Talent

Mastercard and the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute (CPI) at the University of Waterloo have announced a $550,000 partnership focused on research and talent advancement in cybersecurity. The funding will support projects that increase “Trust in Data” around:  fingerprinting, identification and validation, and data protection. 

While she is graduating with her MA in Clinical Psychology at fall convocation, Aliya McNeil is already working toward her PhD in the same discipline, here at Waterloo. She was recently awarded the Vanier Graduate Scholarship — one of the country’s most prestigious scholarships — to support her doctoral research and work.

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.

If you don’t recognize his name, you’ll probably recognize some of the movies Chris Williams played a key role in creating. From voicing Oaken in Frozen to writing for Mulan to directing Big Hero 6, Chris has acquired a long list of film credits since studying Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo. Most recently, he wrote, directed and produced The Sea Beast for Netflix, which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscars.

As technologies, like artificial intelligence, continue to advance innovation in the workforce, University of Waterloo co-op students are playing a crucial role in digital transformation.  

In 2022, the Employer Impact Award recipients utilized student talent to help feed the world, digitize the insurance landscape, and gain international perspectives.  

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. 

University of Waterloo is leading the charge in Canada's electric aviation evolution.

Backed by Government of Canada funding, the experts at the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) and Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre (WWFC) achieved a historic milestone when their tiny, two-seater Pipistrel Velis Electro made its inaugural flight. The Velis Electro is certified to fly in Europe and is being evaluated with an end goal to become Canada’s first type-certified electric plane.

Josh Crone, an undergraduate lab development specialist at the University of Waterloo, recently scored a win in the 2023 Gentec-EO Laser Lab Awards. This global competition is dedicated to enhancing optics labs in educational institutions, ensuring students have access to industry-leading measurement instruments. Collaborating with Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland, Crone paved the way for the win by developing a compelling narrative on how this equipment would benefit physics education at Waterloo.