Talent

Interop Labs, the initial developer of the Axelar Web3 interoperability network, announced today a $1 million USD donation to grow the Computer Research Endowment at the University of Waterloo. This generous contribution will support the creation of an AI and blockchain research laboratory at the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, the largest and top-ranked academic computer science research centre in Canada. The laboratory will be named the GENESIS Lab, standing for Generative AI for Secure, Interconnected Systems.

Drs. Geoff Bardwell and Zahid Butt, both researchers in Waterloo’s School of Public Health Sciences, have received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in the latest competition

For years, you've been warned about "Frankenfoods" lurking in your grocery store, but what if everything you thought you knew about GMOs (genetically modified organism) was wrong? Despite overwhelming scientific consensus on their safety and benefits, genetically modified foods remain one of the most unfairly villainized innovations in modern agriculture.

Dr. Lai-Tze Fan
Professor, Sociology and Legal Studies
> Canada Research Chair in Technology and Social Change
> U&AI Lab

Digital technologies play an integral role in our everyday lives, and since the rapid growth shows no signs of slowing down, Dr. Lai-Tze Fan cautions about the many invisible aspects to the technologies we use.

Dr. Leia Minaker
Professor, School of Planning
> Future Cities Institute

Cities drive the global economy and are home to vibrant and diverse communities. Yet they’re also facing complex challenges. From rising housing costs and aging infrastructure to climate change, the disruptive impacts of technology and an aging population, the need to address overlapping issues has never been higher.

Dr. Linda Nazar
Professor, Chemistry
> Canada Research Chair, Solid State Energy Materials
> Ontario Battery and Electrochemistry-research Centre

As electric vehicle (EV) adoption speeds up, Canada's capacity to produce batteries is struggling to keep pace with the growing demand. 

Jeff Shiner (BMath ’92)
Alum, Mathematics
> CEO, 1Password

From its beginnings as a small startup of just 20 employees, 1Password has grown under the leadership of CEO Jeff Shiner into a global powerhouse.

When Dr. Mihaela Vlasea’s (BASc ’08, PhD ’14) high school teacher encouraged her to apply to Waterloo’s inaugural mechatronics program, she didn’t imagine that less than 20 years later, she’d be a renowned expert in additive manufacturing (3D printing). 

“I didn't really know what mechatronics was, and there was nothing to base my enthusiasm around at that time,” she says, “but I was really intrigued that Waterloo had put this together because every time they put a new program together, it skyrockets into success.” 

Global and individual health care is experiencing disruption through a variety of technologies. Building disruptive technologies is at the core of what we do, and since our inception, the University of Waterloo has also been disrupting the boundaries of health. In 2024, the University opened the doors of the Innovation Arena, a new collaboration space within the Health Sciences Campus in downtown Kitchener, to further streamline commercialization pathways for businesses, fast-track delivery of health technologies and drive Canada’s next wave of economic growth.