Here’s a video profiling a couple of Waterloo’s Schulich Leader Scholarship holders. Of course, I especially like it because one of the students, Nicole, is in Chemical Engineering and the video has a few clips of her and her colleagues working with our new distillation equipment in one of our teaching laboratories.
For the new students joining us in September, it may be tempting to think ahead to a relaxing summer vacation before starting university. Perhaps, but there are some things that you could or should consider doing. They will make your life much easier in those first few months of university as you adjust to the new pace and demands of a co-op program. So, here’s my list of recommended summer activities that will have you ahead of the crowd when starting university: Continue reading
There were a couple of unexpected mentions of Waterloo on the international stage recently. In the first one, our Prime Minister Trudeau used Waterloo as an example of Canadian creativity and innovation, at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland. A video clip from that part of his speech is below. The Prime Minister points to our high intellectual standards, focus on entrepreneurship, and diversity. (I should clarify that when he says that 50% of our graduate engineering students are international, he’s referring to our Masters and PhD students. As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, we have only a bit less than 15% of our available undergraduate spaces available for visa students.)
In his speech, the Prime Minister refers to Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley startup funder and mentoring program. Here is a video interview he did to explain why he is so interested in Waterloo students.
In another mention, British actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson mentions the HeForShe IMPACT Scholarships Waterloo launched last year, in support of increasing math and engineering gender balance.
Overall, it’s always nice for universities to attract attention for good reasons.
We are getting ready for our first major Open House event on November 7, and that reminds me that I should do an update on this popular post, with some revisions and clarification for the upcoming September 2016 admissions cycle. No major changes from last year.
Here is an overview on how the process works and the approximate timelines. As usual, this is specific to Waterloo Engineering admissions; other programs and universities will have their own unique variations. Also, make sure you look through our admissions webpages for exact deadlines and official requirements since this is just an unofficial, quick overview and I can’t cover every detail for every variety of applicant and situation. Continue reading
It’s a common question from prospective students and parents, “where are the co-op jobs located? Are they mainly around the Waterloo area?” The answer is definitely “no”, they are not just around Waterloo. But with over 4,000 employers that hire at Waterloo it’s actually a bit hard to start listing off some companies and places. Many of them are smaller or specialized companies that the general public rarely hears about. However, there is one interesting resource that starts to give some insight. Continue reading
An interesting article on the Waterloo area and start-up company activity in recent years, including the impact of Waterloo Engineering and co-op education.
Startup city: The high-tech fever reshaping Kitchener-Waterloo – The Globe and Mail.
The Ontario Universities’ Fair (OUF) is coming up next weekend (Sept 19-21), and the admissions staff have been busy preparing. There are travel and hotel arrangements, training of volunteers, and all sorts of other things to do. The OUF is held in the Toronto Convention Centre, and all Ontario universities have people there to meet with prospective students, parents, etc. There is a website with more information. Continue reading
Here is a nice and interesting story about Waterloo Engineering from the American Society for Engineering Education. I like the picture from our student machine shop.
Here is a link to the official announcement about our new Biomedical Engineering program, from earlier this week. Interest has been very good, with a lot of applications coming in already. I like Prof. Gorbet’s microscope, so I copied the photo here.
Waterloo closes the gap between medicine and engineering | Waterloo Stories.
Exciting news for those who have been asking about Biomedical Engineering at Waterloo! All the necessary internal and external approvals have been received and we are launching an undergraduate (B.A.Sc.) program in September 2014. So the OUAC application centre should now be able to take applications to this program.
I’ll provide some brief details about the program below, and then some more detailed thoughts and comparisons in future posts.
There are other details I will cover later, but let me know in the comments if there are specific topics or questions I should try to address.
