Future students

March 21 is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is an opportunity to reflect on the actions we can take to advance anti-racism, equity and inclusion, not just today, but throughout the year.

As places of higher learning, universities have an obligation and opportunity to take leadership in this area. We play an important role in educating our students and the public about the inequalities and injustices that continue to pervade society. We also have a responsibility to address these issues on our own campuses and in our communities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly claimed Ukraine is not a country. History says otherwise. Ian Milligan is an associate professor at the University of Waterloo whose research focuses on ways historians can use web archives, as well as the impact of digital sources on historical practice. He weighs in on Russia trying to erase Ukrainian history and what Ukraine can do to stop it.

Why is data a potential casualty of this invasion?

War is bad for information preservation. 

What a milestone achievement for Madeline Schizas, a student of Urban Planning at the Faculty of Environment, Waterloo! She competed at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics recording a personal best of 69.60 points in the women’s short program portion. 

Schizas is a competitive skater. The 19-year-old from Oakville, Ontario in her first Olympics accomplishment lifted Canada to fourth from sixth and moved the country into the five-team final round of the figure skating.

A terrible tragedy is unfolding before the world as President Putin, the leader of a militarized totalitarian regime, continues his unprovoked assault on Ukraine and its people.   

University of Waterloo is unwavering in our solidarity with the innocent victims of this invasion, and we stand in support of those who are calling for an end to the invasion.  

Nobody wants to think about the next pandemic. But we need to be prepared, and a critical step in prevention is early detection and intervention.

That’s why GoodLabs Studio, a company with strong ties to the University of Waterloo, is advancing the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to alert health-care authorities with real-time, data-driven insights for decision-making to prevent a future pandemic.

Startups supported by the University of Waterloo’s flagship incubator, Velocity, along with others founded by alumni and students are well represented on the FoundersBeta Top 100 Tech Companies to Watch for in 2022. FoundersBeta is a global network of more than 5,000 founders, students and professionals interested in connecting around and building startups. The 2022 list profiles over 100 companies, and about a third of them have connections to the University of Waterloo.

Diversity in STEM is expanding with help from one of Canada’s largest financial institutions.

With a contribution of $1.04 million to the University of Waterloo, Scotiabank is providing support for talented researchers and students, including scholarships for students who are underrepresented in STEM fields. The investment is part of ScotiaRISE, the bank’s 10-year, $500 million initiative to promote economic resilience among disadvantaged groups.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Professor Mark Servos has been working tirelessly to contribute towards our understanding of COVID-19, leading wastewater testing efforts locally and across Canada. His research has recently been highlighted in the media as wastewater surveillance becomes a significant tool in our community’s efforts to track the spread of COVID-19, and his efforts are being recognized with a Minister of Colleges and Universities' Awards of Excellence.