But for the second-year PhD student in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization, the research is fully grounded and relevant. Van Dyk’s research finds practical application for one of the largest companies in the world, Amazon.
Lindsey Tulloch’s passion for computer science began when a close friend convinced her to install Linux on her desktop instead of Windows. “That’s certainly what got the ball rolling in my software development journey,” she recalled. “I’ve always been a problem solver—I enjoy the aspect of working through something and figuring it out on my own.”
“I started out as a student in mathematics,” said Professor Yuying Li. “It was a huge, scary move to come to Waterloo for computer science. Thankfully, it has worked out.”
Katia Naccarato has never shied away from exploring an unfamiliar path, hitting a dead end, and trying a different one. Before she enrolled in the Master of Actuarial Science (MActSc) program at the Faculty of Mathematics, she was laser-focused on pursuing a career in medicine. Her current trajectory looks nothing like she expected, but she’s confident that she’s heading in the right direction.
Professor Anita Layton has been named the 2021 Krieger-Nelson Prize recipient for her exceptional contributions to mathematical research with applications ranging from fluid dynamics to biology and medicine. Professor Layton will receive her award and present a prize lecture during the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) Summer Meeting in June 2021.
The Krieger-Nelson Prize was inaugurated in 1995 by the CMS to recognize outstanding contributions in the area of mathematical research by a female mathematician.
The University of Waterloo was Anita Chen’s second choice. In hindsight, she is “absolutely grateful” for the turn of events that led her from China to the Faculty of Mathematics.
As a student at a high school where two of the three math teachers were alumni of the Faculty of Mathematics at Waterloo, Eli Margolis learned to love math at a young age. “I appreciated the clarity of the problem-solving aspect,” she reflected. “There was always a right and wrong answer, always a correct way of figuring something out if you searched hard enough.”