Monday, March 27, 2017

Vision Science student takes top spot in Waterloo's 3MT

The fifth annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final competition was held at University of Waterloo last week. Emmanuel Alabi, a PhD student from the School of Optometry and Vision Science  emerged as the first place winner as well as winner of the People’s Choice award. Emmanuel delivered a poised and entertaining presentation on his graduate research, which focuses on developing an objective method to measure pain. Emmanuel is supervised by Trefford Simpson, a Professor in the School of Optometry and Vision Science.

Andria Bianchi, a PhD student in Philosophy was named runner-up for her powerful and engaging presentation on how applied philosophy can help us better navigate tricky questions around sexual consent in people with dementia. Andria is supervised by Patricia Marino, a Professor in the Department of Philosophy.

The 3MT competition challenges graduate students to articulate the breadth and significance of their research to a non-specialist audience in 3 minutes, using only one static slide. The university final saw fifteen students compete for the first place $1000 prize. In addition to winning the monetary prize, Emmanuel Alabi will advance to the Ontario Provincial 3MT competition in April, where he will compete from the top contenders from across Ontario.

Attend the Velocity Fund Finals this week

The 18^th Velocity Fund Finals will take place this Thursday, March 30 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Waterloo students and alumni will pitch their innovative startups for the chance to win funding to grow their businesses, and to receive workspace in the Velocity Garage, the largest free startup incubator in the world.

Ten companies will compete for four prizes of $25,000, and judges will present one winning company with an additional $10,000 for the top hardware pitch. Another 10 startups will compete for one of three awards of $5,000.

The judging panel for the Velocity Fund $25K competition consists of:

• Hongwei Liu; Co-founder & CEO, Mappedin
• Ted Livingston; CEO, Kik
• John Murphy; Co-founder & Managing Partner, Hyperplane Venture Capital
• Kathryn Wortsman; Fund Manager, MaRS Catalyst Fund

The judging panel for the Velocity Fund $5K competition consists of:

• Alexander Danco; Associate, Social Capital LP
• Jane Klugman; President, Whitney & Company Realty Limited Brokerage
• Nicole LeBlanc; Associate Director, BDC Capital

The pitch competition will take place in the Student Life Centre, Great Hall. The $5K competition starts at 11:00 a.m., and the $25K competition starts at 1:00 p.m., with the event wrapping up at 3:00 p.m.

The Velocity Fund $25K finalists are:

• BoltFare, your personal, AI-powered travel agent. It’s a Facebook Messenger chatbot that monitors hundreds of sources around the net for airfare deals, messaging users when it finds significant savings on flights they want to book.
• Citius Solutions uses cutting-edge algorithms to provide sorting and routing optimization for the delivery industry.
• Elucid Labs uses artificial intelligence to unlock the potential of spectral imaging, delivering the ‘tricorder’ for the skin, capable of real-time detection and diagnosis of any skin condition, disease, or cancer.
• EMAGIN leverages artificial intelligence to help water utilities proactively manage their infrastructure in real-time.
• Gamelynx, which uses cutting-edge web app technology to create games and interactive experiences that bring people together for face-to-face play.
• LabsCubed, which enables companies to create new and innovative materials through enhanced testing methods.
• Marlena Books creates therapeutic recreation products for individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia, specializing in hardcopy books that make reading enjoyable and dignifying.
• NERv Technology is developing an implantable biochip platform to detect post-operative complications.
• Serenity Bioworks is developing novel medicine formulas to improve the long-term effectiveness and safety of anti-inflammatory medication.
• Terrene makes the process of creating, maintaining, and scaling data pipelines faster, cheaper, and more reliable.

