Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Won won the national Three Minute Thesis title

For the first time, a doctoral student from the University of Waterloo has won the national Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which sees graduate students from across the country explain the breadth and significance of their research to a non-specialist audience in three minutes or less.

Gah-Jone Won’s winning presentation features his research as a PhD student in both the School of Optometry and Vision Science and the Department of Biology in Waterloo’s Faculty of Science. His presentation, “The Development of an Antibody-Drug Conjugate to Specifically Target and Soften the Crystalline Lens,” won first among more than 200 master’s and PhD students at the University of Waterloo 3MT competition. He won the provincial (Ontario) 3MT competition before taking the top spot as the national 3MT champion. 

“The 3MT competition requires skill and an ability to boil down complicated data, which serves researchers well as they try to engage the public’s interest in their work,” said Jim Frank, associate provost, graduate studies at Waterloo. “Winning the national 3MT is a tremendous achievement, and we congratulate Gah-Jone Won for his compelling presentation and outstanding success.”

Won’s research focuses on drug treatments for presbyopia, a condition that eventually affects everyone. With time, our eyes lose the ability to focus on nearby objects, leading to a need for bifocals, or reading glasses. Won’s research proposes a pharmaceutical eye drop that softens the eyes’ crystalline lens in order to restore near vision that would otherwise worsen as we age.

“Three Minute Thesis is a friendly contest between graduate students, but above all else, it challenges young researchers to be clear, concise, and captivating about their work,” said Won. “I strongly encourage all graduate students to compete, regardless of the stage they’re at in their thesis.”

Won acknowledges his supervisor in Optometry and Vision Science, Dr. Vivan Choh, for her encouragement and mentorship.

The Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) organizes the annual 3MT competition. As national champion, Won receives a cash prize of $1,500 and an all-expense-paid trip to the annual CAGS conference in November.

Celebrating 15 years of Keystone

This is an excerpt of an article originally posted to President Feridun Hamdullahpur's blog.

On this beautiful first Friday in June, our Keystone campaign family had our annual picnic.

What makes Keystone really special is that it’s a community of nearly 1,000 people who work at Waterloo — people who already give of their time and talent — who also choose freely and generously to give of their treasure.

That says something to me: it says our staff and faculty believe in this place.  UWaterloo isn’t just an employer — it’s a community that we’re all proud of on a personal level.

And I want to emphasize how vital Keystone is to our overall fundraising efforts as a university.  On top of the more than $1M (!) dollars keystone raises annually, it brings enormous value by inspiring our community and industry partners to give as well.

When our alumni, friends, parents, and partners in the business community see our people going above and beyond the call of duty simply because they love this university, that inspires them to give. It builds confidence in what we’re doing here.

Read the rest of the post on the President's blog.

Waterloo to host innovation roundtable in Ottawa

Foreign diplomats will gather with policy, business, and academic leaders in Ottawa on Wednesday to compare various national approaches to using innovation policies in order to achieve high growth in a low-growth world.

The University of Waterloo will host the event, which features an interactive panel of Ambassadors from Germany, Israel and South Korea. Kelly Gillis, Associate Deputy Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, will moderate the panel.

The International Innovation Roundtable is a precursor to the Waterloo Innovation Summit, hosted by the University of Waterloo and Communitech, taking place in Waterloo Region in September 2016.

The event takes place from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Ottawa's Fairmont Chateau Laurier.

Library display showcases occupation innovation

There is a new display installation in the Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries as well as the Centre for Career Action (CCA).

Occupation Innovation: Create a Unique Career Path is encouraging students to "think entrepreneurially" about their career paths, whether they plan to start their own venture or want to make change happen in an established business. The displays are interactive, featuring thought-provoking questions provided by Larry Smith, such as: "What’s on your resume that isn't on anyone else's?"

Students can grab citations to library articles and books for further reading, or check out the resume-building resources provided by CCA. Occupation Innovation will be on display until Friday June 17, with questions changing each week, so stop by and take a look at what Waterloo students are saying.

Bike Month gets rolling and other notes

An update from the Sustainability Office.

Bike Month officially launched in Waterloo Region last week.  The Sustainability Office and TravelWise kicked it off at Waterloo with a little “thank-you” note to more than 750 bikes across campus!

Don’t miss this week’s Bike Breakfast on Thursday June 9 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Dana Porter Quad. Bring your bike by for a free snack, coffee, and tune-up from King Street Cycles!

While you’re at it, track your trips for a chance to win some awesome prizes. In just a few days, we’ve already seen some enthusiastic cyclists start tracking their trips in the race to rule the Bike Challenge leaderboard.

Procurement and Contract Services is hosting its annual trade show to showcase to the University community the resources available to them.

This year, P&CS is hosting the show on Tuesday June 7 through to Thursday June 9 in the Davis Center “fishbowl“, DC 1301, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. all three days.

Staples Advantage will be back by popular demand on Tuesday, June 7, supported by a number of their select suppliers. Wednesday, June 8 will be Technology Day with Dell Canada, Onward Computers, and many more suppliers. On Thursday, June 9, P&CS invites you to come out to see what Waterloo has to offer with Internal Services Day.

P&CS will also be raffling off prizes to some lucky winners. 

Human Resources is reporting that retiree Amelia (Millie) Bleizeffer died on May 5. Millie worked in Food Services as a Food Services Assistant from September 1965 to her retirement in September 1988.