Faculty of Mathematics Update 2016-17

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• Transformational Research
• Outstanding Academic Programming
• Vibrant Student Experience
• Global Outlook

Strategic Initiatives: Transformational Research

• The University of Waterloo is recognized as a world leader in mathematics and computer science. In 2016/17, the QS World University Rankings by Subject ranked mathematics at Waterloo 34th and computer science and information systems 31st. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject ranked Waterloo 23rd in the world for computer science.
• Faculty of Mathematics researchers earned $6.7M in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) in 2016/17, including a record high of $5.7M in Discovery Grants. NSERC funding to the Faculty increased by 13% since 2012/13.
• Professors Jo Atlee and Nancy Day are part of the Autonomoose autonomous vehicle platform project, an interdisciplinary research project that received government approval in November 2016 to test their autonomous vehicle platform innovations on all public roads in Ontario.
• Mathematics faculty continued to receive prestigious national and international awards, including:
  • Professor Raouf Boutaba was awarded a French National Institute for Computer Science and Applied Mathematics International Chair for 2017-2021;
  • Professor Ihab Ilyas now holds the Thomson Reuters-funded Research Chair in Data Cleaning from Theory to Practice;
  • Professor Tamer Özsu was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016;
  • Professor Karen Yeats received a 2016 Humboldt Research Fellowship;
  • Professor Jo Atlee was named an Association for Computing Machinery Distinguished Member;
  • Distinguished Professor Emeritus John Brzozowski and Professor Ian Munro were recognized with Canadian Association of Computer Science 2016 Lifetime Achievement Awards;
  • Professor Lap Chi Lau won the CS-Can/Info-Can Outstanding Young Computer Science Researcher Award;
  • Professor Thomas Coleman was named a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics; and
  • Professor Stefan Steiner received the Brumbaugh Award from the American Society for Quality.

Key initiatives within the space improvement strategy focused on the third floor of the Mathematics and Computer building. New lighting, furniture, displays and marker-friendly glass walls have created a bright, welcoming and collaborative space for students.

Strategic Initiatives: Outstanding Academic Programming

• A new Mathematics undergraduate program in data science, a discipline requiring substantive tools from computer science and statistics, has been approved by Senate.
• The Bachelor of Mathematics in Financial Analysis and Risk Management program (Finance Specialization) has been recognized by the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute.
• The Faculty of Mathematics has made significant progress toward its strategic goal to increase online learning opportunities. Enrolments in online courses have increased by 87% since 2012/2013. In 2016/17, over 3,200 students enrolled in 44 online sections of 29 courses.
• Building on its partnership with Maplesoft to build high school online courses on the Möbius platform, Waterloo has entered a new partnership to use Möbius to support teaching math at all levels. Möbius uses technology that keeps students actively engaged through interactive applications, visualizations, and immediate feedback.
• Mathematics has introduced and piloted the use of Crowdmark to provide digital support for marking final examinations, tests, and assignments. Integrated with Waterloo’s learning management system LEARN, Crowdmark makes marking faster, provides more immediate feedback for students, and includes quality controls. In less than two years, four million pages of assessments have been marked with Crowdmark.
• Mathematics is incorporating more interactive learning technology, including Piazza, a STEM-aware (science, technology, engineering, and math) online collaborative question and answer platform. In fall 2016, there were more than four million views of Q&A threads on Piazza by students in Faculty of Mathematics courses.
• Teaching Fellow Professor Brian Forrest has been recognized with two external teaching awards in recognition of his outstanding teaching and innovation in the classroom and online: the Mathematical Association of America’s Clarence Stephens Distinguished Teaching Award and the Fields Institute Margaret Sinclair Memorial Award.
• Professor David McKinnon won a 2017 University of Waterloo Distinguished Teacher Award.
• Sessional instructor Michelle Ashburner won the Federation of Students Teaching Award.
• 2016/17 marked record undergraduate and graduate enrolment, which have increased by 16% and 13% respectively over 2012/13. The percentage of women enrolled also reached new highs in 2016/17, with women comprising 35% of undergraduates and 29% of graduate students.
• The Faculty of Mathematics’ exceptional academic program quality is reflected in increasing demand by outstanding prospective students. The Faculty received over 14,700 applications for fall 2016 undergraduate admission, an increase of 62% since 2012.

Strategic Initiatives: Vibrant Student Experience

• A new institutional partnership with Thompson Reuters includes access to the Eikon financial analysis system for the Finance Lab, providing students with enhanced opportunities to apply financial theory to practice.
• The Waterloo Black team — Andy Huang, Antonio Molina Lovett, and Jacob Jackson, with coach Troy Vasiga — placed 13th in the 2016 Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest.
• Gabin Urbancic was awarded the 2016 Daniel G. Wright Undergraduate Scholarship by the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.
• A record number of students participated in this year’s Small c Math Contest organized by Professor J. P. Pretti.
• Waterloo finished sixth out of 568 institutions (behind Carnegie Mellon, Princeton, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford) at the Putnam competition, with 26 students among the top 501 individual competitors. Waterloo team members were Daniel Spivak, Anzo Zhao Yang Teh, and Antonio Molina Lovett, coached by Professor Stephen New.
• Colin Behenna was named Top Academic Canadian Interuniversity Sport All-Canadian. Colin is an exceptional varsity hockey player who is also a strong mathematics and business student.

Strategic Initiatives: Global Outlook