The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
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The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
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Re: The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
#2In my opinion, the engine of Waterloo's success is the university's unique co-op program. UW operates on a four-month rotating co-op system, each student does four months of school, then four months of internships, repeat for the duration of their degree. Many of us land in the Valley, or NY, or London, and bring what we learn back here. Most of my friends have multiple google/facebook/valley start-up internships on their resume by the time they graduate.
I was a little disappointed that they didn't mention our vibrant start-up scene. I write this now from Velocity, the university's start-up incubator, from which four YC companies have graduated. There are Union Square and Sequoia-funded companies in town, and we account for every Google acquisition in Canada, ever.
Re: The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
#3[deleted]
Re: The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
#4If you are interested in hiring Waterloo co-ops at your company, they intern in four month intervals year round: http://hire.uwaterloo.ca/
Re: The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
#5In my opinion, the engine of Waterloo's success is the university's unique co-op program. UW operates on a four-month rotating co-op system, each student does four months of school, then four months of internships, repeat for the duration of their degree. Many of us land in the Valley, or NY, or London, and bring what we learn back here. Most of my friends have multiple google/facebook/valley start-up internships on…
As a UW alumnus doing a full-time startup a few blocks from UW, I actually don't see much of this "vibrant start-up scene" happening.
This is entirely my fault, which leads me to the question I've been wondering about for a while now:
Where in town would I go to get hooked in?
VeloCity has always been on my radar, but their site is terribly uninformative and doesn't give much of a place to start.
I hang around the university quite a bit but this hasn't gotten me any leads, either.
Re: The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
#6If you are interested in hiring Waterloo co-ops at your company, they intern in four month intervals year round: http://hire.uwaterloo.ca/
Here is a good guide for hiring UW co-ops: http://barbaramacdonald.ca/post/11153941771/how-to-hire-the-...
Written by my cofounder
Re: The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
#7In my opinion, the engine of Waterloo's success is the university's unique co-op program. UW operates on a four-month rotating co-op system, each student does four months of school, then four months of internships, repeat for the duration of their degree. Many of us land in the Valley, or NY, or London, and bring what we learn back here. Most of my friends have multiple google/facebook/valley start-up internships on…
As a UW alumnus doing a full-time startup a few blocks from UW, I actually don't see much of this "vibrant start-up scene" happening. This is entirely my fault, which leads me to the question I've been wondering about for a while now: Where in town would I go to get hooked in ? VeloCity has always been on my radar, but their site is terribly uninformative and doesn't give much of a place to start. I hang around the u…
A lot of stuff are going at the Communitech Hub (i'm in the Velocity Workspace) and the Accelerator Center. There is free drinks & food for startups Jan 11th 5:30 - 7:30 at the Accelerator Center.
Re: The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
#8In my opinion, the engine of Waterloo's success is the university's unique co-op program. UW operates on a four-month rotating co-op system, each student does four months of school, then four months of internships, repeat for the duration of their degree. Many of us land in the Valley, or NY, or London, and bring what we learn back here. Most of my friends have multiple google/facebook/valley start-up internships on…
Funny, I came here to say the exact opposite--how the four-months-at-a-time thing doesn't make any sense to me because I've always experienced the vast majority of learning during the 4-12 month range of my employment periods.
University of Toronto (my alma mater) does 18 month coop terms which make marginally more sense to me. I'm generally anti-coop for people who would have no trouble finding a job when they graduate without coop.
> We [Waterloo grads] account for every Google acquisition in Canada, ever.
That's completely untrue. There are plenty of UofT grads acquired into Google, off the top of my head: Bumptop[1] (or even myself[2] if you count that). A bunch more from BC and Montreal, I'm sure. I'd be skeptical of a claim that Waterloo even accounts for a majority of Canadian acquisitions into Google.
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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumptop
[2] http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/10/google-acquires-socialgrap...
Re: The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
#9In my opinion, the engine of Waterloo's success is the university's unique co-op program. UW operates on a four-month rotating co-op system, each student does four months of school, then four months of internships, repeat for the duration of their degree. Many of us land in the Valley, or NY, or London, and bring what we learn back here. Most of my friends have multiple google/facebook/valley start-up internships on…
Funny, I came here to say the exact opposite--how the four-months-at-a-time thing doesn't make any sense to me because I've always experienced the vast majority of learning during the 4-12 month range of my employment periods. University of Toronto (my alma mater) does 18 month coop terms which make marginally more sense to me. I'm generally anti-coop for people who would have no trouble finding a job when they gradu…
Exactly. Waterloo have had some solid pops, just as everywhere else. Waterloo simply seems to be some of the most visible.
Re: The Invention of Waterloo (Canada’s Technology Triangle)
#10In my opinion, the engine of Waterloo's success is the university's unique co-op program. UW operates on a four-month rotating co-op system, each student does four months of school, then four months of internships, repeat for the duration of their degree. Many of us land in the Valley, or NY, or London, and bring what we learn back here. Most of my friends have multiple google/facebook/valley start-up internships on…
Funny, I came here to say the exact opposite--how the four-months-at-a-time thing doesn't make any sense to me because I've always experienced the vast majority of learning during the 4-12 month range of my employment periods. University of Toronto (my alma mater) does 18 month coop terms which make marginally more sense to me. I'm generally anti-coop for people who would have no trouble finding a job when they gradu…
Going by List of acquisitions by Google [1], and from my knowledge of the founders (which is not complete by any means):
Reqwireless - UW founders
BumpTop - UT founders
Zetawire - Uvic / UT founder
SocialDeck - UW founders
Pushlife - UW founder
PostRank - UW founders
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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_Google