Wednesday, June 28, 2017


Future Forward asks you to #SolveBig

Future Forward logo.

On Thursday, July 13 in Toronto, Waterloo students and faculty are invited to participate in a free event sponsored by OpenText called Future Forward.

Future Forward is designed for attendees to gain a grasp of the fascinating opportunities in “a space poised to take a giant leap forward in an era of accelerated innovation, artificial intelligence, and mobile,” according to an announcement from OpenText.

The daylong series of TED Talk style presentations by business leaders and academics, including University of Waterloo President Feridun Hamdullahpur, is targeted specifically at university students with an interest in technology and innovation. Topics include problem solving, new technology, and the keys to building a great career.

The event is designed to help students explore a career path in enterprise software. There will be opportunities to connect with industry professionals, subject matter experts and entrepreneurs on the expo floor at OpenText’s annual user conference: Enterprise World.

Talks are followed up with access to the Expo Hall floor, a fantastic networking opportunity including booths, pods, and demos.

Sessions include:

  • Disrupting the 21st Century University - President and Vice-Chancellor Feridun Hamdullahpur, University of Waterloo
  •  Quantum is Coming - Martin Laforest, The Institute of Quantum Computing
  • Shopify Goes BIG - Mark Bergen, Shopify Plus
  • Innovation Activation - Craig Haney, Communitech
  • The Artificially Intelligent Enterprise - Stephen Piron, Deep Learni.ng
  • Why Big Problems Are The Only Problems Worth Solving, And Why You Will Fail To Solve Them - Larry Smith, University of Waterloo

Students can also apply for one of five paid internship opportunities exclusively available to Future Forward attendees. Check out the Future Forward site to learn more.

Future Forward is part of OpenText’s annual user conference. This year, the event is occurring at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Chemical engineering industry leaders visit Waterloo

The chemical engineering co-op seminar.

by Naz Kittani

Sarnia-Lambton is a growing hub for the energy, manufacturing and downstream petroleum industries. The area is an engineering hotbed – more specifically for chemical engineering. Up to 39 percent of engineers working in Sarnia are chemical engineers. Recognizing the abundant opportunities for students in this area, Co-operative Education and Career Action (CECA) planned an event to unveil the hidden gems of Sarnia-Lambton.

Last month, representatives from the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership (SLEP) visited Waterloo’s campus to promote the region to co-op students as a prime destination to live and work. Dozens of students attended the event to network with top industry leaders.

The visit kicked off with an information session for Chemical Engineering students hosted by CECA Business Developer Emily Burgess. The session featured a presentation from David Moody, project lead, business growth services for SLEP. Moody focused on Sarnia-Lambton’s job growth, the area’s rich economic history and why it’s a great spot for a co-op term. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session with three Chemical Engineering students who have worked in Sarnia. The event concluded with a networking session.

SHAD program begins this weekend

This year's month-long SHAD program starts on Sunday, July 2 at the University of Waterloo with the arrival of 54 the best and brightest high school students from across Canada.

In 1983, Waterloo became the first university campus to host this prestigious program that has helped Canada’s top youth find and reach their potential. The university has continued to play a crucial role ever since with SHAD’s national office based in the city and many of the students deciding to come back after SHAD to pursue their studies.

SHAD is an award-winning enrichment program for students with a strong interest and potential in in STEAM based subjects (sciences, technology, engineering, arts and math) and has helped serve as an incubator for entrepreneurship and innovation for the students who participate nation-wide. The SHAD Network now includes an impressive 15,000 alumni including 32 Rhodes Scholars.

During the month of July, lectures and workshops are offered by top faculty from across campus, and from visionary leaders in the community. Rob Gorbet, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Knowledge Integration, is the SHAD Waterloo Program Director.

“By exposing 801 high achieving high school students this year to great ideas from leading faculty across Canada and some of the world’s biggest challenges, the students are inspired by the SHAD network to start making an impact now,” said Tim Jackson, SHAD’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

In one of the unique elements at SHAD, during the first week, youth are challenged to innovate on a specific theme, built around a current economic and social problem. SHAD youth, working in small teams, collaborate to design and engineer a new solution that addresses the problem. As part of this challenge, teams conduct market research, write business and marketing models, and design and build working prototypes.

