Future students

A new documentary is shining the light on Waterloo Region as a global innovation hub. A constant linkage between the region’s many entrepreneurial and technology success stories is the University of Waterloo.

Since its founding, the University of Waterloo has emerged as a leading global research-intensive university renowned for entrepreneurship and innovation. Initially inspired to champion co-operative education, the University continues to pair rigorous research with real-world work experience and entrepreneurial thinking to deliver bold, future-focused solutions.

Four Indigenous students at the University of Waterloo are the recipients of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) awards. The $392,000 in funding supports research in the Faculties of Arts, Environment and Health and bring together Traditional Knowledge and western science.  

December 6 marks Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The day commemorates the 14 women, mostly engineering students, who were killed at École Polytechnique de Montréal (now Polytechnique Montréal) in 1989 by a lone gunman — because they were women.

WatSPEED at the University of Waterloo recently announced the launch of a new Chief Technology and AI Officer (AI-CTO) program — a six-month, live-online executive program designed to help senior technology leaders translate complex architectures and AI innovation into measurable business outcomes.

Waterloo is Canada's top university for entrepreneurship, fostering ecosystems where students turn big and small ideas into thriving businesses across every industry imaginable. 

As the excitement of the holiday season ramps up, we're thrilled to share seven Canadian companies with ties to the University of Waterloo that offer perfect gift ideas for your shopping list — each with a warm story of passion, creativity and giving back.

This year, University of Waterloo professor Larry Smith marks 45 years of teaching students to think critically about the world and act courageously to build a future of their own making. 

Smith, a professor in the Faculty of Engineering’s Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, specializes in forecasting and the economics of innovation. His wildly popular lectures resonate among students and alumni from across campus — many of whom credit Smith for pushing them to realize their entrepreneurial potential. 

The use of virtual reality (VR) is expanding across industries, but its large-scale application in educational settings has remained largely unexplored. As the technical capabilities and affordability of VR tools continue to improve, Waterloo researcher Dr. Ville Mäkelä is turning his classroom into a living lab to better understand how VR can enrich the student experience.