Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Future UWaterloo students medal at International Computing Competition

by Ellen Perschbacher

This past Friday, two UWaterloo computer science professors from our David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, J. P. Pretti and Troy Vasiga, accompanied their team of Canadian high school students to the annual International Olympiad in Informatics. Held in Kazan, Russia, from August 12 - 19th, the Olympiad saw all four members of the UWaterloo-backed team earn medals.  

The high school students were selected for the team based on their exceptional performances in the Canadian Computing Competition earlier this year. The team of Canadian high school students continuing on is led by coaches with deep expertise in the field, and this year Professors Pretti and Vasiga led Canada’s four-person squad.

“We are proud leaders of a great team of students,” said Professor Pretti.

Team member Timothy Li earned a gold medal and a 7^th place finish out of the more than 300 competitors hailing from more than 80 different countries.

Kevin Sun followed close behind, earning a silver medal finish.

Jeffrey Xiao and Farbod Yadegarian each won bronze medals at the competition.

Three of the four competitors - Timothy Li, Jeffrey Xiao and Farbod Yadegarian - will be beginning their undergraduate studies at Waterloo this fall in the Faculty of Mathematics.  

Congratulations to the team and coaches!

Waterloo International announces Staff International Experience Fund recipients

Three University of Waterloo staff members have been awarded funds to take part in an international experience that will broaden their professional perspectives on a global scale.

The 2016 Staff International Experience Fund (SIEF) recipients will travel to Europe, India, and Australia to support their work at Waterloo, engage in collaborative work with a Waterloo partner, and support the University’s goal of becoming one of the most internationalized universities in Canada.

Christine Kampen Robinson, Career Advisor, Co-operative Education & Career Action

With a passion for best practices in international relationship building, Christine Kampen Robinson will visit the United Kingdom and Germany to learn about models that support graduate student career development with a focus on career paths for PhD students.

Christine hopes to change the conversation regarding career-path options for PhD students at Waterloo by bringing back ideas, initiatives, and best practices from institutions in Germany and the UK. Christine is also looking forward to sharing Waterloo’s best practices so partner institutions can benefit from the knowledge and experience cultivated at Waterloo.

“I’m most excited to meet people in a similar role to me, but at institutions abroad,” says Christine. “Best practices in international relationship building is a passion of mine and I hope to find strategies and programs that are working well elsewhere and bring those ideas back to Waterloo.”

Amanda McKenzie, Director, Quality Assurance (Academic Programs) and Office of Academic Integrity

Amanda McKenzie is travelling to India so she can better assist international students who are learning about Canada’s academic integrity standards.

She works closely with international students and is interested in how perceptions and standards of academic integrity vary across the world. Amanda hopes meeting with counterparts at institutions in Mumbai, Indore, New Delhi, and Chandigarh will help her understand how students from India learn about citations and intellectual property. This is important because Indian students made up the second largest group of international students at Waterloo from 2011 to 2015.

“I want to understand what students in India are learning about academic integrity so we can better support them when they arrive in Canada,” says Amanda.

Kelly McManus, Senior Director, Community Relations and Events

As part of her professional goals and Waterloo’s strategic plan, Kelly McManus wants to expand Waterloo’s community relations from a regional level to an international level.

The SIEF will provide an opportunity for her to travel to Australia to visit institutions including the University of Technology in Sydney and the University of Melbourne. She will learn about best practices in community engagement at a global level.

Kelly is interested in partnership engagement frameworks, metrics, and community relations programs offered at Australian universities. She hopes to learn about programs that are working well at institutions similar to Waterloo and explore the expansion of community relations through different parts of the organization including alumni and advancement.

“I want to be able to return to Waterloo and extend all the information I can, and also share the best practices I’ve learned,” says Kelly.

AVP Principal Gifts heading to Simon Fraser University

Associate Vice-President, Principal Gifts Mike den Haan will be leaving the University to take on the role of Vice-President, Advancement & Alumni Engagement at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

Den Haan joined Waterloo in August 2013, leading the Principal Gifts program within the Office of Advancement. During his time as associate vice-president, den Haan played a leadership role in developing the Advancement Strategic Framework as the champion of the Transformative Investments team, and was a driving force in the establishment of Waterloo’s Hong Kong Foundation, a critical element of Waterloo’s growing international presence.

“Mike has been an integral part of the Advancement leadership team,” says Interim Vice-President, Advancement Erin Sargeant Greenwood. “His strategic expertise has been invaluable in strengthening ties with significant advancement stakeholders, as well as forging new philanthropic relationships and partnerships, in particular with the Hong Kong Foundation office. Our team will certainly miss Mike and we wish him much success at Simon Fraser University.”

Mike’s last day at the University will be Wednesday, August 23.

“I want to thank Mike for his excellent contributions to Advancement at Waterloo,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor. “It’s been a pleasure working alongside him, and I wish him every success as he takes up a new and exciting challenge with SFU.”

Mike begins his new role at SFU on September 14.