Monday, July 25, 2016

New talent acquisition system launches in August

"On Wednesday, August 17, the Human Resources department will be launching a new UWaterloo Talent Acquisition System (iCIMS) to enhance the user experience for campus hiring managers, approvers, candidates and the Talent Acquisition Staff," says a memo from Kenton Needham, director of Human Resources. "The new system will support staff, CUPE, and secondment roles. Faculty roles will not be impacted. Changes to how we recruit our talent are aligned to the strategic goal of being a destination of choice for superior individuals seeking employment."

"The new UWaterloo Talent Acquisition System (iCIMS) is just one of many upcoming changes in the technology renewal program within Human Resources. This new system allows for:

• Faster approval process; moving away from paper-based signatures to electronic approvals
• More insight into the application process and status for hiring managers
• Hands on approach for hiring managers enabling the review of resumes online for both internal and external applicants
• Candidates to be pre-screened based on key requirements making resume review easier
• Applicants can set alerts for job postings, apply using a social media profile, and track their application

"The main contact for hiring managers will be their Human Resources Advisor. They are available to assist in organizational changes and provide support through the job requisition creation process. Once a job is approved, you will work with a dedicated Talent Acquisition Specialist who will get your position posted and help you in selecting the best candidate for the role."

"Internal applicants will have a profile already created for them within the new tool. For Staff covered by Policy 18, internal applicants will still have priority when being considered for posted positions. Internal applicants will still apply online, and candidates will be able to search for jobs based on the type of role, location, or title and can create job alerts to find out when new roles match their career interests. Postings will still be posted each week on Wednesdays."

"The transition to the new system will occur during the regularly scheduled Mission Critical downtime; there will be no Mission Critical approvals made by the Provost during August. Any role actively being recruited as of August 17 will continue with the current process, and any roles with newly approved Mission Critical paperwork will be transferred to the new system by Human Resources staff. If you are actively recruiting on August 17, a Talent Acquisition Specialist or Human Resources Advisor will reach out to you in order to ensure continued support."

Training tools will be posted on the Human Resources website.

Velocity Fund winners named

Salient Energy, a company developing new high-tech batteries that will enable the shift towards renewable energy, was among the top winners at the Velocity Fund Finals, held Thursday in the Student Life Centre.

Founded by a student, two researchers, and a chemistry professor from the University of Waterloo, Salient Energy is working to commercialize battery technology that will help address fluctuations in power supply and demand that have been a hurdle in advancing renewable energy. In addition to winning a $25,000 prize, Salient Energy also won the top hardware prize of $10,000.

“Not many people know that the supply and demand in our electrical grid needs to be equal. This has been fine with fossil fuels, because even though demand can’t be controlled, we could just burn more or less coal to control our energy supply. However, if we want to rely on renewable energy, where we can no longer control supply or demand, we need to change how the system works,” said Ryan Brown, business lead and co-founder at Salient Energy.

“The way we do this is to incorporate batteries, charging them in times of excess supply, and discharging them in times of excess demand, balancing the system.” Winning the Velocity Fund Finals will allow Salient to move from its current model to build an application scale prototype and secure partners for their pilot project.

In addition to receiving a share of the $125,000 in funding, the winners will be admitted to the Velocity Garage.

During the competition, 10 companies pitched their businesses to a panel of judges representing the investment, startup and business communities. Judges considered innovation, market potential, market viability and overall pitch.

The following three companies were also grand-prize winners of $25,000 and will receive free workspace at the Velocity Garage:

• CubeXLab Technologies provides automated vision inspection solutions that are affordable, flexible and easy- to-use for part and component manufacturers in automotive, fastener, plastic injection and pharmaceutical industries.
• Knote offers a natural language processing platform to help companies leverage the power of artificial intelligence in documents and big data processing. Their tools enable companies to support employees by automating routine, time consuming work, and by improving efficiency.
• UpGrain uses low frequency electro-magnetic field stimulation of seeds to increase overall yield of various crops by 20 percent. They use advanced mathematical algorithms to calculate the most suitable time to maximize treatment effects on seeds.

“The Velocity Fund Finals has been the starting point in the journey of many of Waterloo Region’s brightest companies,” said Nancy Heide, associate director of Velocity. “We are humbled to be part of such a rich entrepreneurship ecosystem at the University of Waterloo, and in helping students maximize their potential by finding and solving some of the world’s most compelling problems.”

During the VFF event, an additional 10 student teams competed for three prizes of $5,000 and access to Velocity workspaces.

The winners of the Velocity $5K are:

• Gymnatik provides one day passes to gyms around the world.
• MycoCup is a sustainable take-out cup made of agricultural waste and mycelium—the roots of fungi.
• The Playful Pixel hosts large group entertainment events that combine the best of theatre, board games, and video games.

Monday's notes

“The Graduate Studies Office is hiring!" says a note from the GSO. "PhD students are invited to apply to the GRADventure specialist role (3 positions) for the fall term. In addition to helping with outreach, communications, and events, GRADventure specialists will gain professional experience that will prepare them for their leadership roles post-PhD. Applications close August 2.”

The University of Waterloo Finance Association (UWFA) and Bloomberg are presenting a tech talk on Wednesday, July 27 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in DC 1301.

The speaker is John Lakos, a senior software architect at Bloomberg LP whose remarks are entitled “Value Semantics and Proper Class Design.” This event, which will feature catered food and swag for attendees, is open to all students.