Monday, December 18, 2017

Waterloop team feels the need for speed

by Natalie Quinlan.

The Waterloop team is on its way to building a faster, lighter and more sophisticated pod. So fast, they estimate passengers could one day travel from Waterloo to Toronto in a mere six minutes.

Having formerly used a levitation system that would allow the pod to travel completely frictionless, the student design team has moved to a different method to enhance speed.

“We used to use the magnetic wheels for propulsion mainly, but now we’re going to be using friction propulsion, which is going to be a really big modification that will take us to a speed of 300 kilometres per hour and beyond,” said Ruslan Nikolaev, a third-year computer science student.

It takes innovative minds from a variety of academic backgrounds to make the concept work.  While the largest number of team members come from Engineering and Architecture programs, Waterloop is comprised of 90 students from all six faculties within the University.  The Faculty of Engineering provides staff, funding, equipment and mentoring support for the project all year round.

“Practically all of us are doing it alongside our studies, Masters or co-op terms,” said Nicholas Jelich, a science and business student who is Waterloop’s sponsorship lead. “I could not have asked for a better team. All of us are incredibly experienced from very diverse backgrounds, both academically and just in general from a personality perspective.”

Even with busy student schedules, the team finds time to remain competitive at international competitions. In August 2017, Waterloop was one of 24 teams selected from 3,000 submissions to compete in the Hyperloop competition sponsored by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. With the 2018 summer races around the corner, Waterloop hopes to race again, breaking down their GOOSE II model in preparation to build GOOSE III, a faster, more efficient product that will reach subsonic speeds. The whole process starts in January.

“A lot of what we’re going to be doing is cannibalizing our old pod and rebuilding it from scratch,” said Jelich. “What we’re going to be looking for is a test facility this coming January with some sort of large test track so we can do high-speed testing. We’re looking forward to going maybe about 300 kilometres per hour if not faster.”

Sandra Banks, vice-president university relations, was an early supporter of the team and remains committed to supporting student ventures both from an advisory and promotional capacity.

“We are proud of all our student design teams that compete nationally and internationally,” said Banks. “Waterloop shines as a beacon for the University because the team represents all faculties and showcases its ambition to invent the future of transit on a world stage.”

People who want to support Waterloop can visit their donation or website’s contact page and be connected with one of their members. The team is looking for cash donations and industry professionals willing to share expertise as they build a pod that could cost $250,000.

“Having industry sponsors who are able to share their expertise would be really beneficial,” said Nikolaev. “We also still need sponsors to help us fund the team overall.”

And the People’s Choice Award goes to

A new prize was introduced at the most recent GreenHouse Social Impact Showcase – a "People’s Choice for Social Impact" award, thanks to management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. The audience chose to award the $1,500 to block, a social venture that will help high school students figure out which career path they should follow. It uses ‘building blocks,’ including a virtual reality component.

Block also won $2,000 from the GreenHouse Social Impact Fund, which awards promising GreenHouse students with funding for their ventures at the end of each term.

Accounting and Finance Management students Samantha Tjong, John Youn, and Peter Youn founded block.

The other recipients of the GreenHouse Social Impact Fund were:

• Chelsea Campbell, Take Care: This Social Development Studies student is establishing an online platform for youth and young adults with cancer so they can find meaningful connections.
• Rachel Thorburn, Resilient Minds: This Arts and Business student is fostering mental health literacy in high school youth in an effort to prevent youth suicide.

Micro-fund winners were:

• Dinojah Patkunarajah and Nahema Sybill Jules, MadeIn: Canada: These Arts and Business students are helping newcomers to Canada acquire language skills and meaningful employment.
• Le-Tien Duong, Apollo’s Compass: This Public Health student is addressing access to holistic approaches in mental health services.

Showcase your research in NSERC’s photo contest

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is running a contest for researchers to submit a photo of their work. If you would like to share your research and have the chance to win a $2,000 cash prize, enter the Science Exposed contest.

The contest is focused on images of scientific research in all fields of study. NSERC will be using the photos in an effort to foster a science culture in Canada. The photos convey the work of talented researchers and help Canadians better understand the work that researchers do.

The contest will be open until Friday, January 12, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. Make sure to review the contest rules before entering and check out NSERC’s website for full details. If you have any questions, please contact Véronique St-Antoine, Communications Advisor, NSERC.

Monday's notes

Holiday accommodations for international students: International students who need a short-term place to stay over the holidays can now live at St. Paul’s. The residence will be available from December 22 to January 2 for students who need housing, but not a meal plan, for these 11 days. On-call staff assistance will be available during this time.

Thirty-three University of Waterloo researchers will receive $4.8 million to advance research and encourage partnerships that will lead to innovative approaches that improve the well-being of Canadians.

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is awarding the funding through Insight Grants, Insight Development Grants, and Partnership Development Grants.

Check out the Office of Research website for the full listing of grant winners.

Looking for a last-minute Christmas gift? The Turnkey Desk in the Student Life Centre has got you covered! The Turnkeys are selling discounted movie passes for Cineplex, Landmark, and Princess Cinemas.

Human Resources is reporting that the following retirees have died:

• Stella Draus died November 19. She started at the University in September 1969 and retired as Assistant Baker in Food Services in January 1991;

• John Linnerth died December 6. John retired in August 1987 from his position of Custodian in Plant Operations. His wife Katharina predeceased him in 2010.