Brief Biography

1. The universe started.
2. I was born in Kitchener, Ontraio, in 1970 (AD).
3. I attended Alexandra school from grades K-3 (Waterloo, Ontraio).
4. Then Northdale from grades 3-6 (Waterloo, Ontario).
5. Then MacGregor for grades 7 and 8 (Waterloo, Ontario).
6. And then Waterloo Collegiate Institute from grades 9-13 (guess where).
7. For some unknown reason, my parents bought a Commodore-64 computer in 1983. I took to that computer like a geek to… well, like a geek to a computer.
8. Even though I really wanted to leave Waterloo, the best university opportunity for me ended up being the University of Waterloo.
9. I received my B.Math. degree from the University of Waterloo in applied math in 1994. It was a co-op degree, so I got to work in Ottawa, Toronto, and Pinawa (Manitoba).
10. I was blessed with the chance to move to the west coast of Canada for the next phase of my life.
11. Got my M.Sc. degree from the University of British Columbia in applied math (dynamical systems) in 1996 (finally, I got out of Waterloo).
12. I worked for 7 months as a software test engineer at Hughes aircraft… I didn’t really like it.
13. Taught math at the Okanagan University College in Kelowna, BC, for 2 years.
    This, I liked.
    A bonus was that my girlfriend’s family lives in the Okanagan Valley.
14. I married Tricia Gee on July 3, 1999.
15. Started my Ph.D. in Computing science at Simon Fraser University in 1999, under the supervision of Prof. Stella Atkins.
16. I successfully defended my PhD thesis on April 15, 2003.
17. On July 1, 2003, I started my job as an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. OK, so I’m headed back to Waterloo. But this time, it’s my choice.
18. My daughter Heather was born on July 24, 2004.
19. My second daughter Adelaide (Addie for short) was born on Nov. 20, 2005.
20. My son Lauchlan was born on June 9, 2008.
21. I was officially denied tenure on Feb. 26, 2009. Ugh.
22. I appealed the tenure decision, and won on May 21, 2009. YES!
23. I became an Associate Professor with tenure on July 1, 2009.
24. Changed my research focus to computational neuroscience in 2010.
25. The first neuroscience journal article from my lab was published in 2013.
26. Moved to Bristol, England (with family in tow) for 12-month sabbatical, 2013-2014. I was hosted by the School of Experimental Psychology, and was honoured with the title IAS Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor.
27. Moved back to Canada after my sabbatical.
28. I was supposed to take my family on another 12-month sabbatical to New Zealand. However, the coronavirus pandemic hit just a few months before, so it’s been delayed.
29. Once the pandemic settled down, I took my family to Sydney, Australia, for a 6-month sabbatical (Aug 2022 - Jan 2023). I worked with the International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems at Western Sydney University.