Daily Bulletin article: Springing forward

Friday, April 4, 2014

This article originally appeared in the Friday, March 28, 2014 edition of the Daily Bulletin.

I suppose I should start with an apology.

When I last wrote to you in this space, on February 28, I concluded my article with this sentiment:

“Thank you for keeping at your work and studies during such a long and cold winter. The next time I write to you Spring will have sprung!”

Technically true, sure, but in retrospect a little misleading. In any event, you’d never know the winter blues were at work at the University of Waterloo. March has been an extraordinary month!

On the week of March 17, I led Waterloo’s delegation to the Technion University in Israel, where we signed a significant partnership agreement with that university.

Our joint research teams got to work planning for collaboration in the core partnerships areas of quantum information science, nanotechnology and water. We were thrilled at the recognition and admiration the University of Waterloo received during the conference.

This effort is a key element of Waterloo’s international activity over the last number of months. In fact, I think we are developing an excellent platform to build Waterloo’s leadership position on international education in the years ahead.

I examined some of the major challenges and opportunities on the international scene in my just-published article for U15.ca, the website of Canada’s group of research-intensive universities. I currently have the honour of vice-chairing this group, and it has been a great experience supporting the U15’s mandate both at home and abroad. Recently I was in the fortunate position negotiating the U15’s connection to the Global Network of research intensive universities —a well-deserved recognition of Canada’s research excellence.

Also this month, we continued our series of Mini Town Halls on our Strategic Plan themes. I helped to kick off the series at the first session on Entrepreneurship on March 6. These are great opportunities to learn more about the university’s strategic direction and engage with our theme leaders. The next installment is on the subject of Internationalization, and taking place on April 2. Full details and registration information are online.

March also brought a time to bid farewell and good luck to one of my administration colleagues. Tim Jackson, our now former vice-president for university relations, concluded his service with the University of Waterloo to pursue his passion for social finance and entrepreneurship at MaRS in Toronto.

Those of you who know Tim know that he is an extraordinary person and that he loves this university. He will be missed! In his absence, I am personally helping to lead the University Relations area in partnership with its management team, and it’s all systems go for that critical portfolio.

Looking forward, April promises to be every bit as exciting as March.

We have the annual Waterloo Innovation Summit slated for April 14-15, with an outstanding roster of speakers and panelists lined up. WINS, as we refer to the summit, is designed to be a “networking and ideation” platform for some of the region’s and world’s leading entrepreneurship thinkers and practitioners. As you know, WINS is not intended to be a standalone event, but rather the annual keystone of our entrepreneurship and innovation strategy at the university.

Taken together — from new university partnerships, to key international efforts on behalf of Canadian universities, to continued leadership on innovation and entrepreneurship — the University of Waterloo is showing the world that we intend to help lead the way among globally-minded, innovative universities.

Thank you for making your own unique contributions to this exciting journey each and every day.

All the best for April,

Feridun