SHADs will hold a public open house to show off their achievements, including creative ideas they have come up with to tackle this year’s deign project theme, on the afternoon of Thursday July 27, in the Great Hall at Conrad Grebel University College.

IST updates list of summer SEW courses

Information Systems & Technology (IST) has announced that registration is now open for the summer workshops for the Skills for the Electronic Workplace (SEW) program. As most of the instructors are taking a well-deserved break this summer, a partial selection of workshops will be available for this period, such as Google Analytics 101 and Social Media Measurement, as well as the WCMS courses. All of the machines in the training labs have been migrated to Windows 10 and Office 2016.

Summer 2017 SEW courses
Course Name Course code Date Time Location
Intro to API's SEW126 July 11 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. MC2060
Google Analytics 101 SEW 128 July 6 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EC5 1111
Social Media Measurement SEW127 July 20 1:30 pm to 3:30 p.m. EC5 1111
WCMS for Content Maintainers SEW099

 July 5 & 6

Aug 1 & 2

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

MC1078
WCMS for Site Managers SEW100

July 13

Aug 10

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. MC1078
WCMS Web Form Creation SEW101

July 18

Aug 15

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. MC1078
         

Sign up for these workshops through MyHRinfo. This system allows attendees to view available spaces in workshops, register online, view your registration history and status, and receive immediate registration e-mail notifications. Register for courses through the Learning and Development module of the Self Service menu (where you view your payroll and benefit information). A walk-through of the registration process is available if you are unfamiliar with the procedure.

Wednesday's notes

Pharmacy Professor Sherilyn Houle.The School of Pharmacy's Sherilyn Houle will participate in a town hall discussion tonight at 7:00 p.m. entitled "Pharmacare is a prescription for better medicine." Other speakers at the town hall include MPP for Kitchener Waterloo Catherine Fife and Stacey Danckert of the Green Party of Ontario. The event, which takes place at 1st United Church in Waterloo, has been organized by the Kitchener chapter of the Council of Canadians.

Plant Operations has advised that much of the Physical Activities Complex will be going dark on Tuesday, July 4 from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. as electrical panels are replaced. Before heading out for the long weekend, denizens of the PAC should ensure that their computers are properly shut down in advance of the power outage.

Check the Plant Operations page for updates on the upcoming outage.

A celebration of life for retired Waterloo Sociology professor Alicja Muszynski will take place on Sunday, July 16 at 2:00 p.m. at the Erb and Good funeral home. Muszynski, who retired in 2015, died on May 22.

Arts Undergraduate Office closed this morning

The Arts Undergraduate Office will be closed Wednesday morning from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. for a staff meeting.

Link of the day

25 years ago: the Dream Team takes to the air

When and where

Second International Conference on Amphibious Architecture, Design and Engineering, Sunday, June 25 to Wednesday, June 28, St. Jerome’s University.

Celebrate Canada at the University Club, Monday, June 26 to Friday, June 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., University Club.

The Arts Research Office presents—Writing Successful Grant Proposals, Wednesday, June 28, 10:00 a.m., TC 1208.

UWSA Ice Cream Day, Wednesday, June 28, 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Work Search Strategies, Wednesday, June 28, 1:30 p.m., TC  1208

Algorithms and complexity seminar, “Settling the query complexity of non-adaptive junta testing,” Erik Waingarten, Columbia University, Wednesday, June 28, 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., DC 1304.

NEW - WISE Public Lecture Series featuring Hélène Debéda, Associate Professor, University of Bordeaux, IMS Laboratory, PRIMS team, "Printed MEMS: sensors, actuators or energy harvesters processing with standard or modified screen-printing," Wednesday, June 28, 2:00 p.m., DC 1302.

Waterloo Women’s Wednesdays – Territorial Acknowledgment, Wednesday, June 28, 4:00 p.m., DC 1301.

