Talent

Indigenous girls from as far away as the Northwest Territories came to the University of Waterloo recently to learn more about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at the fourth annual IMPACT summer camp.

“We have a few participants that have returned every year for the past three years,” said Emma Smith, camp co-ordinator and student in Waterloo’s Department of Fine Arts. “It’s not just a one-off thing.  It helps these girls see themselves, their culture and people like them on post-secondary campuses—it shows them that they have a place here.”

For many students, a term project can evoke a lot of emotions, such as excitement, worry, and enthusiasm; but for one class it provided an opportunity to reconnect with their own cultures. Last Friday, more than 80 students taking SYDE 361 staged a memorable concert featuring electronic instruments that they designed and built.

With a well-established, 25-year academic career at the University of Toronto, Colin MacLeod made a surprising change in 2003 by joining the cognitive area in the University of Waterloo’s Department of Psychology.

Tom Jenkins (LLD ’13), the University’s 10^th chancellor, has come to the end of his term.

Having filled the role since 2015, Jenkins has awarded thousands of honours to University of Waterloo students. The position of chancellor, regarded as the ceremonial head of the University, presides over convocation ceremonies and has the power to confer degrees upon graduation.

Phoebe Stephens has been named one of Canada’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation scholars for her project investigating the need for sustainable food systems.

“Increasingly we are seeing food being treated as a financial product, vulnerable to stock market volatility. This is dangerous for something everyone needs to survive,” said Stephens. “On top of this, the financialization of the food system tends to favour an industrial model of production.”

The University of Waterloo is appointing Dominic Barton, global managing partner of McKinsey & Company as the institution’s 11th chancellor.

On Friday, June 8 the University of Waterloo welcomed Harvard physics professor and thought leader Eric Mazur for a Presidential Lecture.

Mazur is the Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics and Dean of Applied Physics at Harvard University. Aside from his work as a prominent physicist, he is widely known for his work on Peer Instruction, an interactive teaching method aimed at engaging students in the classroom and beyond.

A lot is happening on the Waterloo Warriors scene and at the front of this excitement are Garrett Rank and Chris Lawson.

NHL referee and former student-athlete of the Warriors golf and hockey teams Garrett Rank has recently shown he's got more than just ice in his veins by qualifying for the 2018 U.S. Open. Rank shot two-under at the 36-hole sectional qualifier on Monday, June 4 at Ansley Golf Club's Settindown Creek Course near Roswell, Georgia to tie for first and earn one of three spots available at the event.

As a young girl, Pampa Dey lived with her parents and two siblings in a small one-room house in the remote village of Ranibandh, India where a kerosene lamp was often the only source of light. Starting at the tender age of 10, she worked as a part-time cashier in her father’s small sweet shop to help support her family.