News

A group of computer science students are applying big data practices to predicting the end of COVID-19 cases in Canada. Their findings? October 15, 2020.

Faced with this unprecedented situation of pivoting to online learning, many of Waterloo’s instructors wanted to get their students involved in research around COVID-19.

One such instructor is Cheriton School of Computer Science’s Ali Abedi, who teaches two big data courses — Data Intensive Distributed Computing (CS451) and Data Intensive Distributed Analytics (CS431).

Solaiappan Alagappan, Daniel Herman, Wanxin Li and Blake VanBerlo have each received a Vector Scholarship in Artificial Intelligence from the Vector Institute. Valued at $17,500, these prestigious graduate scholarships recognize exceptional students and support their studies in top artificial intelligence–related master’s program in Ontario.

Steven Feng has received one of two honourable mentions for the 2020 Jessie W.H. Zou Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research. Established 2012, the award is given annually to recognize research excellence of an undergraduate student in the Faculty of Mathematics.

HackerEarth, a San Francisco-based company that connects developers around the globe with employment opportunities, recently released a survey of more than 16,000 developers, providing insight into their interests, priorities and concerns.

Professor Jo Atlee has received the 2020 IEEE Technical Council on Software Engineering Distinguished Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Leadership Award. This prestigious recognition is presented annually to an individual for outstanding and sustained leadership in the software engineering community to encourage women to explore science and engineering careers.

Professor Mark Giesbrecht will become the 12^th dean of the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Mathematics, a five-year appointment that begins on July 1, 2020. The distinguished computer scientist has nearly 20 years’ experience at Waterloo and he will leverage his abilities as an administrator, teacher and researcher to lead the Faculty of Mathematics.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, researchers and clinicians have rushed to understand the available treatments and procedures to mitigate this rapidly growing threat to human health. The sheer volume of studies published on COVID-19 — in countries spanning the globe — as well as lessons learned from prior epidemics and pandemics, simply cannot be gathered and assessed quickly enough using traditional manual methods during this time of crisis.

Computer scientists at the Cheriton School of Computer Science have developed a new system that helps Internet users ensure their online data is secure. Called Mitigator, the software-based system includes a plugin that users can install in their browser, which will give them a secure signal when they visit a website verified to process its data in compliance with the site’s privacy policy.

In open source software repositories such as GitHub — an online platform for software development where developers store their projects and collaborate with other developers — the quality of a coder’s technical contributions is undoubtedly important. Such communities have long seen themselves as meritocracies where code is king and decisions are based solely on technical excellence.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Waterloo’s Cheriton School of Computer Science and Western University has developed a computational method that within minutes can identify and classify viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, the respiratory pathogen responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.