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Plutarch once said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”

We at the University of Waterloo could not agree more. The University is renowned for our experiential education programs, which immerse students in vibrant settings and empower them to explore, experiment, create, and learn. Students emerge from these experiences transformed—not just with new knowledge, but also new passions and aspirations.

Pearl Sullivan, Waterloo Engineering’s eighth dean of engineering, will leave the post at the end of this year. 

The first woman to hold the position and just the fourth across Canada to head an engineering faculty, she continues to be a dynamic force for Waterloo Engineering and for the entire University.

Waterloo Engineering’s Strategic Plan 2020-2025 was launched this month to ensure the Faculty is recognized as the epicentre of innovation and entrepreneurship for Canada and the world.

The Faculty’s third formal strategic plan is intended to direct Waterloo Engineering activities for the next five years.

More than 350 people were on hand in November for a celebration of timely support and impressive success at the 2019 Waterloo Engineering Awards Dinner.

In addition to hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students recognized for excellence in their academic and extracurricular endeavors, additional funding was announced for four student startup companies through the Engineer of the Future Fund.

The idea of designing and building a modern new machine to produce old-school vinyl records came totally out of left field for James Hashmi.

Equipped with a 2007 degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Waterloo, he’d spent years establishing a career in medical technology, not traditional manufacturing.

Three companies founded by University of Waterloo alumni are the fastest growing technology companies in Canada and a total of 11 Waterloo startups were in the Top 50 of the 2019 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 ranking.

The list highlights Canadian companies’ growth and commitment to innovation between 2015 and 2018. The average three-year growth rate of the Fast 50 winners is 1,689 per cent. The three top Canadian companies are:

“You have to work at peace building,” says Ernie Ginsler, a local Rotarian and Chair of the Peace Committies for his Rotary Club and District. “You need to understand that there are certain things a community or country can do to increase the level of peace. And there are things they can do to decrease the level of peace too.”

One of the most influential code breakers of the Second World War spent more than two decades quietly shaping the University of Waterloo’s fledgling Faculty of Mathematics into a global powerhouse. 

As a professor of mathematics, William “Bill” Tutte was revered for his mathematical genius and pioneering ways, attracting top-level researchers and building the reputation of the University from the ground up.

November 11 is fast approaching: the time every year when Canadians stop on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month and, for a moment, reflect on wars and conflicts of the past and those continuing on today.

For some, it’s a reflection on their family members who served, those who survived and those who did not. For others, it’s less personal, perhaps a reflection on the many Canadians and people around the world who fought and died in the pursuit of peace.