FEBRUARY 2014
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philanthropic wings shortly
after by creating an energy
and environmental manage-
ment software system at the
York Region, and licenced it
to numerous other municipali-
ties on a cost recovery basis,
as well as leading a $40 mil-
lion sustainability program
at York University involving
renewable energy measures.
“I’ve always enjoyed the pro-
cess of creation, whether it’s
energy programs or enabling
tools to support the sustain-
able use of energy.”
As part of the University’s vi-
sion, WISE was established to
address the complexities and
challenges of energy transi-
tions. “The importance of en-
ergy as a strategic priority to
the University was recognized
with the goal to foster align-
ment of research capacity and
to advance multidisciplinary
initiatives at Waterloo,” says
Tracey. “The imperative to
build a global sustainable en-
ergy future requires us to re-
fashion the way we produce
and use energy, and at the
University of Waterloo we are
engaged in this complex task
of bringing the promise and
potential of our technologi-
cal prowess into alignment
with societal needs that are
truly sustainable over the
long-term.” WISE has grown
to become Canada’s largest
concentration of academic re-
searchers devoted to sustain-
able energy and its members
include 100 faculty and hun-
dreds of graduate students – a
number that has grown scru-
pulously since the institute
first opened its doors.
WISE has three primary
points of operations. First,
the organization works in the