The $5K finalists are:

• ENVR, which provides tactile feedback for your virtual reality experience.
• Kinetic Imaging creates high-speed video using a novel technique involving multiple low-cost, high speed cameras, to produce a system that can achieve greater performance at a fraction of the cost.
• Para is a cloud-based application that guides adults in creating a comprehensive estate and end-of-life plan. Users document their wishes and personal information in one place, eliminating paper files, and allowing them to share their information with people of their choosing.
• rePUBLIC connects the Internet of things to public spaces. Users bring their personality into public spaces through an app that allows them to interact with Wi-Fi enabled art installations, in real time.
• Rugelach, Roswell and Rufus has created a novel EMS spine board to more accurately weigh children in paediatric emergencies, and provide information on drug dosage/voltage for resuscitation.
• ShiftRide, a car sharing platform that allows people to rent a car from other people nearby.
• Six Club, a personal styling service for men. Users have style consultations via Facebook Messenger chat, and are shipped recommendations. You pay for what you keep, and ship back the rest for free.
• Vena Medical is creating an endoscope to provide a real-time navigational perspective for physicians, to make interventional procedures faster, easier, and safer for both patients and physicians.
• WeBahn provides up-to-date, real-time information about public transportation in developing countries, where buses are not equipped with GPS systems, to provide reliable information to commuters.
• WildType Biotech uses protein design technology to redesign and optimize commercial proteins at the molecular level, enhancing clinical effectiveness and making them cheaper to produce and easier to store.

Register to attend on the Velocity website. Can’t make it in person? There is also a Livestream.  

Conference will look at inverse problems

The University of Waterloo will be hosting the 9^th International Conference on Inverse Problems in Engineering from May 23 to 26, 2017.

"While inverse problems were initially perceived as “artificial” problems having interesting mathematical properties but no physical relevance, they are, in fact, ubiquitous in all disciplines of science and engineering," says a statement from conference organizers. "While the applications are diverse, inverse problems share a common feature: they are “ill-posed” due to the fact that the available information (e.g. measurement data) is barely sufficient to specify a unique or stable solution."

Scientists, applied mathematicians, and engineers from around the world will meet and discuss inverse problems as they arise in various applications, and present new techniques for solving them.

This year’s conference is being held in honour of Distinguished Professor Emeritus Graham Gladwell, FSRC, who recently passed away. His son, Malcolm Gladwell, will be delivering a special keynote address.

Events include a workshop on Bayesian inference, oral and poster presentations, and a lunch banquet to celebrate and remember Professor Gladwell.   

The registration deadline is Friday, March 31.

Library looks at Confederation's agreements and consequences

In celebration of the Confederation Debates project, Canada’s birthday and University of Waterloo’s 60^th anniversary, the Library is hosting the event Conflicts and agreements: Canada’s foundations and their consequences. This panel discussion will examine the major political agreements, battles and conflicting visions that surrounded each province’s entry into Confederation between 1865 and 1949. Along the way, they will discuss the success and failure of these many visions, describe how they shaped present-day politics, and evaluate whether - and how - we should celebrate Canada’s 150^th anniversary.

Learn more about the Confederation Debates project and the Library’s involvement.

Monday's notes

On February 25^th, the University of Waterloo Geophysical Society (UWGS) hosted the University of Waterloo’s first ever LaTeX Workshop. LaTeX is a word processing software used by many researchers to create documents. "LaTeX is very powerful as it formats the document for the user, allowing creators to focus on the quality of the content instead stressing over the presentation of the content," says a statement from the workshop organizers.

The workshop was a day-long event, aimed at teaching the basics of document creation, how to include equations, figures and tables and how to troubleshoot documents. Approximately 180 graduate students from Engineering, Math and Science came out to learn about the software.

"The workshop received excellent feedback, with the students saying that they were engaged and excited to put their new knowledge to use," say the workshop organizers. "As the feedback was so useful, and with the prevalence of LaTeX in professional and academic writing, the UWGS is working with the University to see about making this a yearly event."

Here's today's Nutrition Month myth vs. fact supplied by Health Services Dietician Sandra Ace:

Myth: Fruit and vegetables that are going to be peeled don’t need to be washed.

Fact: Dirt and bacteria found on the outside surface of vegetables and fruit can be transferred to the edible, inside portion when you peel or cut them. Food safety experts advise consumers to wash their hands before handling fresh produce. Clean all vegetables and fruit under cool, running water before using. Gently rub the food while rinsing or use a clean brush to scrub the exterior of firm vegetables and fruits such as potatoes and melons. Detergents or special produce rinses are not necessary and may leave a film. These recommendations also apply to organic produce as is just as likely to harbor bacteria. Bagged, pre-cut veggies or fruit labelled as pre-washed, triple-washed or ready-to-eat do not require further washing.