Sustainable futures

New insights into the future of Antarctica

Turning food waste into new bioplastic

Coding for a greener internet

New insights into the future of Antarctica

In the first study to consider the long-term evolution of the rivers that flow beneath glaciers, researchers have uncovered new insights into the future of Antarctica’s melting ice that may change the way climate scientists predict the effects of a warming planet.

“It is important for projections of sea level rise to be as accurate as possible so that policy makers and stakeholders can plan and adapt while we as a society strive to reach zero emissions as quickly as possible.”

 Dr. Shivani Ehrenfeucht, post-doctoral fellow, Faculty of Environment

Discover how researchers are mapping beneath the Antarctic ice sheet→

MetaCycler BioInnovations co-founders Dadzie, Nicole LeBlanc and Jonathan Parkes working in their lab.

Turning food waste into new bioplastic

MetaCycler BioInnovations has changed current plastic waste management methods by creating a better bio-based plastic alternative that combines the flexible properties of traditional plastic and is 100 per cent biodegradable.

The Velocity startup produces polyhydroxyalkanoates, a biodegradable polymer, by engineering bacteria to convert waste from milk and cheese production. It’s a solution that upcycles waste from the dairy industry into cost-effective, sustainable bio-based plastics.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see research evolve beyond the lab bench and contribute to real-world sustainability solutions.”

Eugenia Dadzie, co-founder, MetaCycler BioInnovations

Peter Cai and Martin Karsten collaborating at the data servers.

Coding for a greener internet

Researchers from Waterloo have found a way to reduce the energy use of some data centres by as much as 30 per cent.

Building on this, Dr. Martin Karsten worked with Joe Damato, a distinguished engineer at Fastly, to develop a section of code, a non-intrusive kernel change of just 30 lines that would improve Linux’s network traffic processing.

“We didn’t add anything. We just rearranged what is done when, which leads to a much better usage of CPU caches. It’s kind of like rearranging the pipeline at a manufacturing plant, so that you don’t have people running around all the time.”

Dr. Martin Karsten, professor, Computer Science

See how a small change to code can achieve better performance and efficiency →

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