Co-op and Experiential Education

You might have noticed something familiar while flipping through the channels earlier this week.

For the first time ever, the University of Waterloo appeared as a Pit Stop on this season of CTV’s The Amazing Race Canada.

In traditional Waterloo fashion, innovative projects and head-scratching challenges designed by students were showcased on Canada’s most-watched summer series.

Global and individual health care continues to be deeply disrupted by technology. The Waterloo Innovation Summit investigates this ongoing transformation and how it will impact our lives.

On October 1, join global thought leaders and change agents on a deep dive into the burgeoning HealthTech boom. The day-long conference will feature a keynote address by Waterloo’s Nobel laureate, Donna Strickland, along with talks by expert speakers including current and future alumni.

As more of the world’s population migrates to cities, our global community is faced with complex questions: How can we make our streets smarter, and safer? How do we feed our growing urban centres? And are our cities making us sick?

The latest issue of Waterloo Magazine delves into these questions with alumni and researchers who are reimagining how we live. The print edition will hit mailboxes soon. Until then, check out the digital version for exclusive online extras like this interview with illustrator and alumnus Kathleen Fu.

For graduating students, convocation is a significant milestone, a time to celebrate their accomplishments in front of family and friends. Each year, students are nominated by peers to represent their class during convocation. The position of valedictorian is an honoured one, reflecting an individual who has led an active post-secondary career, both academically and socially.

Meet our 2019 valedictorians:

Every year one co-op student from each faculty is recognized by the University of Waterloo for their contribution to their employer, community and the further development of experiential education.

These incredible students found themselves in sectors as diverse as international aid and gaming. Several 2018 winners made strides in medicine, signaling Waterloo’s momentum as a health technology and service leader.

I often get asked how I find the time to manage my projects. I think the answer is pretty simple — I make the time.

Every day, I dedicate myself to working towards initiatives that inspire hope and help break down barriers, around the globe and right here at home in Canada. The opportunity to impact lives through sports and languages is something I have been tremendously lucky to experience first-hand, and it all goes back to my time at UWaterloo.

March 18 to 22 is National Co-op and Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Week, and the University of Waterloo is celebrating its students’ experience-driven learning opportunities.

More than 22,000 students — approximately 55 per cent of Waterloo’s student population — are currently enrolled in co-op work terms. With the opportunity to develop professional skills by participating in four to six co-op terms, having access to a network of more than 7,000 employers and earning $33,000 to $90,000 — no one does co-op like the University of Waterloo.

While much of the world is talking big data, the story in Canada seems to be our shortage of it.

Recent media reports about our country’s data deficit may be true to an extent, says Anindya Sen, professor of Economics, but there are actually good datasets available through open government portals. The challenge is fully utilizing them to make informed policy decisions that improve people’s lives.

Bronwyn Lazowski
Student, Faculty of Environment
> Research Fellow, Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy

The key to any healthy relationship is communication. The same can be said about our relationship to home energy use.