The University of Waterloo has been named Canada’s top university for innovation for the 22nd consecutive year by Maclean’s magazine.
WATERLOO, Ont. (Thursday, October 31, 2013) – The University of Waterloo has been named Canada’s top university for innovation for the 22nd consecutive year by Maclean’s magazine.
Maclean’s annual rank of Canadian universities saw Waterloo move up to second spot in the magazine’s Best Overall category within the national reputational rankings as well as second in the Leaders of Tomorrow category. Waterloo stood at number three in both categories last year.
“For nearly a quarter of a century, this university has been recognized as Canada’s leading institution for innovation. We consistently rank amongst this country’s best universities,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice chancellor at Waterloo. “We have charted a course for the University of Waterloo to build on this foundation — as well as our distinctive experiential education and transformative research — to become one of the world’s top innovation universities.”
One example of innovative research at Waterloo is the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment in the Faculty of Science that initiated and tested an instrument on board the Canadian satellite SCISAT-1 that was launched by NASA. The instrument measures more than 30 different molecules – the most ever measured from space – and recently celebrated its tenth anniversary in orbit.
“The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment is one example of many where Waterloo innovation is helping broaden our knowledge of the world around us. This experiment is helping to improve our understanding of the depletion of the ozone layer, especially the changes happening over Canada and in the Arctic,” said Terry McMahon, Dean of Science. “What started at the University of Waterloo ten years ago has become an international project to examine the effects of refrigerants on climate change.”
Waterloo also supports student innovators with programs such as VeloCity, the university’s startup program, and the Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre.
Over 45 companies have been established through VeloCity including Thalmic Labs, whose MYO armband allows users to control computers, smartphones and other digital devices with simple hand gestures. Thalmic Labs was founded by three graduates of Waterloo's mechatronics engineering program.
Maclean’s also places universities into one of three categories to recognize differences in the levels of research funding and the type of graduate and professional programs offered by universities.
University of Waterloo ranked highly in the comprehensive category, ranking first for reputation again this year. It also took the top spot among comprehensive universities for awards for full-time faculty and for students. The results also show that Waterloo invests the most of any Canadian university in student scholarships and bursaries.
“Students who come to Waterloo receive a world-class education, but they also know that they have the necessary support to ensure they emerge from here ready to tackle the challenges ahead of them,” said Professor Hamdullahpur.
Waterloo moved up to second spot from third among comprehensive schools for medical and science research grants awarded to faculty and first for grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The university had a third-place finish among comprehensive universities for total research funding for full-time faculty.
Comprehensive universities have a significant degree of research activity and a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs.
Maclean’s reputational rankings result from a national survey of high school guidance counselors, university officials, heads of national organizations, recruiters, and CEOs of companies across Canada.
In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's technology hub, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit www.uwaterloo.ca.
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Nick Manning
University of Waterloo
519-888-4451
226-929-7627
nmanning@uwaterloo.ca
www.uwaterloo.ca/news
@uWaterlooNews
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