Friday, July 17, 2015

Code-A-Character connects kids to digital tools

This is the latest in a series of #UWCommunity stories that feature Waterloo in the community.

The Stratford Public Library is proving that libraries aren’t just managing to survive in the age of Google, but are in fact thriving in the age of Google. Working collaboratively, the University of Waterloo’s Stratford Campus and the Stratford Public Library recently showed a group of 24 kids between the ages of 11 and 19 that there’s more to the world than their search engines through Code-A-Character.

Code-A-Character is a 21^st-century book club where young participants discuss characters, learn to code them, and eventually showcase them on the world’s tallest Christie MicroTiles display for our community to see. 

For 10 weeks between April and June 2015, Jordan Mandel, creative media instructor at the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, had the joy of leading this incredible group of kids in learning to code with Processing and was continually amazed at how hungry they were to engage with their books and take their first steps toward digital literacy. After just three weeks of learning, one participant showed him a computer game he’d designed with the few ingredients they’d learned in class and a few more from the Internet.

Participants worked in pairs to envision a character from the book they’d read, and were tasked with designing the character in 3 parts: head, torso, and legs. Each of the parts were configured so they’d randomly switch and every 10 seconds a new concoction of a character would appear on the wall at a staggering 10 metres in height.

Code-A-Character was designed to not only give these kids a creative introduction to the world of code, but also to offer them a sense of structure and supply them with a quality experience - which is something that a University and a Library can do together in a way that Google will never replicate.                                        

This unique initiative is about the celebration of these digital services and the community-driven institutions that are providing new ways to access this newfound knowledge, but it also recognizes that inaccessibility to these tools creates learning gaps for youth getting ready to navigate our contemporary working world. If libraries can see themselves as connectors of people, their future is bright, as our community learning spaces provide something scarce, something that will never go out of style: inspiration, quality, and human connection.

GAIA project envisions smarter, greener vehicles

A new breed of smarter and greener cars than current models could emerge from technology developed at a new research facility at the University of Waterloo.

The $10 million Green and Intelligent Automotive (GAIA) research facility has been established in the Faculty of Engineering with $1 million initial funding from Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC). The Governments of Canada and Ontario are also providing $2.1 million each through the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Fund Research Infrastructure program.

GAIA will consist of three labs: one focusing on powertrain efficiency, another on longer-lasting batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and a third lab for testing research-modified hybrid electric vehicles on rolling dynamometers.

Alternative powertrains found in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are integral to the future of transportation. Developing intelligent software for use in low-cost, on-board vehicle computers can provide significant reductions of both emissions and fuel consumption.

Complex component systems will contribute to the development of new in-vehicle power electronics and embedded controllers. The result of this research work also has the potential to enable hybrid vehicles to feed energy into Canada’s electrical grid and become an integral daytime supplier of low cost energy.

“The GAIA facility will enable world-class multidisciplinary research with a strong collaborative approach,” said John McPhee, a Waterloo systems design engineering professor who heads the GAIA project. The facility will be accessible to a range of automotive companies and universities currently partnering with the University of Waterloo. Professor McPhee will lead a research team of eight professors from four different engineering departments.

As part of the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR), which leads automotive-academic collaboration in North America, GAIA will support Canadian industry in providing new components and systems into a rapidly growing market. The facility has the capacity to conduct confidential projects simultaneously, offering open access for any company. To meet demand, it is expected new companies will be established, while existing manufacturers will evolve their product offerings.

Notes, from bluegrass and beyond

The UW University Choir will be exploring the roots of American folk music at an event entitled "Bluegrass and Beyond" on Saturday, July 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Cedars Worship Centre on Beechwood Drive in Waterloo.

Bluegrass music, also known as "old time music" or "old folk music" if you prefer, is a genre of music indigenous to North America created by immigrants who settled in Appalachia with roots as varied as traditional Irish, Scottish and English ballads and African-American music, as its influences include spirituals, blues and jazz, Maritime traditional songs, fiddle and dance music. Carol Barnett's The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass is the featured piece. Admission is $10, or $5 for students and seniors. Guests under 12 are free. Tickets are available at the door.

Waterloo alumnus Garret Rank will be swinging for Canada at the Pan Am Games as part of Team Canada's golf squad this week. Rank is a former OUA golf champion and an accomplished hockey referee.

Counselling and Psychological Services, currently based in Needles Hall, will be moving to its new location on the second floor of the Needles Hall expansion next week. The office will be closed as of Monday, July 20 to facilitate the move, with the unit reopening on Monday, July 27 in its new digs.

Please note that Psychological Services at Health Services is not moving. 

To find the new location as of July 27, enter Needles Hall from its ring road entrance, take the stairs or elevator to the second floor, and check at the reception desk.