Friday, February 12, 2016

Waterloo people receive their Order of Canada

Several people with links to the University of Waterloo will be among the 47 people receiving an Order of Canada at an investiture ceremony held at Rideau Hall in Ottawa at 10:30 a.m. today.

Linda Nazar was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions as a materials chemist who has developed advanced battery systems for clean-energy storage. She is a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Waterloo, is cross appointed to the Department of Electrical Engineering, and is a researcher at the Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology.

Garry Rempel becomes a Member of the Order of Canada for his contributions to the field of chemical engineering, notably for advancing research in rubber technology. He is a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and affiliated with the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology,

Also a new Member of the Order of Canada is Carolyn Hansson, for her contributions as a materials engineer whose efforts have reduced corrosion and improved the performance of reinforced concrete structures. She is a professor in the Faculty of Engineering,

Prem Watsa, chancellor emeritus, becomes Member of the Order of Canada, recognized for his achievements as a business leader, and for his work as a volunteer and philanthropist.

Ophelia Lazaridis, a Waterloo alumna who served on the University's Board of Governors from 2009 to 2015, was named a Member of the Order of Canada for her contributions as a community leader and philanthropist who focuses on education and the arts.

Other honorees include Lawrence Hill, an author who received an honorary doctorate from Waterloo in 2011, becomes a Member of the Order of Canada, and Douglas Fregin, co-founder of Research In Motion, Ltd. (now BlackBerry), recognized for his innovative advancements in communications technology and for his many philanthropic endeavours. He is a generous donor to the University and becomes an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Kinesiology prof wins Bloomberg Manulife prize

Marianne Harrison, President and CEO of Manulife Canada, Michael Meighen, Chancellor of McGill University, Lawrence Bloomberg, Waterloo Professor Lora Giangregorio, Suzanne Fortier, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill, and Dilson Rassier, Dean, Faculty of Education at McGill.

Kinesiology Professor Lora Giangregorio received the 2015 Bloomberg Manulife Prize for the Promotion of Active Health at a ceremony on February 8 in Toronto.

The award recognizes her clinical research aimed at improving the management of osteoporosis through exercise, as well as her significant outreach efforts in promoting physical activity.

Professor Giangregorio’s work, with Osteoporosis Canada and researchers in several countries, led to the development of the “Too Fit To Fracture” exercise and physical activity recommendations for people with osteoporosis.

CTE welcomes new instructional developer

Dr. Stephanie White will be joining the Centre for Teaching Excellence as an Instructional Developer, TA Training and Writing Support on February 16. Previously, Stephanie taught communication courses for math and computer science students as a Lecturer in Waterloo’s Department of English. Stephanie received her PhD in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she also received the Eccles Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her research interests are in writing pedagogy, Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing in the Disciplines, community-engaged writing , and multimodal communication. At CTE, Stephanie will be involved in the delivery of teaching development programs for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. She will also support discipline-based writing initiatives at the course, department, and faculty levels. Stephanie is available for consultations with individual instructors on various aspects of student writing, including integrating writing with disciplinary teaching, designing assignments and rubrics, encouraging and monitoring peer review, developing grading guidelines, and working with multilingual writers.

She can be reached at stephanie.white@uwaterloo.ca

Valentine's Day, Family Day and Reading Week

Well thar she blows: a long weekend. Monday is Family Day, a statutory holiday. In typical holiday fashion, a number of university operations and facilities will be closed, including Retail Services, the Physical Activities Complex and Columbia Icefield, (open 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 13 but closed Sunday and Monday), and Food Services, unless otherwise noted on their schedule of hours. The Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries will be open from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday.

Even on holidays, the university police (519-888-4911) will be at work, the Student Life Centre's Turnkey Desk (519–888-4434) will be open, and the central plant will monitor campus buildings (maintenance emergencies, ext. 33793).

Just before that is, of course, Valentine's Day on Sunday, February 14. The Federation of Students will be handing out dairy-free chocolate in the Student Life Centre from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Also, enjoy these mathematical Valentine's Day cards from the Faculty of Mathematics.

Monday, February 15 also marks the beginning Reading Week, which means there will be no classes next week. Waterloo's offices and services will be open, more or less as usual, Tuesday through Friday, which are regular working days for university employees.

Many Food Services outlets will be open during reading week, some with modified hours of operation. However, Bon Appetit in the Davis Centre, Eye Opener Café in Optometry, Festival Fare in South Campus Hall, Liquid Assets in Hagey Hall, ML's Coffee Shop in Modern Languages, the PAS Lounge in the PAS building, Pastry Plus in BMH, the Tim Hortons in Modern Languages, the Tim Hortons in UWP and the Tim Hortons in the Student Life Centre are all shuttered for the week. The SLC Tim Hortons is shuttered until Sunday, February 21.

Retail Services operations will be open from Tuesday to Thursday, but will be closed on Friday, February 19 for a staff meeting.

Before they depart campus for the week, students will have the opportunity to find out who their official Federation of Students representatives are, as the results of the election, as well as the student senator elections and the results of the SLC/PAC Extension referendum, will be announced by the Federation of Students today.

Update: The announcement will take place in the Student Life Centre at 11:00 a.m. and will be livestreamed.

Nominations for the Amit and Meena Chakma Awards for Exceptional Teaching by a Student (AETS) are due today. For more information contact Verna Keller at 519-888-4567 ext. 33857.

JobMine will be unavailable today starting at 4:30 p.m. until Wednesday, Feb 17 at 8:00 a.m. for Database and People Tools upgrades.

Have a safe and happy long weekend, and if you're a student, a happy Reading Week.