News

A device that detects if someone is drowning in a pool to help relieve a parent’s worry. A wireless gadget to more quickly identify fires, so everyone gets to safety. A system to track and assist people with Alzheimer’s to help calm a family’s fears when they’re not present. These are just a few examples of projects designed for social good by students in the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Mathematics graduate course, IoT and Intelligent Connectivity.

The Association for Computing Machinery has named Professor Florian Kerschbaum a Distinguished Member. He joins 62 individuals globally who have received this prestigious recognition in 2019 for outstanding scientific contributions.

Janusz (John) A. Brzozowski, a pioneer of Canadian computing and a Professor of Computer Science at the University Waterloo for more than five decades, passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 24, 2019 at Lisaard House after a long battle with cancer. He was 84.

Vic DiCiccio has been designated an Honorary Member of the University of Waterloo at the 2019 Fall Convocation for his outstanding service to the University.

Chengnian Sun recently joined the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science as an Assistant Professor. His research interests are in software engineering and programming languages. His work focuses on techniques, tools and methodologies for improving software quality and developers’ productivity. 

Researchers have developed a powerful new tool that allows programmers to engage with work on their mobile devices to help make productive use of time away from their workplace.

In a new study done in collaboration with Microsoft Research, the team of researchers created a prototype tool called Mercury that lets programmers continue working on their mobile devices if they need to leave their desk to pick up when they return to their workstation. Currently, programmers often spend a substantial amount of time at their primary workstation to make productive use of their workdays.

University of Waterloo researchers have developed a novel tool that will allow user-experience designers to create more effective, personalized games and marketing campaigns.

Unlike other tools that categorize gamers by types, the new “player traits model,” along with a 25-item survey, can be used to more easily and accurately evaluate the kind of games people will enjoy. The model is based on five traits — social, aesthetic, challenge, goal and narrative.

Each year, the Cheriton Research Symposium concludes with a poster session for Cheriton Graduate Scholarship recipients. In total, 23 students participated in the 2019 Cheriton Research Symposium poster competition.

Melissa McCorriston has received a Vector Scholarship in Artificial Intelligence from the Vector Institute. These $17,500 scholarships recognize promising scholars and researchers in Ontario and support their further studies in a top provincial artificial intelligence–related master’s program.