News

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.

Extracted from University of Waterloo's story on September 21, 2020

When investors logged in to Y Combinator’s virtual summer 2020 Demo Day, they got to see Waterloo entrepreneurship in action. Four companies with ties to Velocity and the University of Waterloo took part in the event, including one co-founded by a recent Math alumnus, which brought together a class of 198 of founders from 26 different countries.

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.

“While working as an instructional support assistant (ISA), I remember the first time a professor asked for a volunteer to teach a lecture while he was at a conference,” remembers Josué Kurke. “My hand shot up. I donned a professorial kind of jacket with the elbow patches and went all out. Over time, I’ve realized that I feel most at home in front of a classroom. I want to spend my career talking to people about math.”

With most classes continuing online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Mathematics has had to adapt other aspects of campus life, such as orientation.

The Fall 2020 orientation week, which runs from September 1st to September 7th, is completely virtual.

The nearly 2,600 incoming Faculty of Mathematics students are therefore experiencing an orientation like none before. The faculty’s orientation teams have expended great effort to recreate the fun and interactive aspects that are usually experienced by incoming students.

The University of Waterloo and Rogers Communications partner on advanced research for Canadian-made 5G solutions in a real-world setting

The University of Waterloo has become one of the first 5G smart campuses in Canada as part of a partnership with Rogers Communications that leverages the University’s global leadership in computing, engineering and co-operative education.

Not long after beginning his graduate program at Waterloo, Matthew Sullivan discovered a passion for Ultimate Frisbee. Today, he serves as the chief of the Ultimate Frisbee intramural program while continuing to referee and play as often as he can. Close to 450 students sign up to play every autumn. “Things like age, gender, or program don’t matter out there,” says Matthew. “Any student can go out and play. Like all the intramural sports at Waterloo, Ultimate provides a great way to de-stress, stay in shape, and balance the academic with the social.”