Waterloo Mentioned in New York Times & Communications of the ACM

The University of Waterloo has been mentioned in two major publications, the New York Times and Communications of the ACM. In both publications, they highlight the success of the university’s co-op program and the opportunities it has provided to current students and alumni. These publications also highlight and acknowledge Waterloo as one of Canada’s top engineering schools, showcasing alumni and former students, as well as the companies they have started. BlackBerry, formally known as Research In Motion, was the fore-running company to start off the highlights. Newer companies were also mentioned in publication including Pebble, the E-Paper watch company started by a UW alumni, and BufferBox, a parcel delivery system which has recently been acquired by Google.

The New York Times is famously known as America’s most popular newspaper web site, with its print version known as the largest local metropolitan newspaper. On February 4^th, 2013, the New York Times published an article written by Ian Austen that mentions the University of Waterloo, its alumni and former students, as well as the companies that have developed from this institution. Particularly, the article highlights the kind of approach that our institution has towards research and academics. It is interesting to note that our institution’s policy on Intellectual Property is something that has attracted many successful people here.

From the article:

“Different approaches, rather than money, have instead enabled [Waterloo] to attract prominent faculty members from around the world as well as Canada’s top engineering and computer science students.

Unusually for a college or university in North America, Waterloo does not require its faculty or students to give it any ownership stake in products or inventions they create there. For faculty members, control of that intellectual property can potentially be far more valuable than any university salary.”

The University of Waterloo has also been mentioned in January’s issue of Communications of the ACM, a monthly magazine of the  ‘Association for Computing Machinery’ (ACM), is known as the world’s largest and most prestigious scientific and educational computing society. In the January publication, Salman Khan, founder and executive director of the Khan Academy, talks about the demands of employers versus the educational services offered at most colleges and universities. He proceeds to highlight the co-op program at the University of Waterloo, focusing primarily on the experience of co-ops students that had co-op terms in the Silicon Valley, and how the co-op program at this institution satisfies the need that most employers are looking for when interviewing new hires. The article primarily focuses on a theoretical college that satisfies the job experience needs sought by most employers, and how the University of Waterloo approaches this need through the co-op program.

From the article:

“While the students at most colleges are taking notes in lecture halls and cramming for winter exams, the Waterloo students are pushing themselves intellectually by working on real projects with experienced professionals. They are also getting valuable time with employers and pretty much guaranteeing several job offers once they graduate.”

Being mentioned by large publications has given alumni an opportunity to showcase their achievements to a larger audience. According to an email sent on behalf of the Dean of Engineering, Pearl Sullivan, “This recognition represents a milestone for Waterloo in terms of our presence on the world stage, and is something of which everyone connected to the University can be proud.” This news coverage has also provided an opportunity to highlight some of the more positive aspects of our university’s co-op program, which is already famous for being the largest co-op program in the world. As a school full of dedicated and passionate students motivated to work towards their degree, this recent news coverage provides a larger recognition of the value in getting an education from the University of Waterloo.

Being mentioned in two large publications definitely instills a bit of pride in being a part of the University of Waterloo, as well as being part of the Faculty of Engineering. I look forward to seeing more achievements coming from the talented students within our faculty during their co-ops, as well as from future alumni who are completing their journey through their undergraduate career!

The New York Times article, “Once BlackBerry Focused, a Campus Widens Its View”, can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/technology/a-canadian-campus-focused-on-tech-and-enterprise.html?_r=0

The Communication of the AGM article, “What College Could Be Like”, can be found here: http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2013/1/158766-what-college-could-be-like/fulltext