteed a job because the demand was so high.” Parchment had a natural aptitude for mathematics, so she enrolled in the actuarial science program at the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Mathematics.

Thursday, November 26, 2020

New funding will help rural and remote internet users

$Cell phone tower in front of landscape$

Internet users from Canadian rural and remote communities suffer from frequent Internet interruptions, which generally result from various network issues. The lack of human resources, expertise and support make these issues difficult to identifyand fix. Remote areas lack responsive and cost-effective operations or maintenance efforts.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Researchers discover a cause of catastrophic computer failures, how to fix the problem

$Man looking frustrated with computer codes in the foreground$

A fault called partial partitioning has been identified as the culprit of catastrophic computer system failures. The good news is that researchers have not only identified it; they have figured out how to fix it.

Computer scientists at the University of Waterloo identified the fault, which can cause data loss, system crashes, or data corruption in many computer systems.

Friday, November 20, 2020

Cheriton School of Computer Science Professor Sergey Gorbunov raises $3.75 million USD for Axelar, his blockchain start-up

$Star graphic$

Axelar, a decentralized network that connects application builders with blockchain ecosystems, applications and users, has raised $3.75 million USD in seed funding from Silicon Valley investors, including DCVC, a San Francisco–based venture capital firm specializing in deep tech, and notable blockchain companies and investors such as Binance X, Lemniscap, Collab+Currency, North Island Ventures, Divergence Ventures, Cygni Labs, and others.

Thursday, November 19, 2020

The logic of math

$Rahim Moosa$

Every mathematician solves math problems, but only a handful of mathematicians study the logical reasoning that they and their colleagues use to solve problems. They focus on the journey, not just the destination.