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“My life has always been intertwined with water in one way or another,” realized Lizz Webb, who recently completed her master’s degree in applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo. As the captain of the swim team in high school, Webb has always loved swimming and lifeguarding, but she never expected to build a career at the intersection of mathematics and ocean sciences.

On Friday, the Faculty of Mathematics will celebrate convocation and our graduating students will receive a personalized email from the University with video messages and there will be a live virtual convocation on Saturday morning. This week we will be featuring students from the faculty that will soon become a member of our alumni community. Today we share two stories thanks to the University Relations team:

Congratulations to Nashid Shahriar who received the 2020 Alumni Gold Medal for outstanding academic performance in a doctoral program and Ishan Bansal was named a University Finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal for a Master’s program.

Maclean’s 2021 university rankings ranked mathematics and computer science at the University of Waterloo first in Canada.

Like most entrepreneurs, Michael Egan (BMath’74) has experienced his fair share of twists and turns on the road to success. He has built and sold several international technology companies, one for more than $150 million, but he still remembers the time he sold his car to make payroll, or the time he had to hire eight new employees in a month to complete a contract. “You don’t love the rough patches when you’re in the middle of them, but it’s all part of the journey,” he reflects.

A new app for Android phones can warn users when they are about to forget their device.

Chaperone uses a sonar-type method known as “active acoustic sensing” to detect a smartphone owner’s movements and locks the phone while alerting the owner when detecting a situation that could lead to loss.

The Canadian team competing at the 2020 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) earned two gold medals and two silver medals, putting them all in the top 25 per cent of all competitors.

The 2019/2020 recipients of the Faculty of Mathematics Award for Distinction in Teaching are Jordan Hamilton and Kathryn Hare.

The award recognizes the teachers’ consistent demonstration of outstanding pedagogical skills and a deep commitment to their students’ education.

The faculty presents a maximum of two Faculty of Mathematics Award for Distinction in Teaching annually. Outstanding teachers at all levels, from first-year through to graduate studies, are eligible with recipients receiving a public citation along with a cash prize.

Cheriton School of Computer Science Professor Jeffrey Shallit is one of five foreign members elected to the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters for 2020.