Friday, July 14, 2017

A Tribe Called Red to play Reunion 2017 concert

As part of the University of Waterloo’s 60^th anniversary celebrations and Reunion 2017, indigenous DJ crew A Tribe Called Red will be performing at a concert held in the Physical Activities Complex.

A Tribe Called Red is a Juno Award-winning electronic music trio who advocate for inclusivity, empathy and acceptance amongst all races and genders in the name of social justice in between earth-shattering bass drops.

The event takes place as part of Reunion 2017 on Friday, September 29. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are only $20. All are welcome.

President speaks on disrupting higher education

President Feridun Hamdullahpur took the stage yesterday at Future Forward, challenging undergraduate students to solve big problems with big ideas.

The event, which also featured Waterloo professor Larry Smith and the Institute for Quantum Computing's Martin Laforest, was held as part of OpenText's Enterprise World conference in Toronto.

"Disruption comes when people are free to ask questions, to try out new ideas, and come up with new innovations that bring radical change," Hamdullahpur said. "At Waterloo, we ask questions, we provide a challenging program for students and we build links with businesses and government."

Citing the University of Waterloo's innovative impact over 60 years, from influencing the development of smartphones, contact lenses, and tobacco package warnings, Hamdullahpur explained how disruption has led to new models of higher education.

"Success is the result of a new model of partnership between academia and industry. It’s a new model that works because it addresses bigger challenges - complex challenges that require a range of skills to solve them, creative challenges that demand innovative solutions, and global challenges that bring the best minds in the world together."

Hamdullahpur cited Waterloo's co-operative education model, the Velocity startup incubator, the Waterloop SpaceX competition team, and the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience's Spaun project as examples of collaborative, interdisciplinary initiatives that can harness disruption to identify and solve the world's most pressing problems.

The Future Forward event was intended to inspire university students looking to solve big problems for big companies in the Enterprise Software industry.

"Things are changing rapidly," said Hamdullahpur. "Our curiosity will fuel it."

SHAD's best and brightest to tackle climate change 

For grade 11 student Melanie Jonnalagadda of London, Ontario, the last few months have been a whirlwind. She won a bronze medal in May at the Canada-Wide Science Fair for her work on diabetes and looking for ways to spot complications, including vision loss, sooner, work she was inspired to do after watching her grandmother struggle with diabetes.

Then she found out she was accepted into SHAD, joining 800 other top students from around the country this summer looking to make a difference. 

Jonnalagadda is the co-founder and president of her school’s first ever STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) club, which she started with a couple of other like-minded females who realized female participation in STEM subjects was abysmally low. The club aims to motivate, inspire and engage students in STEM activities and maybe even consider possible careers.

“When I went to check out a robotics club a while ago, there was only one girl on the team and she was the team secretary – instead of learning to code and building the robot with the boys.”

With SHAD now hosted at a record 13 universities from coast to coast, Jonnalagadda is participating at SHAD Waterloo, held on campus this month.

“I am excited and honoured to have this opportunity to live and learn alongside Canada’s top young minds who share the same passion to make a difference in the world,” she says.

Varun Kundra of Calgary, Alberta is a grade 11 student also at SHAD Waterloo who has won numerous accolades of his own. 

Kundra won the Immigrants of Distinction Scholarship overcoming a fear of public speaking to participate in 2016 at the TEDxYouth event in Edmonton speaking on the “Essence of Creativity”. He also developed a scientific writing competition after realizing students were ill prepared to communicate their research projects. While still in high school, he spends a lot of his time helping researchers at the University of Calgary develop an innovative biosensor for central nervous system injuries like concussion and spinal cord injury.

“My goal is to make a tangible difference in people’s lives through the commercialization of technology,” Kundra says. “SHAD will give me the primer on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. I am very excited to join this network.”

At SHAD, which was founded in 1980 to help youth reach their potential, students in grades 10 to 12 are immersed in an award-winning, one month enrichment program focused on STEAM: science, technology, engineering, arts and math. The students interact with renowned university faculty and visionary corporate leaders. In a unique element of the program, the students are challenged to come up with an original solution to a societal problem they learn about in the first week. It teaches them about entrepreneurship and innovation and leaves the students seeing how they can make an immediate impact.

This year's design theme is: How might Canadians meaningfully reduce our individual energy footprints?

Chloe Brooks of Fredericton, New Brunswick is hoping to become the first in her family to attend post-secondary education and says SHAD will help her become a role model in her community.

“I never expected this chance to participate in such an amazing experience. I am doing this not just for myself but for other First Nations youth,” Brooks says. She adds, “I would like them to witness an average kid from their community make it as far as possible.”

When the program ends on July 28, the students become part of an important network of close to 16,000 alumni including 32 Rhodes Scholars and leaders in many fields.