Thursday, May 24, 2018

See the good in everyone at Canada Day 2018

Sloan will be headlining the OpenText Live Music Stage at Canada Day 2018.

The University of Waterloo has announced its featured entertainers for Canada Day 2018 as the 34^th annual celebration scheduled for Sunday, July 1 draws closer.

The afternoon starts off with a twang for children of all ages at 4:00 p.m. featuring iconic multi-Juno award-winning children’s performer Fred Penner. Fred is well known for his North America-wide appearances and his television show, Fred Penner's Place, which aired on CBC from 1985 to 1997 and Nickelodeon from 1989 to 1992.

In the evening on the OpenText Live Music Stage, rock out to the tunes of Sloan, the Canadian Juno Award-winning pop quartet with a discography that includes 12 full-length albums, two EPs, a live album, a Greatest Hits album and more than 30 singles.

Sloan’s performance will be capped off at 10:00 p.m. with the celebration’s annual fireworks display over Columbia Lake, the largest in the area.

The annual Canada Day celebration offers food, fun and activities for everyone. Take in dance and musical performances by local community cultural groups performing on the entertainment stage, sample the wide variety of options at the Food Truck Fair, or participate in the family fun at Activity World.

The University of Waterloo and the Federation of Students have partnered along with community sponsors to host the event on the Columbia Lake Fields each Canada Day since 1984. Join 50,000 of your closest friends this July 1 and share your national pride on #UWCanadaDay.

As always, admission is free. Keep an eye on the Daily Bulletin, Waterloo's social media accounts, and visit the Canada Day website for more information.

UbiLab wins Healthy Behaviour Data Challenge

The Ubiquitous Health Technology Lab (UbiLab), headed by School of Public Health and Heath Systems professor Plinio Morita, was one of three $25,000 winners in a national competition aimed at generating new methods to collect and use data in public health monitoring.

UbiLab’s entry, “Smart Home Tech for Public Health Surveillance,” will enable 24-hour data collection by leveraging information from more than 10,000 smart thermostats to help the Public Health Agency of Canada gain real-time insights into health behaviours such as physical activity, sedentary activity, and sleep.

The Healthy Behaviour Data Challenge is a partnership between the MaRS Discovery District, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. It was launched one year ago, with more than 30 research teams and companies applying. MaRS and its partners are now working with the winning teams on their prototypes.

For more information, please see the MaRS news release.

Stratford Campus to become a School

This article was originally published on the Stratford Campus website.

The Stratford Campus will become the University of Waterloo’s newest school as of July 1, 2018, with the official name of The Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business.

This name change aptly reflects the remarkable growth of the Stratford Campus programs – from only 16 students to a population of over 600, and growing at a rate of 20 percent per year. These programs include the Bachelor of Global Business and Digital Arts and the Master of Digital Experience Innovation, both of which will form the core of this new school within the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Arts.

“As a School and a new unit in the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Arts, we will be well placed for further growth and excellence,” says Christine McWebb, Director of the Stratford Campus.

This announcement comes just shortly after the campus celebrated their 5-year anniversary – a journey of extraordinary success. The proof is in the accomplishments and accolades of the students: the creator of the Canada 150 logo, a top prize-holder in Communitech’s Code/Design to Win competition, a shortlisted competitor for the Hultz Prize, and, most recently, shortlisted competitors of the Royal Society of Arts Student Design Awards.

Toping that, perhaps, is the impressive employment rate for Stratford’s alumni at 91 percent, with companies like Amazon, Google, Scotiabank, Telus Digital, Deloitte and many of Waterloo’s home-grown success stories.

18 faculty members and 11 staff shape unique academic experiences, which focus on human-centered interaction design through creative exploration, critical thinking and design research to create positive technology-enhanced user experiences.

The future Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business represents the convergence of technology, design and business that  perfectly responds to emerging and future industry demands, evident within our Region’s innovation ecosystem.