Google refuses to lose in Waterloo.

Only 6-months after the Microsoft event where founder Bill Gates urged students to pursue an education in Computer Science and a career at Microsoft, Google embarks into Waterloo, ON in an attempt to seek out some of the best young talent.

Waterloo, ON is home to the University of Waterloo (UW), and Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU).

The University of Waterloo is known to many as the ‘Canadian MIT’ for its strengths in Engineering and Computer Science. The University of Waterloo’s Computer Science department can be indirectly connected to Google as it is named after Google seed investor David Cheriton, who donated $25 million to the UW School of Computer Science - now the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science.

WLU is known for its Business Administration program and is known for producing some of the best Chartered Accountants and Entrepreneurs via the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Wireless giant Research in Motion (RIM) was founded in Waterloo and the management team is comprised of solely graduates from WLU and UW:

• Chairman and Co-CEO Jim Balsillie holds a Doctorate Degree from Wilfrid Laurier University.
• Mike Lazaridis is President and Co-CEO of Research In Motion, the company he founded while a student at the University of Waterloo, Canada.
• Dennis Kavelman has been Chief Financial Officer at Research In Motion and holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Google took its first step into Waterloo quietly in the summer of 2005, a deal that wasn’t announced until January 5th, 2006. It had purchased Reqwireless Inc., which makes Web browser and e-mail software for wireless devices. However, the small wireless company’s products are no longer available for purchase.

“We acquired Reqwireless because of the talented engineers and great technology,” Google stated in an e-mail statement to the Financial Post. “We’re thrilled to have them here.”

Google begins its recruiting on March 14th on the UW Campus, looking to hire software engineers and developers in the city that has become a hotbed for software development and wireless technology. Craig Nevill-Manning, director of engineering at Google’s New York offices, will speak at the four-hour public event.

[tags]Google, Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier, University of Waterloo, WLU, UW, Reqwireless[/tags]