Computer science seminar, “Layer-based disparity adjustment in stereoscopic 3D media,” Lesley Istead, PhD candidate, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, Wednesday, June 28, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., DC 2314.

Velocity Start: Pitch Like A Pro, “Perfecting your pitch,” Wednesday, June 28, 7:30 p.m., Velocity Start, SCH 2nd Floor.

UW Farm Market, Thursday, June 29, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Student Life Centre Lower Atrium.

PhD seminar, “Modeling interactants’ emotions and optimal behavior in event-based articles,” Areej Alhothali, PhD candidate, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, Thursday, June 29, 3:30 p.m. to 4;30 p.m., DC 2584.

Computer science seminar, “ETR, or the real logic of drawing graphs,” Marcus Schaefer, DePaul University, Chicago, Thursday, June 29, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., DC 1304.

NEW - Career Interest Assessment (Strong Interest Inventory), Thursday, June 29, 2:30 p.m., TC 1112.

Land Acknowledgement Ceremony, Friday, June 30, 1:30 p.m., Student Life Centre.

University of Waterloo Canada Day Celebration 2017, Saturday, July 1, 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Columbia Lake Field.

Canada Day holiday, Monday, July 3, most University operations closed.

University of Waterloo Blood Donor Clinics, Tuesday, July 4 to Thursday, July 6, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Walk-ins accepted. 

NEW - Career Exploration and Decision Making, Tuesday, July 4, 10:30 a.m., TC 1112.

NEW - Working in Canada, Tuesday, July 4, 12:30 p.m., TC 1208.

NEW - It’s All About Your Skills, Tuesday, July 4, 1:30 p.m., TC 1113.

Public lecture, “Evolution by Association: Symbiosis in a Neo-Darwinian World,” Jan Sapp, Tuesday, July 4, 8:00 p.m., Laurier N1001.

WISE Public Lecture Series - "Directional Drilling and Magnetic Ranging Services for Geothermal Energy Development," Clinton Moss, President, Marksman Ranging Technologies, Scientific Drilling,
Wednesday, July 5 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., CPH 3681.

Discover your interests (for staff only), Wednesday, July 5, 12:00 p.m., TC 1113.

NEW - Résumés, Careers and Personal Branding- Day 1, Wednesday, July 5, 2:30 p.m., LIB 329.

Velocity Fund $5K Qualifiers – Night 1, “3-minute pitches in front of a panel of judges,” Wednesday, July 5, 7:00 p.m., Quantum-Nano Centre Room 0101.

Public Lecture, "Some fungi we thought we knew," Greg Thorn, Wednesday, July 5, 8:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m., Laurier, N1001

​NEW - Résumés, Careers and Personal Branding- Day 2, Thursday, July 6, 2:30 p.m., Dana Porter Library room 329

Velocity Fund $5K Qualifiers – Night 2, “3-minute pitches in front of a panel of judges,” Thursday, July 6, 7:00 p.m., Quantum-Nano Centre Room 0101.

UW Farm Market, Thursday, July 6, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Student Life Centre Lower Atrium.

Writing Centre workshop, “Say it in your own words: paraphrase and summary,” Thursday, July 6, 4:00 p.m.

NEW - Interviews: Preparing for Questions, July 7, 12:30 p.m., TC 1208.

Engineering 101, Saturday, July 8, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Applied Health Sciences 101, Saturday, July 8, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Conrad Grebel Concert: University of Waterloo Balinese Gamelan Ensemble, Saturday, July 8, 2:00 p.m., Victoria Park, Kitchener.

LGBTQ+ Making Spaces Workshop, Monday, July 10, 12:30 p.m., NH 3308.

Science 101, Wednesday, July 12, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Eco-Summit: Building Foundations, Wednesday, July 12, 12:00 p.m. to 4:30p.m., St. Paul’s Alumni Hall.

Velocity Start: The Startup Rollercoaster, “Panel of entrepreneurs talking about the mistakes made during the startup journey,” Wednesday, July 12, 7:30 p.m., Velocity Start, SCH 2nd Floor.

