Patrick Lam

Thoughts and travels of Patrick Lam

Don't be a weka

Kapiti Island is a nature reserve from which the New Zealand Department of Conservation has removed non-native predators (possums, rats, etc.) Weka is not just a machine learning toolkit, but also a vulnerable flightless New Zealand bird. The bird will steal your lunch that is right in front of you on the table and run away with it if you don’t chase after it. Life tip: Don’t be a weka.

Posted by Patrick Lam on Sunday, January 19, 2020

2019 retrospective

New year, new website! I hope to start breaking out of Associate Professor Purgatory in 2020 and what I’ve accomplished in 2019 will lay the groundwork for that. Professional I completed my 3 year 4 month term as SE Director. It’s been rewarding but work/work balance means that I’ve had less time to spend on research. SE Director I was thrilled that my students successfully nominated me for the Friend of EngSoc award.

Posted by Patrick Lam on Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Optimal travel from Montreal to Waterloo

The plan was to leave our stuff at our friends’ place in Toronto, go to Montreal and the Eastern Townships for the holidays, leave our car at my parents’ place, and then get back to Waterloo, clean the house and execute last-minute tasks, and then get back to Toronto, pick up our 5 checked bags and bring them all to the airport. Let’s talk about getting from Montreal (well, Brossard) to Waterloo on December 28.

Posted by Patrick Lam on Saturday, December 28, 2019

Travel options from Waterloo

2019 Travel options to/from Waterloo A lot has changed from the last time I wrote this in 2008. The options for getting to Toronto and Pearson are much better. I went to BUF a few times a while ago but now there aren’t good Star Alliance options from BUF and they’re not that much cheaper, so I haven’t done it for a while. Here are various options for carless transportation from Waterloo in 2019.

Posted by Patrick Lam on Thursday, December 26, 2019

YOW - downtown Ottawa, December 2019

One of my strange hobbies is walking to or from airports. In the ideal case it is walking between the airport and the place I am sleeping. I flew into YOW in December 2019 and had the opportunity to take a 13km walk. Complete gallery: https://gallery.patricklam.ca/index.php?/category/1209 Itinerary From YOW, out on Paul Benoit Driveway past the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, to Riverside Dr, meeting the Rideau River at Mooney’s Bay and “civilization” at Billings Bridge, then across the Rideau on Bank through the Glebe and Centretown to Albert St and my destination.

Posted by Patrick Lam on Thursday, December 26, 2019

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Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo; patrick.lam@uwaterloo.ca

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