Talent

Monica Hoang had no idea earlier this year that she’d be spending the last few months of her PhD working on the design of a COVID-19 testing kit.

The School of Pharmacy student moved back to her hometown when the University of Waterloo decided to go online for the spring term and planned to do her PhD defence digitally.

Then an old friend in the pharmacy program messaged her to say his colleagues were looking for somebody with a genetics background to join their team. The next day, Hoang was at a meeting in Waterloo’s Velocity startup incubator in downtown Kitchener.

Cheri Chevalier
Alumnus, Faculty of Arts (BA ’95)
> Global Director, Emerging Solutions, Microsoft Dynamics at Microsoft

When Cheri Chevalier interviewed at Microsoft Canada as a fourth-year Waterloo St. Jerome's University co-op student, she was surprised by the ambitious task assigned to her.

Five engineering students at the University of Waterloo helped build an online dashboard that tracks and synthesizes COVID-19 antibody studies from around the world.

SeroTracker visualizes antibody test results on a map to show how many people in a given area might have been exposed to the novel coronavirus, which is technically known as SARS-CoV-2. 

That information could help inform strategies for reopening economies because positive antibody tests may indicate immunity.

As a little girl, Sophie Janszen-Spitman had always been good at math. She liked participating in math contests, but as she progressed through high school, she noticed fewer and fewer girls participating alongside her.

Sophie Janszen-Spitman, current student

University of Waterloo researchers are developing personalized 3D-printed mask components for front line health-care providers as well as patients who regularly visit medical facilities for treatments such as dialysis and chemotherapy.

Members of the  Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing (MSAM) Laboratory have produced a number of prototypes based on approved design guidelines from Health Canada and the National Institutes for Health.

Michael Vermeer was listening to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau make an announcement on the radio about COVID-19 initiatives last month when one of them caught his ear.

It was about a deal the Canadian government had reached with a Toronto company called Thornhill Medical to supply hundreds of portable life support and ventilator units for the front-line fight against the coronavirus.

Kayras Engineer

April 19 to 25 is National Volunteer Week, a time to recognize volunteers for all that they do.

University students who have been anticipating their graduation — complete with celebrations, final recitals and capstone project presentations — are struggling with the abrupt end to campus activity as a result of COVID-19 closures. 

The setback prompted Mykayla Turner, who has called Conrad Grebel University College a second home during her time studying health studies and music at the University of Waterloo, to record her year-end recital in the Grebel Chapel. 

It began as a few words on a sticky note while a team of engineering students at the University of Waterloo brainstormed ideas for their fourth-year design project.

Now, little more than six months later, the students have a working prototype of a portable, low-cost ventilator they hope could soon help save lives on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.

“It’s a total fluke, but our project couldn’t be any more relevant than it is today,” says Connor Simmons, one of four team members from the mechatronics and mechanical engineering programs.