Future students

As 457 undergraduate and 86 graduate students from the Faculty of Health prepare to virtually cross the stage this spring to convocate, we celebrate the hard work, perseverance, friendships and community it took to arrive at that moment – especially during a year that threw out the rule book on how courses should be delivered, how research is performed and how we interact socially with our peers.

We asked some of our award-winning graduates what it took for them to find success in a tough environment and what advice they would give to others who are currently studying.

To say Sheha Akbari made the most of her five years as a Waterloo Engineering student could just be an understatement.

She graduates June 19 in a remote convocation ceremony with a BASc in management engineering as an inventor with an Apple patent in the works, a volunteer with experience as a refugee interpreter and translator, and a passionate leader of several initiatives to help improve the lives of disadvantaged women and youth living in Afghanistan.

The University of Waterloo has committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its pension and endowment investment portfolios by 50 per cent by the year 2030 and is committing to achieving full carbon neutrality by 2040.

Over the past three years, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars in Waterloo’s Industrial-Organizational Psychology program have been working with partners to explore and develop the qualities that make a workplace environment more equitable for Indigenous employees. Together they are contributing their findings to Indigenous Workways, a program that partners with companies and organizations to clear pathways for Indigenous employees and create safe and supportive space in organizations for Indigenous bodies and worldviews.

A Waterloo project designed to reflect an optimistic and inclusive environment is part of this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale.

The University of Waterloo has been awarded almost $1.5 million from the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) as part of their $50 million investment in virtual learning.  Ontario’s Virtual Learning Strategy will expand the possibilities of traditional and life-long learning through the accelerated use of both online and hybrid learning.  

During his time as president and vice-chancellor, Feridun Hamdullahpur has invested deeply in the success, support and development of Waterloo students. Known for approaching students on campus to chat or say hello, Hamdullahpur often took the time to make connections. Over the past decade, he has overseen the growth and development of our campuses, a renowned co-op program and many diverse initiatives, all designed to foster student learning and growth.

You probably didn’t picture Zoom calls or working six feet apart when envisioning your first co-op work term. Instead, you may have practiced the perfect handshake or purchased actual “work pants” for your first day – both of which no longer apply.  

Impressing a venture capitalist with their business pitches earned two senior-year engineering teams $50,000 each in financial backing.

Water is essential for life as we know it – water makes up around 70% of the human body, covers about 70% of the planet Earth, has been found in the far reaches of our universe, and is at the centre of our search for habitable planets around other stars.

But how does this water find its way from interstellar space to the comets and planets it is found on? This was one of the questions that Professor Michel Fich from the Faculty of Science, and his international colleagues set out to research, using observations from the Herschel Space Observatory.