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Nicholas Richardson wanted to experience the full potential of his time at university. A well-rounded student in high school, Richardson performed in musicals, played soccer, and participated on the trivia team. It was important to him to get involved and engaged in a number of activities once he started his studies at the University of Waterloo.

“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.

A self-described “lifelong technology enthusiast,” Max Niebergall enrolled in the Master of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (MDSAI) program to launch a impactful career in data science.

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

The University hopes to introduce a similar initiative in Canada to support cybersecurity workforce

The University of Waterloo, in partnership with several stakeholders, has launched a new platform in Singapore to help address a cybersecurity workforce skills gap in the region.

The new platform — @-Wise Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence — was co-founded with four partners: the Singapore FinTech Association, AMTD Foundation, AMTD Digital and iQ4, a workforce and mobility platform.

“Two of my high school math teachers were alumni of Waterloo Math, and they constantly raved about the university,” remembered Gurtaj Dhaliwal. “Their classes were always the most challenging, and they would say things like ‘You have to buckle down if you want to go to Waterloo!’”

Researchers have developed a new model to help authorities determine which sector of the population should get COVID-19 vaccination first.

If a vaccine becomes available in January 2021 or shortly after, it should be given to people 60 years old and older first, since they have the highest death rate from COVID-19. According to the model, if the vaccine becomes available in the summer of 2021, the priority group changes.

Mathematical models can help figure out class sizes and configurations to minimize disruptions and school closures.