Current students

The National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People is recognized annually on May 5. The day is also known as “Red Dress Day” and it carries deep sorrow, love, accountability and responsibility.  

This day was established because there is an ongoing crisis in Canada of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people and the issue is often overlooked and forgotten — hence the urgent need for awareness and action.  

“My wife hasn’t seen my eyes in five years,” the patient told University of Waterloo student Nina Yan on her first day working in an optometry practice. After suffering a concussion, the man was forced to wear dark sunglasses constantly to alleviate the pain of extreme light sensitivity. 

When an idea takes flight, it can soar — especially when it is supercharged. The University of Waterloo has long been known as one of Canada’s most innovative universities and ranks number one amongst Canadian universities for producing the most successful entrepreneurs with undergraduate degrees. In large part that stems from its exceptional students and researchers that actively uncover solutions to challenges facing humanity and the planet.

As automation and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to reshape the workforce, the University of Waterloo is at the forefront of finding solutions for this challenge. With the increasing value placed on hands-on data analytics training, the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) at Waterloo recently hired a new faculty member to specifically lead a new project-based AI course. This means that students won’t just learn about technology, they’ll be solving real problems with it.  

Earth Day is recognized annually on April 22. This year’s theme, Our Power, Our Planet, invites everyone to unite behind renewable energy, to triple clean electricity by 2030. As people around the world celebrate the planet today and recommit to climate action, we pause to reflect on the ways the University of Waterloo is making advancements to improve energy literacy and conservation on campus.

Waterloo researchers, students and alumni are leading innovations to solve the climate crisis by developing sustainable technologies today for the future, and Keith Cleland (MASc ’22) is no exception. 

His passion for environmental sustainability and expertise in electrochemistry converged to launch Aqua-Cell Energy Inc. — a startup dedicated to designing affordable and safe energy storage solutions for commercial and industrial solar power.  

Waterloo researchers are at the forefront of responding to the climate crisis with purpose-driven research and technology, including an interdisciplinary team who are in the field measuring methane emissions to support Canada’s net-zero gas emissions goals. 

WatSPEED, the University of Waterloo’s professional, and executive and corporate education arm, announced a multi-year partnership agreement with Progressive Generation (PG) Holding represented by PG Studios at the Education Global Exhibition (EDGEx) assembly in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The partnership will offer co-branded animation certificate programs designed to equip students in Jordan and Saudi Arabia with the skills and knowledge to excel in competitive global markets.

When University of Waterloo professor Dr. Carolyn Ren was a child, her father came home one day with a tape cassette recorder. This was China in the early 1980s and such devices were hard to come by, particularly in their rural village. Everyone was curious to see it, no one more so than Ren who was transfixed by its ability to play music as if by magic. She had to understand how it worked so took the device apart. Unfortunately, she couldn’t put it back together again. Determined to never get stuck in such a situation again, the young Ren set her sights on becoming an engineer.  

From AI-powered civic tools to sustainable housing solutions, University of Waterloo students came together to present interdisciplinary projects tackling real-world issues at this year's i-Capstone symposium.