Entrepreneurship

Seeking unbiased opinions is challenging in today’s fast-paced news cycle. Some news sources leave out important facts, inadvertently skewing public perception on current events.

Ground News, an alumni company from Velocity, University of Waterloo’s startup incubator, is combatting this with the launch of a new tool powered by artificial intelligence. The tool will help readers quickly understand a story from multiple perspectives so they can spot media bias when they read it. 

The University of Waterloo's Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute (CPI) hosted its annual conference on October 12, 2023. The event brought together cybersecurity and privacy experts, students, faculty, entrepreneurs, government officials and businesses to delve into the pressing challenges and innovative solutions within the field. The conference was notably interdisciplinary, closely aligned with the University’s Waterloo at 100 framework — focusing on society, health and technology.

You can talk to a therapist or take medication to treat stress and burnout, but what happens if you can’t afford therapy and medications don’t work for you?

Roga, a company that recently joined Velocity, University of Waterloo’s startup incubator, has developed a wearable mental wellness device, giving users stress relief options when therapy is too expensive or inaccessible, or when medication usage is limited due to side effects or stigma.

Banking with a virtual reality headset may not be as far-fetched as you might think after students from the University of Waterloo’s startup incubator Velocity wrapped up a two-week-long “hackathon”, an innovation challenge aimed at augmenting the future of finance with VR and high-speed wireless technology.

In a world experiencing rapid technological advancement and frenzied shifts in the economic landscape, it’s imperative that creatives, innovators and industry leaders come together and address the pressing issues Canada and our world faces.

Monitoring seaweed growth has the potential to accelerate regenerative seaweed farming and ocean restoration, and scale blue carbon initiatives, all presenting important opportunities in the fight against climate change.  

To bring key data about what’s happening below the surface above water, Velocity company Coastal Carbon received $1.6 million in funding from Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) to undertake the AI-Driven Sensors for Seaweed Measurement Project. 

In a unique collaboration, the University of Waterloo and Rogers Communications are joining forces to revolutionize the world of hockey analytics using 5G technology. This partnership could help reshape how hockey fans engage with the game and provide teams with valuable insights for data-driven decision making.

On September 19, Velocity kicked off their Innovation Challenge: Imagining the Future of Finance. The student hackathon provides an opportunity for University of Waterloo students interested in exploring virtual reality (VR) and 5G technologies to bridge the gap between traditional banking and the needs of future generations.

In the first event for the Trust in Research Undertaken in Science and Technology Scholarly Network (TRuST), Nobel laureate Donna Strickland, along with a distinguished panel of experts, delved into the various challenges researchers and practitioners across disciplines face in building trust with the public.

The Royal Society of Canada (RSC), which comprises the Academy of Arts and Humanities, Academy of Social Sciences and the Academy of Science, recognizes excellence, advises the government and promotes a culture of knowledge and innovation with other national academies around the world.