Talent

One of Waterloo’s newest Schulich Leaders Scholarship winners is already making a splash in science communications.

Jonathan Zhou, a first-year enrolled in the mechatronics engineering program, was recently selected as one of 30 semi-finalists for the 2022 Breakthrough Junior Challenge, sponsored by Khan Academy. The 30 semi-finalists were selected out of a pool of more than a thousand applicants

As the fall term begins for universities, a special group of first-year students is set to make a big impression on campus.

Winners of the Schulich Leaders Scholarship are among the best and brightest recent high school graduates, with both stellar grades and a dedication to community service that sets them apart.

You’re probably familiar with the University of Waterloo’s world-renowned incubator, Velocity, but did you know that Velocity also leads student programming and resources on campus? Students exploring entrepreneurship can get support from Velocity at every step of their journey in turning an idea into an early-stage business.

Canadians think they know a lot about snow. It is practically a national pastime to discuss winter weather.

But a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo is taking the Canadian obsession with weather to a whole new level.

Fraser King is studying the ways machine learning can be applied to predicting patterns of precipitation, and especially annual snowfall and snowmelt in the context of climate change.

We caught up with Iris Redinger (BAS ’21), a recent Waterloo grad from the Waterloo School of Architecture. This summer, she was competitively selected as one of five winners of the Mitacs Entrepreneur Award for her startup Material Futures that uses biotechnology to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry.

Daniel Henstra
> Professor, Department of Political Science
> Co-lead, Climate Risk Research Group
> Member, Waterloo Climate Institute

Climate change is such a huge issue that it can be difficult to even know where to start.

This summer’s fires, floods and heat waves have reinforced what we already know — the effects of climate change are happening now and the need for action is urgent. But what steps should be taken to mitigate and adapt are often not well understood. This is where the interactive game Illuminate can fill this knowledge gap.

Global advancements in sciences, together with digital transformation, continue to accelerate innovation, significantly impacting all sectors of the economy. Velocity Science companies lead the way, helping thousands of patients, combating production shortages, and solving accessibility issues and sustainability for long-term solutions.

An innovative new program that provides financial support, mentorship and networking to Black and Indigenous PhD students has been chosen to represent the University of Waterloo in a federal competition for bold and potentially game-changing projects to address persistent systemic barriers in the research ecosystem and academia.

It’s all about reputation, which is all about quality. 

It was the reputation of the University of Waterloo’s computer science school that attracted Raouf Boutaba to a faculty position 23 years ago. Today, he is the director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, a school that punches far above its weight in international rankings and draws top students and faculty researchers from around the world.