UW Farm Market, Thursday, July 13, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Student Life Centre Lower Atrium.

More Feet on the Ground Mental Health Training, Thursday, July 13, 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Counselling Services.

Conrad Grebel Concert – University Choir, “Island Music,” Saturday, July 15, 7:30 p.m., Cedars Worship Centre, Waterloo.

Arts 101, Monday, July 17, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Weight Watchers at Waterloo Summer Session info and sign-up, Tuesday, July 18, 12:00 p.m., HH 373. Contact tgneal@uwaterloo,.ca for more information.

Test Preparation & Test Anxiety, Monday, July 17, 3:00 p.m., SCH 108A.

Coping Skills Seminar – Strengthening Motivation, Tuesday, July 18, 4:00 p.m., HS 2302.

Calming the Panic: Practical Skills to Reduce Anxiety, Wednesday, July 19, 2:30 p.m., Counselling Services.

Organize your time for midterms and exams, Wednesday, July 19, 4:30 p.m., SCH 108A.

Banting postdoctoral fellowship final application deadline at Waterloo, Wednesday, July 19, 8:00 p.m.

Math 101, Thursday, July 20, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

UW Farm Market, Thursday, July 20, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Student Life Centre Lower Atrium.

Velocity Fund Finals, “20 startups compete for $125,000,” Thursday, July 20, 11:00 a.m., SLC Great Hall.

Getting Published for Grad Students, Thursday, July 21, 1:30 p.m.

Conrad Grebel Concert, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles, Sunday, July 23, 7:30 p.m., Conrad Grebel Chapel.

Exploring Your Personality Type: (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), Wednesday, July 26, 12:00 p.m., TC 1113.

CrySP Speaker Series on Privacy, “Making security sustainable,” Ross Anderson, University of Cambridge, Wednesday, July 26, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., DC 1304.

Positions available

On this week's list from the human resources department, viewable on the UWaterloo Talent Acquisition System (iCIMS):

  • Job ID# - 2017-1755 -          Administrative Assistant to the Chair - Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering, USG 7
  • Job ID# - 2017-1700 -            Administrative Coordinator/Financial Assistant -Institute for Quantum Computing, USG 5
  • Job ID# - 2017-1734           Computer Systems Support Specialist - School of Optometry, USG 8-9
  • Job ID# - 2017-1756 -           Director, Employment Relations - Coop Education & Career Action,  USG 17
  • Job ID# - 2017-1566 -            Director, Student Service Centre - Registrar, USG 12
  • Job ID# - 2017-1746 -           Graduate Coordinator, MSc and PhD Programs - Public Health & Health Systems, USG 6
  • Job ID# - 2017-1629 - Laboratory Coordinator - Kinesiology, USG 9
  • Job ID# - 2017-1742 - Manager, Research Ethics - Office of Research, USG 10
  • Job ID# - 2017-1747 - Manager, Student Engagement and Communications - SSO-Outreach & Engagement, USG 10
  • Job ID# - 2017-1739            Operations Analyst - Coop Education & Career Action, USG 8-11
  • Job ID# - 2017-1745 - Professional Graduate Programs Assistant - Public Health & Health Systems, USG 5
  • Job ID# - 2017-1733 - Undergraduate Advisor and Program Administrator - School of Planning, USG 6

Internal secondment opportunities:

  • Job ID# - 2017-1729            Administrator, International Research and Partnerships - Office of Research, USG 7
  • Job ID# - 2017-1750 - Executive Officer - Coop Education & Career Action, USG 14
  • Job ID# - 2017-1740 - Experiential Learning and Events Assistant - Stratford Programmes, USG 4
  • Job ID# - 2017-1753 - Manager, International Agreements - Waterloo International, USG 12
  • Job ID# - 2017-1744 - Recruitment and Admissions Manager - Stratford Programmes, USG 9
  • Job ID# - 2017-1743 - Senior Manager, Research Ethics - Office of Research, USG 12
  • Job ID# - 2017-1749 -            Undergrad Recruitment & Admissions Officer - Math UG Admissions & Outreach, USG 10