Larry Smith loves a good problem — a fitting attitude for the director of the University of Waterloo’s new Problem Lab.
The Waterloo economics professor, who has taught 20 per cent of all engineering alumni, believes in the “simple principle” that before you go to fix something, you need to fully understand the problem.
Playing competitive online poker was so lucrative for Prem Kalevar (BASc ’12, Mechatronics) — earning him more than $400,000 in his last year of university alone — he considered turning his serious sideline into a full-time career.
But after watching classmates succeed as entrepreneurs and pursuing several business interests himself, including a student rental property and two technology startups, he opted to aim higher instead.
“I didn’t want to make my life about a card game,” he says.
From the design of the Waterloo Pump, which brought clean water to communities in developing countries, to the invention of the BlackBerry, which opened the floodgates for the ubiquitous smartphone, Waterloo Engineering students, graduates and researchers have made an indelible mark on the world.
And in a technological age that includes artificial intelligence, ever-faster wireless communications and soon-to-be-self-driving vehicles, that process of innovation and contribution is only accelerating.
On Friday, September 28, Waterloo celebrated the launch of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute (CPI) with 100 attendees including security leaders from the private and public sectors. CPI was formed to uncover new approaches to security and privacy and educating Canada’s future leaders to be able to understand and respond to emerging online threats.
Elevate Techfest is Canada’s largest technology and innovation festival that attracts global professionals, tech leaders, investors, and creatives who are at the forefront of innovation. Elevate is taking place in Toronto this week and several University of Waterloo faculty and alumni are featured in this year’s event line-up.
Students who competed in last weekend’s Hack the North received a piece of sage advice from University of Waterloo alumnus Chamath Palihapitiya: go fix the hard stuff.
Four first-year students finding their way to campus this September will be doing so with an extra spring in their step — one worth between $80,000 and $100,000.
The four students are winners of Schulich Leader Scholarships, the largest scholarships for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs in Canada. The incoming Schulich Leaders distinguished themselves with high grades, leadership roles in their communities, and participation in entrepreneurial ventures.
Ten researchers from the University of Waterloo received more than $15.6 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to fund two networks and eight projects that will further research efforts through academic and industry collaborations.
Velocity, which will on September 28 officially celebrate its 10 year anniversary, is a comprehensive entrepreneurship program at Waterloo providing the resources and mentorship to help founders initiate and incubate high-growth startups.
Sam Pasupalak was studying computer science at the University of Waterloo in 2008 when he found out that Bill Gates was delivering a talk on campus. Pasupalak didn’t have a ticket to the Microsoft chairman’s talk — but that didn’t stop him.
Pasupalak pulled off the first of many hustles that day by carrying T-shirts and bags so that he looked like a volunteer. He got past the event security to sit in the last remaining seat in the house.