Research

Vinh Nguyen
Professor, Faculty of Arts

When the heartbreaking photo of Alan Kurdi, the drowned three-year-old Syrian boy, made global headlines in 2015, it galvanized many Canadians into action.

Julie Friddell
Faculty of Environment
> Director, Canadian Cryospheric Information Network/Polar Data Catalogue

There’s a visceral difference between reading a list of figures that tell you polar ice is melting, and actually watching it disappear.

Helen Shilomboleni (PhD '17)
PhD Alumnus, Faculty of Environment
> School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability

If today’s farmers grow enough food to end world hunger, why are more than 800 million people in the world still undernourished?

Kayla Hardie
Student, Faculties of Mathematics and Science
> Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy

A few years into her undergraduate degree, Kayla Hardie found her calling: “I realized I wanted to help the world mitigate and adapt to climate change.”

Jane Tingley
Professor, Faculty of Arts
> Stratford Digital Media Campus

In an Internet-of-Things world, we are surrounded by devices that instantly connect us globally to almost anywhere.

John Hirdes
Professor, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
> School of Public Health and Health Systems

Whenever disaster strikes, older people and those with disabilities are often the most vulnerable.

David Jao
Professor, Faculty of Mathematics
> David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, Cross-Appointed
> Chief Cryptographer, EvolutionQ Inc.
> Director, Centre for Applied Cryptographic Research

Along with all the exuberance about the potential of future quantum computers, there are worries.

Clark Dickerson
Professor, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
> Canada Research Chair in Shoulder Mechanics

Workplace injuries are a major cause of pain, stress, and expense for individuals, companies and healthcare systems.

But newly developed algorithms can help prevent those injuries, even before the job exists.

Marianna Foldvari
Professor, Faculty of Science
> School of Pharmacy
> Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN)

What if gene therapy could not only treat age-related diseases but cure them altogether? It’s a lofty goal — but one that’s well within reach.