Events

Our lives are increasingly dependent on the digital technologies on which we find ourselves progressively dependent. Join faculty members Philip Boyle and Christine McWebb from the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business for a discussion on what it means to be living in an age of digital innovations – advances that both enhance and disrupt established ways of doing business, scientific enterprise, and everyday life.  We will explore key topics such as privacy, the generational divide, and the benefits and challenges of using online platforms to communicate.

Designing with Diversity - How Focusing on Inclusion Helped Us Become Better Designers

As members of the TELUS Service Design team, when we were given the opportunity to focus on retail accessibility, we were nervous and excited. The experience of this project was transformative and pushed us to become better and more inclusive designers. The lessons learned and insights gained from this work have continued to inform our approach to design and evolved our practice.

Konrad Group is hosting this live Q and A.

Interviewing as an incoming grad can be daunting especially during the COVID pandemic. What makes an application stand out? What do you need to prepare? Hear from designers who made their way through this transition and are now transforming industries with design thinking. We have advice for different types of design interviews and will walk you through how to navigate them effectively. This talk is designed to prepare you for your job hunt and empower you to make the most of your opportunities!

There's no doubt that 2020 was a crazy and challenging year. A large chunk of that year was spent in lockdown. The experience of being confined to our houses during a pandemic has led us to seek some sort of escape. And for many students at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, that escape was unlocked by art.
 

"The Creator's Collective annual gallery, Spectra, is live now! For those who may be unaware, the Creator's Collective Gallery hosts a yearly exhibition for artists to showcase their creative work or recent artistic activities. Given the uncertainties of Covid-19, we will be holding Spectra online through a VR museum curation platform called ArtSteps.

Indigenous Speakers Series: Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan

You’re invited to Research Talks, a public event and panel discussion featuring guest speakers Kesha Bodawala - P & P Optica, Evan Jones - Stitch Media, and Sirisha Rambhatla and Will Zhao - University of Waterloo.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), the study of machines and software that exhibit intelligence, is transforming every aspect of society, from financial services, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. AI is dependent on data, that is, AI uses data to make predictions so humans can make data-driven decisions. With the explosion of data over the past two decades, there is an AI tsunami on our threshold. So, we are left with the question, “Where will AI take us?”

Challenge of the Bots: Exploring the social impact of contextual conversational AI

Will Zhao is an Assistant Professor at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, University of Waterloo. He earned his Ph.D. from the French Grande Ecole EM Lyon Business school and pursued his postdoctoral research at Stanford University. He is an interdisciplinary researcher interested in studying innovation from organizational, educational, and engineering perspectives, particularly using multimodal methods that draw on semiotics and/or artificial intelligence techniques. His most recent research on artificial intelligence has been published in leading journals such as IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics.

What’s in your food? Assessing the quality of food products using AI

Kesha Bodawala is the Model Development Lead at P&P Optica (PPO), based in Waterloo, ON. At PPO, she oversees the Machine Learning Team. She works with the team to develop models to assess the quality of meat products. Kesha has a Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a focus on machine learning and a Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering.

Incorporating AI into storytelling and virtual reality

Evan Jones is the founder of Stitch Media, an interactive media production services company which tells stories using new technology and timeless techniques. A two-time Emmy Award winner, Evan’s work combines web, mobile and games with TV, film, radio, and the real world. He has been recognized as a 'Top 10 New Media Groundbreaker' by the Bell Fund and chosen as one of the ‘most innovative and influential minds in McMaster history’ by his alma mater. His interactive documentary work has won ‘Best in Electronic Culture’ at the UNESCO World Summit and his experience with branded entertainment has won ‘Best in Digital Marketing’ by the Digi Awards. Evan has guest lectured on the art & business of interactive story internationally at the Canadian Film Centre, the Australian Film, Television & Radio School and the University of Southern California. He has consulted for the Smithsonian, Greenpeace, Microsoft, Disney, NBC, Universal, Nickelodeon, and 20th Century Fox on the future of entertainment.

AI and the future of healthcare

Sirisha Rambhatla is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo, where she leads the Critical ML Lab as the director. Her research focusses on developing deep learning-based reliable artificial intelligence (AI) models for critical real-world decision making in surgery and healthcare, covid spread, climate change, and intelligent manufacturing and aviation using spatiotemporal modelling, representation learning, and explainable AI. Her inter-disciplinary work spans both theory and practice of machine learning (ML), has been published at top ML venues such as NeurIPS, ICLR, KDD, IJCAI, AAAI, and clinical venues such as AMIA, Surgery, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Recipient of the 2021 Merit Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Research at the University of Southern California, Dr. Rambhatla received her Ph.D. (EE) from the University of Minnesota -- Twin Cities in 2019.

Pizza and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided.

Donations of non-perishable food items for the Salvation Army - Stratford Food Bank will be accepted.

"Building Equitable and Sustainable Game Development Education" Workshop led by Kenzie Gordon (University of Alberta), Dr. Sean Gouglas (University of Alberta), Dr. Alison Harvey (York University), Vishal Sooknananl (Western University), Dr. Johanna Weststar (Western University), and Dr. Jennifer Whitson (University of Waterloo). 

  With recent waves of layoffs, high-profile workplace harassment cases, and a notoriously short career length for gender minorities and people of colour, the transition of new workers into the game industry involves navigating a spate of barriers to equity and success that have been understudied in academic research. The First Three Years is an ongoing longitudinal study of graduates of game programs in Canada and the United States, following the journey of 207 students as they move into the game industry. In this workshop, our research team will summarise the primary challenges students have identified in their game programs. This summary includes equity and diversity issues inherent in common curricular practices such as the efficacy of capstone courses and internships, the inclusion of crunch-like practices in the classroom, the systematic failure to inform students of actual workplace conditions, and the mismatch between student preparation and industry hiring practices. Afterwards, participants will address whether/how these problems manifest in their own institutions, and what solutions might improve equity outcomes for students seeking careers in games.

Learn about the Master of Digital Experience Innovation degree program on September 26, 2024.