All Posts Tagged With: "computing"
$100-million quantum computing fund established
Waterloo aims to capitalize on emerging field
BlackBerry co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin say they have established a $100-million fund for the development and commercialization of quantum computing.
They say the new Quantum Valley Investments fund in Waterloo, Ont., will be a catalyst for breakthroughs in an emerging field that could revolutionize information technology.
The two men collaborated to found the company formerly known as Research In Motion, which recently changed its name to BlackBerry (TSX:BB) in keeping with its main product line.
Lazaridis has already been a driving force behind the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, which was conceived as a world-leading centre for research.
He and Fregin say they believe the new fund will complement the institute’s work and could lead to the creation of new industries and jobs in the Waterloo region.
Their entire Saturday coding
University of Ottawa hosts a “hackathon”
Poirier (in blue) and a team member
Fuelled by energy drinks and pizza, future engineers from the University of Ottawa spent 24 hours one recent Saturday hunched over keyboards for the campus’ first-ever ‘hackathon.’
Student Antoine Grondin organized what he said was the first event of its kind at U of O.“I was frustrated that people in my class don’t tend to code on their own,” he said, adding that he wanted to make people who enjoy coding realize “they don’t have to wait for an assignment.”
More than 20 students participated in the contest during which teams of up to four tried to out-code the others. Each team got a programmable tank, an animated robot that drove around the computer screen. The tank could be customized by adding more code to do things like dodge bullets, drive in patterns or change colours. After the 24 hour period was up, the tanks competed on a virtual battlefield. The last one standing was the winner. Students had to predict opponents’ moves and tell their tanks how to react.
Mandatory gym? Ctrl-Alt-Delete
Computing students fight back against forced exercise
Students Alex Geoffrey Lee and Marwan Marwan in the gym at BCIT. Photo by Simon Hayter.
“I try not to get too riled up about it,” says Chris Holisky, “but it’s hard.” Indeed, Holisky has plenty of time to stew during his hour-long commute to the British Columbia Institute of Technology on Thursday mornings. The first-year computer systems technology student is required to be inside the campus gym by 8:30 a.m. sharp. His weekly rush-hour jaunt is rewarded with a 50-minute free-for-all (there’s no actual instruction) and a signature on an attendance sheet. The 36-year-old says he’d rather spend the mornings helping his girlfriend get her kids to school. But if he doesn’t get those signatures, Holisky won’t graduate. “It’s insulting,” he says.
