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IQC member wins Canadian writing award
Eric Choi, a senior technical associate at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), has won the 2015 Prix Aurora Award in the category of Best Short Fiction English for his short story “Crimson Sky”.
The Aurora is Canada’s national prize for excellence in science fiction and fantasy, awarded annually by the members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) for exceptional works of speculative literature. This year’s Aurora Award ceremony was held at the SFContario science fiction convention in Toronto on November 22nd.
“Winning the Aurora Award was definitely a big surprise, because all of the finalists in the Short Fiction category were amazing stories written by wonderful fellow writers that I am proud to call my friends,” says Choi. “I wish the Auroras were like the Stanley Cup so that all of our names could have been there.”
“Crimson Sky” is a space adventure story about a search and rescue mission on Mars which takes an unexpected turn. It originally appeared in the July/August 2014 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, the longest running continuously published magazine of the genre whose history can be traced back to 1930 when it was known as Astounding Stories magazine.
Choi joined IQC in 2013, where he is the program manager and space systems engineering technical advisor for IQC projects related to satellite-based quantum key distribution (QKD). Prior to that, he worked on a number of space and aviation projects in Canada and the United States including the meteorological lidar payload on the Phoenix Mars Lander, the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station, the RADARSAT-1 Earth observation satellite, and the MOPITT (Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere) instrument on the Terra satellite. In 2009, he was one of the Top 40 finalists (out of 5,351 applicants) in the Canadian Space Agency’s astronaut recruitment campaign.
This is the second time Choi has received the Aurora Award. In 2011, Choi and fellow writer Derwin Mak jointly won an Aurora in the category of Best Related Work English for co-editing The Dragon and the Stars, the first collection of science fiction and fantasy stories written by authors of the Chinese diaspora. Choi is the author of more than a dozen published short stories and recently co-edited the new science fiction anthology Carbide Tipped Pens with Ben Bova. His latest story “Most Valuable Player”, about a washed-up baseball star who unexpectedly finds redemption in mathematics, will appear in Analog magazine this year.
Waterloo shines in student showcase
by Yuni Jo.
Waterloo co-op students have a reputation for standing out among their peers during their work terms. Michelle Wesolowski and Tania Casaluce are no exception. Both were recently recognized at the Fall Hatch Student Showcase, an event hosted by Hatch, an engineering consultancy that hires co-op students from several universities and colleges. Held every semester, the event gives students the chance to showcase their innovations and contributions to the organization.
Michelle, a 3B Geological Engineering student who was on her final work term, took home the event’s top prize for her work with the company’s geoscience team.
“My role offered much variability, assisting my group with many ongoing projects on the provincial, national, and international scene,” says Michelle. “For the Student Showcase, I wanted to display Hatch’s geoscience involvement with many projects. I was happy to teach others about the specialized services our group provides.”
Tania, a 3A Recreation & Leisure Studies student was recognized for leading the planning and organization of the company-wide event. That’s no small task considering the company has over 10,000 employees in over 65 different offices.
“Being the project manager for this event allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and further develop my planning skills,” she explains. “I am so glad I was able to be a part of this process and if I am ever back at Hatch, I would love the opportunity to do it again.”
In addition to showcasing their work, students also had the chance to interact with employees from all levels of the company, including senior leaders.
“This experience has allowed me to not only deepen my knowledge of the geosciences and earth structure engineering,” states Michelle. “But to also learn about many different facets of our industry.
Congratulations Michelle and Tania on your achievements!
New manager for AccessAbility Services
by Pam Charbonneau.
Student accessibility and accommodations are an important part of our students’ success. Each year, over 2000 students benefit from the support and services offered by AccessAbility Services including advising, in-class and exam accommodations, alternate format, and transportation services. Many partners across campus, including students, instructors, and staff work together to ensure students have fair and equitable access to their university education and experience.
In order to continue to improve our service to students with accommodation needs, AccessAbility Services has moved into a new space in the Needles Hall addition and a process to hire a new Manager, AccessAbility Services has also been underway with involvement and input from many campus stakeholders.
After a lengthy recruitment process I’m excited to announce that Dr. Jennifer Gillies has accepted the role of Manager, AccessAbility Services. Jennifer is a Waterloo graduate with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Recreation and Leisure Studies. Jennifer’s Masters and PhD degrees focused on the experiences of university students with disabilities. She also earned a second Masters degree from York University’s Critical Disability Studies program. Most recently, Jennifer served as Executive Director for the Alzheimer Society of Waterloo Wellington where she led the organization through an amalgamation. Throughout that process, she was able to enhance service delivery while ensuring staff, clients and the community were well informed, engaged, and supported. We look forward to welcoming Jennifer back to campus and introducing her to our students and the University community over the winter term. Jennifer will begin in her role on Monday, January 11.
Issues of accessibility are important and relevant for all members of the campus community. To ensure that appropriate attention and resources are available to address needs of our campus community, the responsibility for AODA compliance and leadership for institutional accessibility will now reside within Human Resources as part of their newly created Health Management Division.
Staff and faculty with questions or concerns related to accessibility should contact Lee Hornberger, assistant director, total compensation at ext. 39188.
Call for proposals for OHD conference; other notes
Organizational & Human Development (OHD) is inviting proposals for the Ninth Annual Waterloo Staff Conference for workshop sessions taking place on April 6 and 7.
Session proposals "should be for a stimulating or interactive learning experience focused on professional and/or personal development of employees at the University of Waterloo," say the 2016 Call for Proposals Guidelines. "The workshop or presentation should include discussion items, activities, and/or other methods of engagement, along with clear learning objectives or outcomes."
The deadline for submissions of proposal abstracts is Friday, January 8. All proposals will be subject to a review process by the OHD office.
The Staff Relations Committee wants all staff to know that it has opened up the first portion of its meetings to members of the University community and regularly has agenda items of interest to staff members in all units of the University. At the meeting this Friday, January 8 starting at 12:30 p.m., there will be discussion on University service guidelines for staff that serve on the board of directors of the University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA).
Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include PagerDuty Inc., TunnelBear Inc., Airbnb, Yext, CIBC - Technology Co-op Program, Inertia Engineering + Design, Genesys Laboratories, Kik Interactive, Sandvine, Aviva Canada, Ubisoft Toronto, Palantir, Sunlife Financial, Bloomberg LP, Infusion, Influitive, Enflick | TextNow, Suncor Energy, Microsoft, Meraki, and Digiflare Inc.
Human Resources is reporting that retiree Raul Valenzuela died December 16, 2015. Raul started working at Waterloo in February 1989. He was a Custodian in Plant Operations at the time of his retirement in June 2004. Raul is survived by his spouse, Emmy.