How Waterloo Became Silicon Valley's Favorite Talent Farm
kyliebytes · x · 2026-09-19
Fortune reporter Kylie Robison visited the University of Waterloo to investigate the Bay Area meme that Waterloo produces "cracked" engineers.
- The campus Hacker Fab club builds homemade semiconductor gear: two engineering students built a magnetron sputtering machine for under $500 (a lab setup costs $500K) and publish the plans so students can make chips in a closet — professors even ask to stay unaware to avoid liability.
- The piece also features a chess match with Geoffrey Hinton, painting how this cold, boring town became a talent farm for Silicon Valley.
Related event: Inside Waterloo: The $500 Chip Lab Behind Silicon Valley's Talent Pipeline(2 posts)→
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