Thursday, July 13, 2017

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca

Keystone Picnic prizewinners dine with the president

President Feridun Hamdullahpur with the Keystone prize winners.

President Feridun Hamdullahpur treated Centre for Extended Learning staff members Emma Dost, Rachael Verbruggen, and Stephen Tosh to a meal at the University Club as part of the Keystone Picnic prize draw.

The chance to break bread with President Feridun Hamdullahpur is quite the prize. For one lucky staff member and her guests, all it took was attending the annual Keystone Picnic held on June 2 and presenting her food voucher/prize ticket.

Emma Dost, Instructional Digital Media Developer – STEM at the Centre for Extended Learning, won the prize—lunch for 3 with the President—and brought her colleagues Rachael Verbruggen, Lead Instructional Digital Media Developer (Math) and Stephen Tosh, Instructional Digital Media Developer to the University Club on Wednesday, July 12.

The 'President's Lunch' was one of 59 prizes drawn at this year's Keystone Picnic, donated from internal sponsors, local vendors and business owners.

This year, more than 1,000 donors—faculty, staff and retirees—raised $1.12 million dollars toward improving the student experience at Waterloo. 

The complete list of prize winners and sponsors is available on the Keystone website.

New director for Waterloo Centre for German Studies

Professor James Skidmore.

James "Skid" Skidmore has been appointed the new Director of the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, replacing Mathias Schulze, who is leaving the University of Waterloo to take up a position at San Diego State University. 

Skid is known to many on campus. He has worked at Waterloo since 2000, serving a term as Chair of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies. He is currently a member of Senate as well as the co-chair of the University’s United Way Campaign.

The Waterloo Centre for German Studies, a privately endowed research institute at the University of Waterloo, was established in 2004 to facilitate and disseminate interdisciplinary research on the language, culture, and society of the German-speaking world. The Centre administers scholarships for student travel overseas, sponsors speakers and cultural events in the community, and provides financial support to researchers.

Student Services Centre update

A message from the Student Services Transformation Needles Hall (SSTNH) Project Team

Chris Read delivers this month’s video update on the Student Service Transformation project and reveals the vendor we have chosen to provide appointment booking and queuing solutions for the Student Service Centre! Check out the vendors’ website for an overview video of their appointment scheduling and student queue management software solutions. Our video updates will be taking a break again in August, but as always project news will continue to be shared here on the Daily Bulletin and on the project website.

screen grab of a youtube video. image features two women chatting in an office environment.

Thursday's notes

A banner image showing fractal images.

The University of Waterloo Art Gallery (UWAG) is getting ready for its latest exhibition, PASSAGE + OBSTACLE, featuring work by artists Patrick Cull, Laura De Decker, Paul Dignan, Soheila Esfahani, and Andrew James Smith.

The show runs from July 27 to 30 and is presented in cooperation with Bridges Waterloo 2017.

PASSAGE + OBSTACLE features a selection of work by multidisciplinary area artists. Sharing a rigorous approach to materials and subject matter, their artworks parallel Bridges' stated goal to explore "mathematical connections in art, music, architecture, education and culture”. The exhibition sets out to complement and expand on the theme by contrasting subtle and overt links between the use of geometry, pattern, and optical effects across mediums ranging from painting and installation to digital media. Using the bridge as a metaphor, the artworks can be appreciated as a means of getting from A to B by overcoming obstructions, whether perceptual or otherwise.

The exhibition reception is on Friday, July 28 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the art gallery in East Campus Hall. The exhibition is free and open to both conference visitors and the public.

A banner image showing people watching a movie outdoors.

The Recreation and Leisure Studies Department is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and in honour of the milestone they are hosting an outdoor popup movie night featuring the celluloid classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off. 

An image of a box of popcorn with the words SAVE FERRIS on it.

This 1986 film starring Matthew Broderick is an iconic celebration of 'leisure rules'.

The film will start at 9:00 p.m., and the suggested arrival time is 8:30 to make time for parking, set up and refreshments. As this is an outdoor event, the location is subject to change due to weather.

Anyone with questions is invited to contact Amanda Vos. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Link of the day

40 years ago: The NYC Blackout

When and where

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

Information Session for Graduating Students -undergraduate and graduate students only, Thursday, July 13, 11:30 a.m., TBD

Interviews: Proving Your Skills, July 13, 12:30 p.m., TC - William M. Tatham Centre room 1208.

Grammar Studio Series, Thursday, July 13, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

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

Work Search Strategies, Friday, July 14, 10:30 a.m., TC - William M. Tatham Centre room 1208.

Understanding and Overcoming Depression and Anxiety, UW Recreation Committee, Friday, July 14, 2017, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., DC 1302.

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

The Hymn Society Annual Conference 2017, Sunday, July 16 to Thursday, July 20, Conrad Grebel University College.

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

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

Conversation Café, Monday, July 17, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., SCH 219.

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.

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.

PhD seminar, “Nonphotorealistic rendering of stereoscopic 3D media,” Lesley Istead, PhD candidate, Wednesday, July 19, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., DC 2314.

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.

PhD seminarDeep active learning for dialogue generation,” Nabiha Asghar, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, Friday, July 21, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., DC 2306C.

Waterloop Pod Launch event, Friday, July 21, 3:00 p.m., Federation Hall.

UW A Cappella Club end of term concerts, Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22, 7:30 p.m., Theatre of the Arts.

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

The University Club presents Lobsterlicious, Monday, July 24 to Friday, July 28, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., University Club.

Conversation Café, Monday, July 24, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., SCH 219.

Getting Published for Grad Students, Wednesday, July 26, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

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.

Social Impact Showcase,Thursday,July 27, 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., St. Paul's Alumni Hall. All welcome! Register here.

Conrad Grebel Peace Camp, Monday, July 31 to Friday, August 4.

Conversation Café, Monday, July 31, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., SCH 219.

Employee-Explore your personality type: Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Wednesday, August 2, TC 1113 - Please note, you must sign up for the session on July 26 as this is a follow up session to that one.

PhD oral defences

Pure Mathematics. Ian Payne, "2-Semilattices: Residual Properties and Applications to the Constraint Satisfaction Problem." Supervisor, Ross Willard. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Thursday, July 13, 1:30 p.m., M3 3103.

Civil & Environmental Engineering. Shahram Heydari, "Bayesian Nonparametric Dirichlet Process Mixture Modeling in Transportation Safety Studies." Supervisor, Liping Fu. On deposit in the Engineering graduate office, DWE 3520C. Oral defence Wednesday, July 19, 10:00 a.m., E2 2350.

Systems Design Engineering. Shuai Na, "Air-Coupled Capacitative Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers based on Annula Cell Geometry." Supervisor, John Yeow. On deposit in the Engineering graduate office, DWE 3520C. Oral defence Wednesday, July 19, 10:30 a.m., E5 6111.

Pure Mathematics. Jaspar Wiart, "Starring Semicrossed Products, Dilations, and Jacobson Radicals." Supervisor, Kenneth Davidson. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Thursday, July 20, 9:30 a.m., MC 2009.