March Newsletter 2026
Hello WiCS Students,
We hope your Winter Semester is going smoothly and productively! March brings several exciting opportunities within the WiCS schedule to explore different tech fields and connect with professionals across the industry. We’re looking forward to seeing you take advantage of these unique learning and networking experiences.
WiCS Events Overview:
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Donor Card Signing | March 11th
Little WiCS Events Overview:
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Failures and Fumbles | March 16th
Other Opportunities:
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Technovation: CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS | January to April
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Jane Street FOCUS Program | Application Deadline: March 22nd
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Undergraduate Research Awards | Application Deadline: March 20th
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Waterloo – Wellington Science & Engineering Fair | Application Deadline: March 11th
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SVPRO: Sexual Violence in the Workplace Workshop | March 12th
WiCS Study Room:
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Request for a study room fob
WiCS Events:
Donor Card Signing
Join WiCS and the Faculty of Mathematics for a Donor Card Signing Event! A chance to thank our women in math, women in computer science and M4 donors! Bring your friends and enjoy the addition of treats.
Date: March 11th
Time: between 10:00AM - 2:30PM
Location: MC 5501
Little WiCS Events:
Failures and Fumbles
Join Little WiCS in STC 1012 for a hilarious, heart-to-heart speaker panel where upper-year students share their worst career fumbles and the hard-earned lessons that followed. Plus, they are serving free Chung Chun cheese dogs for those quick enough to snag a limited spot!
Date: March 16th
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00PM
Location: STC 1012
Other Opportunities:
WiCS Con 2026 CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
WiCS Con is a 1-day conference for women and gender-diverse students interested in computer science and tech. It is taking place, May 13th, and we need all the help we can get for running a great event! This call is for anyone interested in being a volunteer for WiCS Con, including helping with setup and logistics or being the student ambassador for one of our sponsoring companies! Please fill out the form below if you are interested! Some of the tasks you may be asked to help with include:
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Panellists for panels on co-op, on university life
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Serving as student ambassador for a company’s session!
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Helping in an interactive workshop for high school students!
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Logistics
You can indicate your interest and availability on the form!
Date: May 13th
Time: 10:00AM - 6:00PM
Location: DC 1st Floor
Technovation CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
“I have acted as a Technovation Girls mentor since 2018, and every year I learn something new about leadership, teamwork, technology and thinking big! I am always amazed at how teams start from almost nothing and end up building something innovative and cool, having fun all the while.” – Ryan Dechamps, Technovation Mentor
The Waterloo Technovation Chapter relies on volunteers to make our program happen! There are several different positions with varying time commitments we need volunteers for:
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Mentor: work directly with one or more teams, supporting them through every step of the competition!
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Time Commitment: 1-2 hours/week per team from February to April, + 3 hours for training in January
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Ideal for anyone 18+ with a passion for mentoring youth in tech!
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Coach: help teams with topic-specific questions related to your area of expertise!
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Time Commitment: 1+ hours (depending on the number of workshops signed up for)
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Ideal for graduate students, professors, and industry professionals
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Event Volunteer: help to facilitate our in-person events!
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Time Commitment: 3 hours/event
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Ideal for students
Jane Street FOCUS Program
Jane Street’s FOCUS program is part of their commitment to give as many people as possible the chance to learn more about what the company does. Jane Street invites those who have experienced barriers to accessing advanced STEM educational opportunities to meet the team and learn more about their trading, software engineering, and strategy and product teams.
This multi-day program was created for first-year students currently enrolled in university. It does not require a prior knowledge of finance, only an interest in seeing what a career at Jane Street might look like. Please apply only to the location nearest to you. Travel, accommodation, and a daily stipend will be provided for the program.
Date: May 19th – May 22nd
Location: Jane Street NYC Office
Application Deadline: March 22nd
Undergraduate Research Awards (URA)
The NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) is a financial award that allows outstanding undergraduate students to work with a faculty member in an academic research environment for a semester. USRA recipients take part in a research project in an area of Computer Science, under the direction and guidance of a supervisor. The type of work will vary depending on the supervisor, the project, and the student's background.
The Mathematics Undergraduate Research Award (MURA) Program is an undergraduate research award program sponsored by the Faculty of Mathematics. This award provides experience that nurtures an interest in research careers and mathematics experience for undergraduate students with financial support during a full-time, on-campus or remote position for 16 weeks.
For more information on: USRA
For more information on: MURA
Application Deadline: March 20th
Waterloo – Wellington Science & Engineering Fair
The Waterloo-Wellington Science & Engineering Fair is an annual event that brings together some of the brightest young scientific minds in our community. The organizing committee is currently seeking volunteers to serve as judges, safety team members, or program chaperones.
In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in students showcasing projects related to AI and computer science. Volunteering at the fair offers a meaningful opportunity to connect with individuals in similar fields while gaining unique, hands‑on experience within the community.
Application Deadline: March 11th
SVPRO’S Sexual Violence in the Workplace Workshop
In this one-hour virtual workshop, SVPRO will be exploring the ways gender inequity can lead to workplace harms and ways to disrupt, prevent, and respond to these harms. The team will also discuss unconscious bias and the role it can play in everyday interactions as well as what happens when gender-based harm occurs. For more information, please contact Chris Martin at chris.martin@uwaterloo.ca.
Date: March 12th
Time: 12PM – 1PM
Location: Virtual Workshop via TEAMS
WiCS Innovation Fund
The WiCS Innovation Fund supports student-initiated activities such as hackathons, workshops, conferences, and more that uplift women and non-binary students in computing. WiCS still has funding available for one Winter 2026 initiative and is currently seeking one Spring 2026 initiative to award one Innovation Fund grant. If you are interested, email wics@uwaterloo.ca with a brief explanation of the use (e.g., organizing an event, attending a conference or hackathon) and what you hope to gain.
DISCLAIMER:
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The Fund supports future events only (not past events)
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For the foreseeable future, WiCS funds cannot be used for travel to the United States to attend a DEI event.
WiCS Study Room
WiCS study room is the perfect study spot, with features like:
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Full-Size Refrigerator
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Microwave
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Formal study space (2 worktables and 8 chairs)
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Informal study space (a high-backed sofa and stools that can serve as additional seating or as side tables).
To claim YOUR study spot
Resources
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WiCS Feedback Form Whether you have concerns, suggestions, or ideas, we want to hear from you. Express yourself openly without revealing your identity. We are here to listen.
That’s all for this month. We hope to see you at one of our events!
Manya Govindugari
WiCS Event Facilitator
Women in Computer Science
University of Waterloo