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University of Waterloo Students Win Facebook's Hackathon

velocity.uwaterloo.ca

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Re: University of Waterloo Students Win Facebook's Hackathon

#51

Post by srlake »

10dpd wrote: post #13

For the last year I've been aware of the impact of Waterloo in tech and have conducted some research into why this might be so. Two things I've discovered: 1. Academic staff own any IP resulting from their research, making it very attractive and easy to recruit top academics. Almost all other universities assume ownership of IP. 2. An intern program that requires students to take an internship every other semester, e…

This ties into #1 and important to also mention:

Undergraduate students also own all of their own IP. If you want to commercialize something you've worked on in school, you don't even need to deal with a tech transfer office: you just do it.

Re: University of Waterloo Students Win Facebook's Hackathon

#52

Post by timothya »

pav3l wrote: post #22
10dpd wrote: post #13

For the last year I've been aware of the impact of Waterloo in tech and have conducted some research into why this might be so. Two things I've discovered: 1. Academic staff own any IP resulting from their research, making it very attractive and easy to recruit top academics. Almost all other universities assume ownership of IP. 2. An intern program that requires students to take an internship every other semester, e…

Waterloo is well known in Canada for having an exceptional Mathematics program (if I'm not mistaken you graduate with BMath, not a BA/BSc with a math major).

Waterloo is correspondingly one of the only universities with a whole faculty devoted to math. It's one of the reasons I chose to study at Waterloo: I get a lot more math in computer science than I would elsewhere.

Re: University of Waterloo Students Win Facebook's Hackathon

#54

Post by OmarIsmail »

supersaiyan wrote: post #45
throwaway1979 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think those are two very strong reasons. However, at the end of the day, Waterloo puts its students through the meat grinder. My nephew studies there and I am blown away by the stuff he is getting taught in first and second year. The thing that surprised me was when he tried to apply to Silicon Valley start-ups, he got very limited response. I think part of it is that people don't realize how awesome Waterloo is.

I agree on the second part, I can get interviews with google/microsoft/facebook, etc, basically the big tech companies. But its far more difficult getting interviews from start ups in SV

Not sure what term you're in but startups - particularly the smaller 2/3 team ones, can't absorb more junior developers. But if you're in 3A and above you should be strong enough to hit the ground running.

There's also immigration issues. To get a J-1 visa the host company needs to meet certain requirements.

In any event as a Waterloo alum currently doing a YC-backed startup in SF, we'll be posting jobs in the next co-op round.

Re: University of Waterloo Students Win Facebook's Hackathon

#55

Post by potatolicious »

throwaway1979 wrote: post #21
10dpd wrote: post #13

For the last year I've been aware of the impact of Waterloo in tech and have conducted some research into why this might be so. Two things I've discovered: 1. Academic staff own any IP resulting from their research, making it very attractive and easy to recruit top academics. Almost all other universities assume ownership of IP. 2. An intern program that requires students to take an internship every other semester, e…

I think those are two very strong reasons. However, at the end of the day, Waterloo puts its students through the meat grinder. My nephew studies there and I am blown away by the stuff he is getting taught in first and second year. The thing that surprised me was when he tried to apply to Silicon Valley start-ups, he got very limited response. I think part of it is that people don't realize how awesome Waterloo is.

Top-tier major US employers all know about Waterloo's reputation, and recruit very heavily there. Most startups are completely unaware of Waterloo, but so many Waterloo grads earn their stripes at a major top-tier employer (Google, Facebook, MS, etc) that many of them (including myself) graduate out into the greater world of US startups.

Re: University of Waterloo Students Win Facebook's Hackathon

#56

Post by vowelless »

OmarIsmail wrote: post #54
supersaiyan wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree on the second part, I can get interviews with google/microsoft/facebook, etc, basically the big tech companies. But its far more difficult getting interviews from start ups in SV

Not sure what term you're in but startups - particularly the smaller 2/3 team ones, can't absorb more junior developers. But if you're in 3A and above you should be strong enough to hit the ground running. There's also immigration issues. To get a J-1 visa the host company needs to meet certain requirements. In any event as a Waterloo alum currently doing a YC-backed startup in SF, we'll be posting jobs in the next c…

I thought Canadians could work on a TN visa in the US with minimal complications.

Re: University of Waterloo Students Win Facebook's Hackathon

#57

Post by justjimmy »

vowelless wrote: post #56
OmarIsmail wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what term you're in but startups - particularly the smaller 2/3 team ones, can't absorb more junior developers. But if you're in 3A and above you should be strong enough to hit the ground running. There's also immigration issues. To get a J-1 visa the host company needs to meet certain requirements. In any event as a Waterloo alum currently doing a YC-backed startup in SF, we'll be posting jobs in the next c…

I thought Canadians could work on a TN visa in the US with minimal complications.

To get a TN Visa you need 3 years work experience in the relavent field (there's a list) and it's on the whim of the agent you face.

1.5 years for me to go~ (currently in TO).

Re: University of Waterloo Students Win Facebook's Hackathon

#59

Post by jarek »

justjimmy wrote: post #57
vowelless wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought Canadians could work on a TN visa in the US with minimal complications.

To get a TN Visa you need 3 years work experience in the relavent field (there's a list) and it's on the whim of the agent you face. 1.5 years for me to go~ (currently in TO).

> To get a TN Visa you need 3 years work experience in the relavent field (there's a list)

This is completely inaccurate unless you mean without a post-secondary degree. Tons of new grads head south on a TN straight after graduating, even if they didn't do co-op.

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