Hello WiCS Students,
We hope midterm season is going smoothly and that you're finding time to care for yourself. We've got some incredible events, programs, and opportunities coming your way this November and we can't wait to share them with you!
Overview of what November looks like:
WiCS Events Overview:
- From Outages to Ownership: Disaster Recovery, DNS, and Career Journeys in Okta Engineering | November 20th
- Grace Hopper Celebration | November 4th – 7th
Little WiCS Events Overview:
- Halloween Scavenger Hunt | November 3rd
- Pottery + Upper Year Panel | November 10th
- Fall Scrapbooking | November 17th
- Matcha and Mental Health Workshop | November 24th
- St. Jacobs Market | December 1st
- WiCS Undergraduate Committee - Winter 2026 Executive Applications
Other Opportunities:
- Technovation CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
- Mini Hackathon CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
- Citadel | Citadel Securities opportunities
- SVPRO | 16 days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence
- WiCS Innovation Fund
WiCS Events:
From Outages to Ownership: Disaster Recovery, DNS, and Career Journeys in Okta Engineering
Ready to see how a top tech company handles the really big challenges? Join us and our Okta engineers for an evening focused on the critical work that keeps our services running; even when major outages happen. Our Staff Software Engineer will kick off the event with a fascinating technical talk, diving into DNS, redundancy, and disaster recovery based on her real-world experience at Okta. It’s a timely look at how engineering teams build for reliability at scale.
Date: November 20th, 2025
Time: 4:00PM - 5:30PM
Location: DC 1304
Register here
Grace Hopper Celebration
Although WiCS will not be sponsoring students for the 2025 Grace Hopper Celebration, we would still love to connect UWaterloo students who will be attending. If you are planning to attend this year’s conference through personal funding, your co-op employer, or a scholarship, please let us know. We’re creating a Discord server for attendees to connect, share updates, and build a community of Waterloo students attending GHC.
Email wicscoop@uwaterloo.ca if you’re attending this year’s conference.
Little WiCS Events:
Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Are you ready for Halloween? Or more specifically, a SCARE-VENTURE? Candy bags for all, and a sweet prize for the fastest team! Each team member needs to register using the form linked in our bio! Teams can consist of 1-4 people.
Date: November 3rd, 2025
Time: 7:00PM – 8:30PM
Location: DC 2331
Follow @uwaterloowics on Instagram for updates and event details.
Pottery + Upper Year Panel
Enjoy a cozy night of pottery and hear from upper-year students as they share tips, stories, and advice on balancing academics, co-op, and career goals.
Date: November 10th, 2025
Time: TBA
Location: TBA
Follow @uwaterloowics on Instagram for updates and event details.
Fall Scrapbooking
Create scrapbooks, memories, and connections with other like-minded students in a cozy environment.
Date: November 17th, 2025
Time: TBA
Location: TBA
Follow @uwaterloowics on Instagram for updates and event details.
Matcha and Mental Health Workshop
Step into a peaceful space where your mind can rest and recharge, all while enjoying a cozy cup of matcha.
Date: November 24th, 2025
Time: 4:30PM
Location: TBA
Follow @uwaterloowics on Instagram for updates and event details.
St. Jacobs Market
Join WiCS for a fun trip to St. Jacobs Market. Explore local vendors, grab some treats, and enjoy a relaxing day with other students.
Date: December 1st, 2025
Time: TBA
Location: TBA
Follow @uwaterloowics on Instagram for updates and event details.
Winter 2026 WiCS Executive Applications | WiCS Undergraduate Committee
Apply to join the WiCS Undergraduate Committee as an executive for Winter 2026! We have two separate applications, one for new applicants and one for returning executives. Please make sure to choose the correct form.
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Applications open (for both forms): October 31st, 2025
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Applications close (for both forms): November 7th, 2025
Other Opportunities:
Mini Hackathon CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
We’re looking for volunteers to support the Technovation Mini-Hackathon, a day-long event where middle and high school girls explore tech and entrepreneurship. Teams will identify real-world problems linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, design innovative tech solutions, and pitch their ideas to judges.
Whether you’re interested in mentoring, event logistics, or cheering on young changemakers, this is a fun and rewarding way to get involved before the full Technovation season begins!
Volunteer Positions:
- Coach: Volunteer who specializes in answer questions about specific topic(s)
- Program Volunteer: Work directly with participants, answering general questions, and help keep everyone on track
- Logistics Volunteer: Helps with the overall running of the event (e.g., set-up, distributing materials, check-in, etc.)
- Judge: Help us score and select the winners of the mini-hackathon. Must be available for the EVENING shift.
Shifts:
- 8:00AM - 1:30PM (Half-day (AM))
- 1:30PM - 7:30PM (Half-day (PM))
- 8:00AM - 7:30PM (Full Day)
- 8:30AM - 12:00PM (Morning)
- 12:00PM- 3:30PM (Afternoon)
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3:30PM - 7:00PM (Evening)
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:
- Mentor: work directly with one or more teams, supporting them through every step of the competition!
- Time Commitment: 1-2 hours/week per team from February to April, + 3 hours for training in January
- Ideal for anyone 18+ with a passion for mentoring youth in tech!
- Coach: help teams with topic-specific questions related to your area of expertise!
- Time Commitment: 1+ hours (depending on the number of workshops signed up for)
- Ideal for grad students, professors, and industry professionals
- Speaker: deliver a presentation on one of our content topics during a weekly online workshop!
- Time Commitment: 3 – 4 hours (including prep time)
- Ideal for upper-year and graduate students, lecturers, and professors
- Judge: review submissions, provide feedback, and help decide which team(s) move on to the semi-finals at our Live Regional Pitch Event!
- Time Commitment: 10 – 15 hours during the last week of April/first week of May
- Ideal for graduate students, professors, and industry professionals
- Event Volunteer: help to facilitate our in-person events!
- Time Commitment: 3 hours/event
- Ideal for students
Citadel | Citadel Securities Opportunities
2026 Summer Internships
Hiring BS, MS, and PhD interns in the US, Europe, and Asia across a number of roles: quantitative researchers, quantitative research engineers, traders, international equities associates, software engineers, sector data analysts, site reliability engineers, operations, and finance & accounting. You can view the full list of positions with links to applying below.
Note that there are different titles available on each firm’s page, but if you’re applying for the same title, you only need to apply once!
2026 Full-time Positions
Full-time applications for students graduating between now and fall 2026 are also available! These roles will start sometime in the 2026 calendar year, but we are flexible on timing based on your graduation schedule.
SVPRO | 16 days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence
16 Days is used as an organizing strategy by governments, organizations, communities, and individuals around the globe to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls and show support and solidarity with women’s rights activists and mobilizers advancing gender equity. Booths will be set up across campus and you can drop by to say hello, spin the wheel, and collect swag and resources.
Learn more about 16 days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.
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 will award two grants of $500 for Winter 2026 initiatives. If you’re 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:
- The Fund supports future events only (not past events)
- 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:
- Full-Size Refrigerator
- Microwave
- Formal study space (2 worktables and 8 chairs)
- Informal study space (high-backed sofa and stools that can serve as additional seating or as side tables).
Want to claim YOUR study spot?
Resources
- WiCS Feedback Form Whether you have concerns, suggestions, or ideas, we want to hear from you. Express yourself openly without revealing your identity. We’re here to listen.
That’s all for this month. We hope to see you at one of our events!
Duaa Ali
WiCS Event Facilitator
Women in Computer Science
University of Waterloo