News

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.

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.