Concept $5K semi-finalists for fall 2021 feature four math-affiliated teams

The fall semester's edition of the Concept $5K startup challenge is underway, with four entrepreneurial teams linked to the Faculty of Mathematics in the semi-finals.

The fall semester's edition of the Concept $5K startup challenge is underway, with four entrepreneurial teams linked to the Faculty of Mathematics in the semi-finals.
Researchers in the Cheriton School of Computer Science are incorporating a deep learning network into a more accurate method for identifying disease biomarkers.
The new method achieves up to 98 percent detection of peptide features in a dataset. That means scientists and medical practitioners have a greater chance of discovering possible diseases through tissue sample analysis.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is virtually returning to Waterloo to talk about her book The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, & Dreams Deferred.
The talk is being hosted by the Institute for Quantum Computing on Monday, November 1st at 2:00 PM. It is a free event, though registration is required.
The Faculty of Mathematics’ health and well-being committees are building on the success of their September events with new ways to get involved in October.
September saw the launch of the Living Wellness Campaign, which had some 200 participants attend the planned physical wellness activities. Faculty members, staff and students took part in yoga, Zumba, wall climbing and an eat-well workshop.
Maura R. Grossman is featured in a special Q&A about the ethics of AI.
Grossman is a research professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and an affiliate faculty member of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. She is also principal at Maura Grossman Law, an eDiscovery law and consulting firm in Buffalo, New York.

Anita Layton from the Faculty of Mathematics has been named among the top 100 powerful women in Canada in the annual rankings released by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN).
A team of applied mathematicians at the University of Waterloo have developed a new method that uses artificial intelligence to foresee the most likely mutations of pathogens like SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The new research has implications for the rapid development of vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests that would be much less likely to be impacted by new or emerging variants of concern.

Completing an undergraduate degree in the Faculty of Mathematics is a journey.
For Victoria Novakovskaya, the valedictorian for the fall 2021 cohort, it was a journey with highs and lows, and one that led to a deeper appreciation for the beauty of math.
“I don’t know how to phrase it,” she said. “It’s a field I’ve been studying for years, but I feel like it’s something I keep discovering all over again. It’s such a beautiful science.”

Mohamed Omar, an associate professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College in Pasadena, California, has been awarded the inaugural AMS Claytor-Gilmer Fellowship.
The yearlong fellowship was established to further excellence in mathematics research and to help generate wider and sustained participation by Black mathematicians.
Shihabur R. Chowdhury has received the 2021 Alumni Gold Medal for outstanding academic performance in a doctoral program. Conferred by Alumni Relations, the prestigious institutional award has honoured top graduating students at convocation since 1970.