Future students

As Spring 2024 Convocation approaches, it is also a time for students to reflect on their successes and achievements over their time here at Waterloo.

Among this year’s graduating class are a consort of recipients of the 2023 Co-op Student of the Year Award who were recognized for their exceptional contribution to their employers.

A team of University of Waterloo students were riding high on adrenaline after a whirlwind trip to Poland that involved countless hours of preparation, a little sightseeing, very little sleep and a massive victory that’s sure to impress their future employers. The team included Ryan Trainor and Coco Dai, Master of Accounting students, Arnav Sheth and Ronis Goel, students in the Accounting and Financial Management program, and Aryaman Dhillon, a student in the Computing and Financial Management program. 

The University of Waterloo, renowned globally for its innovative approach to education and talent development, extends its deepest gratitude to Dominic Barton for his exceptional service as its 11th chancellor.

Elected by the University’s Senate to a three-year term, the chancellor serves as the ceremonial head for the institution and presides over convocation ceremonies, conferring degrees, diplomas and certificates on graduating students. Barton was installed as chancellor in 2018 and reappointed for a second term in 2021.

This spring marks a significant milestone for WatSPEED, the University of Waterloo’s professional, executive and corporate education arm, as the team celebrates 1,000 days in operation.  

WatSPEED's journey over the past 1,000 days includes the launch of flagship courses in generative AI, data science and machine learning, as well as enhanced partnerships and impactful events that support the unit's commitment to equipping Canadians with essential skills to navigate the evolving workforce.  

There is no recipe or instruction manual for building inclusive spaces because they can never be constructed — they are cultivated. But if you ever speak to a member of the Games Institute (GI) at the University of Waterloo, they’ll share how they get to work and learn in an inclusive, judgment-free ecosystem. 

To build artificial intelligence you need droves of data. But if your data isn’t clean, the intelligence it produces won’t be either. AI systems learn from the data they are trained on, so any errors or inconsistencies in the data can lead to incorrect or unreliable outcomes. According to IBM, data scientists spend around 80 per cent of their time cleaning and organizing data, highlighting the importance of clean data in AI development.  

Aspiring entrepreneurs have long benefited from the innovation ecosystem at the University of Waterloo, an environment where entrepreneurship and innovation excel amidst a unique blend of co-op, work-integrated learning opportunities and customized wrap-around supports. 

This traditional innovation ecosystem, however, wasn’t reaching the needs of aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid space mission, which involves collaboration with researchers from the University of Waterloo, has released five new portraits of the universe. These never-before-seen images showcase Euclid’s ability to unravel the secrets of the cosmos, enabling scientists to hunt for rogue planets, using lensed galaxies to study mysterious matter and explore the evolution of the universe.

With Canada in need of airplane pilots, University of Waterloo researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help more of them take flight.

Supported by the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), experts at the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) are enlisting a host of new technologies to train more licensed pilots in less time, for less money and in a more environmentally friendly way.

Nfinite Nanotech has raised $6.5 million USD in seed funding to scale its nanomaterial product: a coating for sustainable and biodegradable food packaging that will help divert plastic waste from landfills. The University of Waterloo startup is developing an ultrathin and high-performance material for consumer-packaged goods, like granola bar wraps and potato chip bags, that keeps them fresh longer without the use of excessive non-biodegradable plastic packaging.