Talent

The build-up of ice on an airplane in flight can seriously impair its ability to fly and, in extreme cases, lead to catastrophe. In Dr. David Del Rey Fernández's lab, algorithms and software are being developed to understand these processes and enhance future aircraft designs to prevent negative outcomes.

“Across sectors, whether you work in government, industry or academia, we need to rethink how we work,” said the University of Waterloo’s Chancellor Dominic Barton in his opening remarks at the Waterloo Innovation Summit on April 25.

The former head of McKinsey & Company elaborated that, “as I get older, I’m convinced that the changes we are seeing in the world today are truly historic.” Barton pointed to the economic power shifts playing out globally, as well as technological transformations and climate change that are fundamentally shaping the way we will live and work.

On April 18, Transformative Quantum Technologies (TQT) awarded six research teams and their design ideas for the Quantum for Environment (Q4Environment) Design Challenge, whose green-tech solutions address global environmental issues. Ideas included using quantum computing to improve medical devices, and sensors that can detect microplastics and toxic nanomaterials in our oceans. 

The University of Waterloo has experts prepared to provide insights on various aspects of the 2024 wildfire season, including wildfire risk, fire spread, computer modelling of fires, the impact on industry, changes to the quality of air and water and the associated health risks.

Experts may be contacted directly via email to arrange interviews. If there is a related topic of interest not mentioned here, please reach out to Waterloo’s media relations team.

Laura Zizzo
Co-Founder and CEO, Manifest Climate

Laura Zizzo (BES ’04) is co-founder and CEO of Manifest Climate, which offers a software solution that utilizes artificial intelligence to assist organizations in understanding and preparing for climate-related risks by analyzing their climate strategies and comparing them with publicly available global standards and the practices of their peers.

With the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration well underway, one message is taking center stage – we need to restore biodiversity on our planet.

A new study, led by researchers in the Faculty of Environment, has uncovered details on Canada’s ecological restoration practices. By synthesizing insights from 50 years of Canadian academic research, they identified which ecosystems are being studied, and where.

Tony LaMantia (BA ’87) is the president and CEO of Waterloo EDC (Economic Development Corporation). His impressive 30-year career spans the public sector, IT, mining and investment industries and he attributes his professional trajectory to a transformative experience offered by the University of Waterloo's unique experiential and co-operative education.

The University of Waterloo’s Health Initiatives team designed the Graham Seed Fund (GSF) for researchers to submit their proposals for innovative health-care solutions that address the world’s most pressing challenges.  

The GSF seeks to leverage and build health system partnerships that extend beyond academia. Empowering interdisciplinary teams of Waterloo researchers to collaborate directly with a full range of health providers and clinicians to develop transformative health technologies that are made for real-world impact. 

With the rapid advancement and adoption of artificial intelligence, it’s crucial for policy leaders to have a high-level understanding of its impact to make informed decisions. To help the Canadian government navigate this technological disruption, WatSPEED has developed a new program, AI Adoption, Policy and Governance, enabling senior policymakers to lead through the opportunities and challenges that AI presents.