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by otoburb 4949 days ago
My understanding is that Waterloo has been a Microsoft and RIM software talent poaching ground for over a decade. The Waterloo Engineering and CS programs are known for their extremely high quality and rigour.

The recent string of higher profile alumni successes reinforces this reputation and serves as a beacon for Canadian high-school graduate intake. Now if only they would do something about the concrete jungle they call their campus :)
5 comments
guyzero 4949 days ago
Waterloo was a MSFT poaching ground when I was an undergrad in 1992... well before RIM was even on the scene. Macleans magazine has consistently ranked it the best engineering school in Canada. They've been winning ACM programming contests since the math building had the dinosaur pit (http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/cs/redroom/).

As for campus being ugly... hey, you can't have everything.

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acchow 4949 days ago
It has now become a Google/FB/MSFT/Amazon poaching ground.
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stevenameyer 4949 days ago
While Waterloo has been a talent poaching ground for Microsoft and RIM for a while, and more recently for Google, Facebook and the likes. The thing i think that really gets overlooked is the startup community in the area.

With an incubator residence on campus (http://velocity.uwaterloo.ca/)

Another new incubator in the region (http://hyperdrive.communitech.ca/#applyNow)

An organization dedicated to helping startups in the are (https://www.communitech.ca/)

The recent successes of companies like BufferBox and Kik, have showed that startups can succeed and thrive in the area.

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kymchiho 4949 days ago
Great links, it's a solid place to kickstart an idea.
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a3camero 4949 days ago
I talked to an MS recruiter a couple years ago who said they hired more graduates from Waterloo than any other school.
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timothya 4949 days ago
I agree that it's mostly a concrete jungle, but there are some new buildings going up. The new Quantum Nano Centre just opened a few months ago, and it looks pretty spiffy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAZXcVLMMG0
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mindcruzer 4949 days ago
No kidding. The buildings are getting nicer but there is almost no green space left on campus.
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