Friday, September 8, 2017

Three researchers named Royal Society of Canada fellows

This article was originally published on the Office of Research website.

Three researchers from the University of Waterloo are among the new fellows of The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) announced Wednesday.

The RSC fellows were recognized by their peers for outstanding scholarly, scientific, and artistic achievement. This year, 89 new fellows were elected by RSC.

The University of Waterloo's new RSC fellows are:

David Blowes (Earth and Environmental Sciences)

Recognized as an international leader in the field of environmental geochemistry. Through sophisticated laboratory, field and modelling studies, David Blowes has made groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of the release of contaminants from mine wastes. He has also made important contributions to the development of management practices for mine wastes and to the development of novel groundwater remediation technologies.

Geoffrey Fong (Psychology)

One of world’s leading global health researchers, Geoffrey Fong, created and leads an immense research program that is evaluating the population-level impact of tobacco control policies in over 25 countries, covering over two-thirds of the world’s tobacco users. The International Tobacco Control (ITV) Project has made groundbreaking contributions to advancing science and policies to accelerate and strengthen governmental and advocacy efforts to combat the global tobacco epidemic.

Weihua Zhuang (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

An internationally eminent researcher and a Tier I Canada Research Chair in wireless communication networks, Weihua Zhuang, has made profound research contributions to resource allocation, distributed network control, and mobile user positioning. Her prolific achievements have led to significant advances in engineering solutions, and generated high impacts in the research community.

Yoga, meditation improve brain function and energy levels

Practicing brief sessions of Hatha yoga and mindfulness meditation can significantly improve brain function and energy levels, according to a new Waterloo study.

The study found that practicing just 25 minutes of Hatha yoga or mindfulness meditation per day can boost the brain’s executive functions and cognitive abilities linked to goal-directed behavior. They also help with the ability to control knee-jerk emotional responses as well as habitual thinking patterns and actions.

“Hatha yoga and mindfulness meditation both focus the brain’s conscious processing power on a limited number of targets like breathing and posing, and also reduce processing of nonessential information,” said Peter Hall, associate professor in the School of Public Health & Health Systems. "These two functions might have some positive carryover effect in the near- term following the session, such that people are able to focus more easily on what they choose to attend to in everyday life.”

Thirty-one study participants completed 25 minutes of Hatha yoga, 25 minutes of mindfulness meditation, and 25 minutes of quiet reading (a control task) in randomized order. Following both the yoga and meditation activities, participants performed significantly better on executive function tasks compared to the reading task.

“This finding suggests that there may be something special about meditation— as opposed to the physical posing— that carries a lot of the cognitive benefits of yoga,” said Kimberley Luu, lead author on the paper.

The study also found that mindfulness meditation and Hatha yoga were both effective for improving energy levels, but Hatha yoga had significantly more powerful effects than meditation alone.

“There are a number of theories about why physical exercises like yoga improve energy levels and cognitive test performance,” said Luu. “These include the release of endorphins, increased blood flow to the brain, and reduced focus on ruminative thoughts. Though ultimately, it is still an open question.”

Hatha yoga is one of the most common styles of yoga practiced in Western countries.

It involves physical postures and breathing exercises combined with meditation. Mindfulness mediation involves observing thoughts, emotions and body sensations with openness and acceptance.

“Although the meditative aspect might be even more important than the physical posing for improving executive functions, there are additional benefits to Hatha yoga including improvements in flexibility and strength,” said Hall.  “These benefits may make Hatha yoga superior to meditation alone, in terms of overall health benefits.”

The study is published in the September 2017 issue of Mindfulness.

Senior leadership luncheon on Monday

In celebration of the start of the new semester, all students are invited to the President and Senior Staff Luncheon, held on the Davis Centre quad on Monday, September 11 between noon and 1:30 p.m.

President Feridun Hamdullahpur and members of Executive Council will welcome new and returning students while serving barbecue-style food (both meat and vegetarian options) as part of the Federation of Students' Welcome Week.

Come and enjoy a free lunch in appreciation of your studies at the University of Waterloo. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be moved to the Student Life Centre Great Hall.

The Battle of Waterloo becomes a war; other notes

The Battle of Waterloo will be much more than just another cross-town rival game for the Waterloo Warriors and Laurier Golden Hawks this coming U SPORTS season.

"The occupants of University Avenue have upped the ante with a Battle of Waterloo series meaning every game involving a team sport (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer) between the two combatants will count," says an article on the Athletics and Recreation website. "The team with the best record at the end of the competition will be deemed the winner of the series and awarded the Battle of Waterloo trophy. In total, there are 19 games that will count towards the Battle of Waterloo series with the first two contests set for this Sunday, September 10 at Warrior Field as Waterloo and Laurier take on each other in soccer."

Read the rest of the article on the Athletics website for more information.

A student-run lightning talk conference has issued a call for proposals. StarCon will take place in January 2018 and is looking for folks who have "a passion for technology, learning and sharing" to submit proposals for 15-minute talks about their favourite piece(s) of technology. 

"Submit anything technology related, from projects to bugs to something interesting you've learned," says a statement from the conference organizers. "You are especially encouraged to apply if you are a first-time speaker, you are a member of an underrepresented group in technology, or you've hesitated to apply to speak at conferences in the past because you think that you have nothing to contribute or you feel less qualified than your peers."

The deadline for proposal submissions is Friday, September 15. Learn more about how to submit your talk.