News

The University of Waterloo is proud to support a strong community of innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders — many of whom are women.

In honour of Women’s History Month in Canada, we are shedding light on a few alumni who are making outstanding contributions to the fields of STEM. Keep reading to find out how they are making headlines, building community and driving innovation.

Nineteen eminent Canadian scientists, scholars and researchers have been recognized by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) for their outstanding achievements in advancing knowledge and understanding of the past and present. Adjunct Professor Kevin Costello has been awarded the John L. Synge Award for his leading work in the mathematics underlying quantum field theory. 

Two Waterloo physics students, Sarah Rourke and Sierra Jess won first place for their research talks at the 2022 Canadian Astroparticle Summer Student Talk (CASST) Competition. The two day event featured 44 talks from undergraduate students at institutions across Canada and around the world, including students from India and Indonesia. 

Scientists have discerned a sharp ring of light created by photons whipping around the back of a supermassive black hole in a vivid confirmation of theoretical prediction.

The Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) has announced the latest recipients of the Learning Innovation and Teaching Enhancement (LITE) Seed Grants. Waterloo physicists received funding for their project on collaborative group work in introductory science courses.

Waterloo is known as the best in the world for computer science, engineering and math but a new ranking of universities by subject says you should think again - Waterloo is world-class in many other areas, including tourism management, water research and physics. Waterloo scientists have played an integral part in Waterloo's global reputation in water research and physics. 

Two Science students will be recognized for their outstanding academic achievements at the Spring 2022 Faculty of Science Convocation. Physics and Astronomy student Aviv Shaya Padawer-Blatt will receive the Governor General Academic Silver Medal for being one of the top undergraduate students with the highest academic standing upon graduation. Biology student Taylor Lynn Virgin will receive the Alumni Gold Medal Award for her outstanding academic achievement.

A single-photon detector and counting module (SPODECT) recently designed and built by Waterloo’s Quantum Photonics Lab for the International Space Station (ISS) will be used to verify quantum entanglement and test its survivability in space as part of the Space Entanglement and Annealing QUantum Experiment (SEAQUE) mission, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ADVR Inc, and the National University of Singapore.

Quantum physicist Christine Muschik and vision scientist Ben Thompson were each named a 2022 University Research Chair at the last University Senate meeting.