Occasional updates, comments, and reflections from President Feridun Hamdullahpur
I was chauffeured around Ring Road in an autonomous vehicle this month. Everything else is details.
Alex Rodrigues – who co-founded Varden Labs with fellow Mechatronics Engineering and Velocity student Michael Skupien – and I enjoyed a safe and smooth ride along the Needles Hall stretch of Ring Road on August 19. It was the first time an autonomous vehicle had taken to a Canadian road.
Many universities practically shut down for the summer — not this one.
My work on Waterloo’s behalf has taken me around the world this month, and in fact I send this update to you from beautiful Thailand.
I gave a keynote speech to the 2015 World University of Technology Colloqium on Tuesday, July 28, sharing the Waterloo experience and perspective on promoting technological innovation while maintaining broad-based academic success.
This month has been a busy and exciting one for both the University and for me. There has been so much to celebrate and there is much more to come.
As the Spring term heats up and our University turns its focus to June, we have much to celebrate. In particular, I want to dedicate my comments today on Waterloo’s constantly growing and evolving role as a highly internationalized university, and one with a strong social mission.
As we come to the end of yet another term, I’m glad to be able to share with you some events and initiatives that took place on campus during the month of April so far. Furthermore, my monthly update is a chance for me to recognize a few of the many exceptional members of our community each month, whether they are faculty, staff, students, or alumni.
Campus has been a busy, bustling place this month. There’s almost been too many events and initiatives to mention, but I want to capture some of them here.
On March 12, I stopped by the Student Life Centre to see the final structures constructed by some of our CanBuild participants. This is the second year of our campus-wide food drive, which is a partnership with the FEDS Student Food Bank and The Food Bank of Waterloo Region.
As promised in our last update, I am pleased to provide to you our inaugural State of the University report. The report, Defining Tomorrow, is available both in print and in an enriched digital format. In today’s globally competitive post-secondary education sector, we need to tell our story well.
I am thrilled that coming into the new year I will soon be able to present a University of Waterloo flagship publication to you: The inaugural University of Waterloo State of the University Report 2014-15. This report provides insight into who and what we are at University of Waterloo, including our strengths in transformative research, experiential education, and innovation. Its title, Defining Tomorrow, is fitting as we enter the new year and look to seize new opportunities for the University.
