Friday, July 7, 2017

English Language Studies director wins innovation award

This article was originally published on the Renison University College website.

The director of Renison’s English Language Studies (ELS) program, Julia Williams, has won the TESL (Teachers of English as a Second Language) Canada Innovation Award for her series of LEAP (Learning English for Academic Purposes) textbooks.

The award celebrates the innovation of English language teaching professionals who produce relevant and creative resources used in thousands of classrooms across Canada and around the world. The Innovation Awards, which were presented at the recent TESL Canada Conference in Niagara Falls, included awards for several textbook categories, with the LEAP series winning the award for the Most Innovative Textbook Series published by an International Publisher and Designed for the Canadian Market.

“These awards for textbook innovation are the first to be awarded by TESL Canada. It’s an honour to win an inaugural award that recognizes quality in materials development,” said Williams. “It takes a long time to write a high quality book--and even longer to develop a high quality series. These awards recognize the impact textbooks have on our students and in our field.”

The eight book series began with a single textbook Williams wrote in 2005, titled Learning English for Academic Purposes. The textbook was well received, leading Pearson Publishing to approach Williams to develop a full series. Between 2011 and 2013 Williams and co-author Ken Beatty published an additional seven textbooks. The series is currently into its third round of revisions and the new editions will be released in early 2018.

The LEAP series is designed to support English language skills development at four levels of proficiency. The series covers Listening and Speaking and Reading and Writing skills through a cross-curricular approach to teaching students the vocabulary and skills they need to thrive in real-life academic contexts, while helping them apply critical thinking to a variety of global issues. 

Welcome events for new students begin this weekend

Campus will be busy this Saturday as hundreds of new incoming first-year students and their families visit for Engineering 101 and AHS 101 Days. These are the first of six faculty-specific days throughout July for first-year students joining the Waterloo community this fall, which include:

• Saturday July 8 – Engineering 101 and AHS 101
• Wednesday, July 12 – Science 101
• Monday, July 17– Arts 101
• Thursday, July 20– Math 101
• Wednesday, July 26 - Environment 101

For the first time, students have registered for these events through a new Portal widget. Portal is the University of Waterloo app for access to a variety of tools including a campus map, calendar, events, food services, and other campus information. You can download portal on your phone’s app store today

Each of the 101 Day events is faculty-specific, giving new students an inside look at campus life before starting classes in September. During 101 Days, students will have the opportunity to:

• sit in on a lecture from their faculty,
• hear advice from upper-year students, and
• learn about paying their fees and applying for OSAP.

Parents and family members will attend separate sessions where they will learn how to best support their student as they transition from high school to university life.

We encourage staff and faculty to wear “Here to Help” buttons during Faculty 101 Days throughout July and during their first few weeks of each term. Wearing a button indicates your willingness to help a new student if they need assistance. Visit uwaterloo.ca/orientation/here-to-help to order a button.

Idling vans are the devil's playthings no longer

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a system for service vehicles that could reduce emissions and save companies and governments millions of dollars per year in fuel costs.

In a study recently published in Energy, Waterloo engineers found a way to capture waste energy from service vehicles, such as buses or refrigerated food delivery trucks, as they are slowing down.

They also figured out how to use that energy to replace the fossil fuels that are currently needed to operate secondary systems, including air conditioning or refrigeration units, when the vehicles are stopped and idling.

“An idling vehicle essentially operates at five per cent efficiency, meaning the vast majority of the fuel a bus or delivery truck uses when it is stopped is being wasted,” said Amir Khajepour, a professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at Waterloo and the study’s lead author. “By harnessing the energy a vehicle wastes as it is slowing down and redirecting it to a secondary battery system, these vehicles can be turned off without shutting off systems such as refrigeration and air conditioning units.”

As part of the study, researchers examined the various driving, braking and idling patterns of service vehicles. Using computer models and engines hooked up to secondary battery systems in their lab, they then simulated the routes service vehicles followed to determine how best to collect and use waste energy.

The research focused on service vehicles, because unlike passenger vehicles, they have significant auxiliary power needs for systems like refrigeration, which account for a significant portion of the vehicles’ total fuel consumption.

“Given that most companies or governments cannot afford to transition their entire fleets over to cleaner vehicles all at once, this system could represent a cost-effective way to make current vehicles more fuel efficient in the short term,” said Khajepour.  

The money saved from fuel savings has the potential to pay for the new secondary power system in one to two years, he said.

Celebration 2017 jury announced

As the Celebration 2017 legacy project student design competition heads into stage two of concept submissions, the jury has been announced.  Comprised of staff, faculty, students, alumni and retirees, the jury has responsibility for reviewing stage two and three submissions from the student design teams.

• Tony Frost, Associate Vice President, Marketing & Strategic Initiatives
• Rick Haldenby, Professor and former Director, School of Architecture
• Rob Hunsperger, Director, Design & Construction Services, Plant Operations
• Lynn Judge, University of Waterloo Retiree Association
• Reema Masri, Masri O Architects, University of Waterloo alumna
• Lianna Seebach, incoming first year student, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
• Mat Thijssen, University of Waterloo Sustainability Coordinator

Friday's Notes

A pair of mental health workshops will be taking place today and next Friday, according to an announcement from the UW Recreation Committee.

The first is entitled Mental Health 101 and takes place today from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m in DC 1302. "In this session we will challenge some of the myths and misconceptions that continue to exist about mental health," says a note from the organizers. "We will describe the work of various professionals who support people with mental health challenges and discuss useful resources available on campus and in Waterloo Region." Facilitators for the session include Kiruthiha Vimalakanthan and Chantal Gautreau of the Department of Psychology. You can register for the session online.

The second workshop is scheduled for Friday, July 14 and is entitled Understanding and Overcoming Depression and Anxiety, taking place from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in DC 1302. "Due to its prevalence, depression has been called the common cold of mental illness," says some background material about the workshop. "Surprisingly, problems with anxiety are even more common and can also present significant quality of life impacts for those diagnosed with them. Join us as we look at how to recognize depression and anxiety, why these conditions can stay with people for so long, and what can be done about them." Facilitators include the Department of Psychology's Kathryn Miller and Nick Zabara. You can register for this workshop online.

Note a change in the time of Bowen Hui's Artificial intelligence seminar, “AI in a personalized learning environment,” which will take place today at 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., DC 1331.

There's still time left to visit the UWaterloo Computer Museum display of retired hardware in MC 3011. The room is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. until July 14.