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Caivan/UW Unite to Address Urban Challenges
The University of Waterloo and The Caivan Group are launching The Future Cities Institute (FCI) thanks to a transformational $10 million commitment from Caivan. The Institute will bring together some of the country’s minds and provide the resources they need to tackle the greatest challenges facing urban spaces now and in the future.
FCI is an interdisciplinary hub housed within Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment. Drawing on expertise from across faculties and leveraging partnerships with industry and government, FCI will take on significant issues like the modernization of city planning and the optimization of infrastructure to prioritize not only how cities will be laid out but how they will be sustainable. Deep examinations of the root causes of pressing issues, like housing and urban transportation, will lead to the development of data-supported toolkits and practical guides that industry and governments can apply to urban policy and construction.
FCI will bring Waterloo’s considerable applied science and engineering expertise to the field of city building. It will create a global network of academia, government, industry and grassroots organizations to mobilize a large body of quantitative research and train a new generation of leaders. Its focus will be on four key areas of study: housing, modelling, mobility and sustainable infrastructure, as well as how they intersect with sustainability, economics, society, health and technology.
The Institute marks an expansion of UW’s Future Cities Initiative.
“ This is the kind of innovative, forward-looking partnership we need to embrace if we truly want to solve humanity’s most challenging issues,” says University of Waterloo President and Vice-Chancellor Vivek Goel.
Caivan CEOs and co-founders Frank Cairo and Troy van Haastrecht, alumni of the University of Waterloo, have supported the school’s Future Cities Initiative since 2021, donating an initial $1 million to seed the initiative.
Through its housing innovation arm, the Advanced Building Innovation Company (ABIC), Caivan uses advanced manufacturing and a suite of proprietary software harnessing artificial intelligence, landuse optimization algorithms, and generative design tools to drive efficiency, quality and sustainability in its product.
“The number and magnitude of challenges humanity will be confronted with in the decades ahead will test our resolve and ability to collaborate effectively,” says Cairo. “The Institute will foster thought-provoking debate, challenge orthodoxy, and produce research that allows city builders to make evidence-based decisions. The pursuit of science and truth is the unifying element in this age of growing dogma.”
