Daily Bulletin

Friday, June 1, 2018

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Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca


Today's Keystone Picnic has moved indoors

A note from the Office of Advancement.

Due to the possibility of rain, today's Keystone Picnic has been moved to the Student Life Centre Great Hall.

Join us from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for live entertainment, a fabulous lunch, popcorn, cake, cotton candy, and time to socialize with colleagues.

A few reminders:

  • You received a food ticket by e-mail. Print it and bring it with you for admission
  • Bring your water bottle and fill it up at our water station
  • Food is served on a first-come, first-served basis
  • If you work in the evening, join us from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Anyone with questions can email keystone@uwaterloo.ca.

Waterloo hosted regional Technovation pitch event

A photo showing the crowd of Technovation attendees at Fed Hall.

This is an excerpt of an article that originally appeared on the Cheriton School of Computer Science website.

On May 12, Federation Hall teemed with excitement and anticipation as girls and young women from elementary and high schools in the region made their final pitches to the judges along with their teachers, mentors, family and friends.

Congratulations to all Technovation Waterloo teams and their members! Every team worked hard and everyone should be proud of what they've accomplished.

The three winning teams are Lightning (which created an app called Bus Buddy), The Frogs (which created an app called tAPP water), and Earthlings (which created an app called QR-dination).

Team Lightning and Bus Buddy

"No more waiting on the road in bad weather! Our app will help parents and kids to track school buses and see school bus status and location. The bus drivers can update their status to running, cancelled or late. The location of the bus can be found on a map. The app will start tracking the location as soon as the bus driver starts their run, and stop when the bus reaches its destination. We think our app can be beneficial to lot of people and hope you consider making it a reality."

Check out their pitch video on YouTube.

Team The Frogs and  tAPP Water

tAPP Water is an app dedicated to reducing the number of plastic water bottles in our environment by making public drinking locations more accessible to people. It shows the locations of water fountains and allows people to add new fountains. Our goal is to reduce plastic in our oceans and help save the unique wildlife in them.

Check out their pitch video on YouTube.

Team Earthlings and QR-dination​

"Our app, QR-dination, will shorten the check-in lines and smooth out the check-in and registration process by assisting in organizing attendee details and using technological tools.

QR-dination will send a QR code and the specific details to all of the attendees that registered. The QR code will be used for the attendee to check into the event in a matter of seconds.

Users can also provide their feedback about the event and all of the responses can be accessed on the app, creating easy and efficient accessibility. The creator of the event can easily name the app, set the start time, set the end time, and add the location, in under a minute!"

Check out their pitch video on YouTube.

Read the rest of the article on the Computer Science website and check out the list of second-place winners and other honorable mentions.

HR seeks User Experience participants for website

A message from Human Resources.

Human Resources will be conducting research on the usability and user experience of the HR website from May – August. Based on feedback from surveys and internal focus groups, HR will be dedicated to providing quality service through an improved website to increase client satisfaction. We want to understand how our employees navigate the website and to identify problems that may arise from the experience.

At this time, we will be focusing on conducting research based on our primary users: employees. All employees (faculty, staff, CUPE, retirees) are invited to join a User Experience Research Group to participate in any or all of the following: surveys, questionnaires, observational research, and usability testing.

If you’re interested in participating, please register to join the User Experience Research Group. Lunch will be provided to employees who participate in our observational research and usability testing. Contact HR Website for any questions.

Outstanding performance award winners named

Vice-President, Academic & Provost George Dixon has announced the winners of the 2017 Outstanding Performance Award winners.

The University of Waterloo established an Outstanding Performance Fund to reward faculty members for outstanding contributions in teaching and scholarship. The award came into effect in May 2005 in accordance with the 2003 Faculty Salary Settlement.

"I am very pleased to announce the award recipients for 2017, and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them for their outstanding contributions to the University of Waterloo," Dixon writes.

The 2017 winners are:

Applied Health Sciences

  • Lisbeth Berbary
  • Mark Ferro
  • Shannon Majowicz
  • Joe Quadrilatero
  • Paul Stolee
  • Chris Vigna

Arts

  • Greg Andres
  • Joel Blit 
  • Mathieu Doucet
  • Valerie Cecile Dusaillant-Fernandes
  • Riemer Faber
  • Jonathan Fugelsang
  • Nicolas Gauthier
  • Jasmin Habib
  • Dorothy Hadfield 
  • Kathryn Henne
  • Suzan Ilcan
  • Ronald Kroeker
  • Colin MacLeod
  • Aimée Morrison
  • Lennart Nacke
  • Elizabeth Nilsen
  • Evan Risko
  • Pamela Seeds
  • Mikal Skuterud
  • Imre Szeman
  • Bojana Videkanic
  • Linda Warley
  • Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme

Engineering                                

  • Hossein Abouee Mehrizi
  • Rania Al-Hammoud
  • Anne Bordeleau
  • Slim Boumaiza
  • Wayne Chang
  • David Clausi
  • Ramadan El Shatshat
  • ​Ehab El-Saadany
  • Paul Fieguth
  • Kamyar Ghavam
  • Maud Gorbet
  • Jason Grove
  • Anwarul Hasan
  • Carol Hulls
  • Yuning Li
  • William Melek
  • Mary Robinson
  • Xuemin Shen
  • Michael K.C. Tam
  • Neil Thomson
  • Robert Van Pelt
  • Alexander Wong
  • Serhiy Yarusevych

Environment                                                         

  • Jennifer Clapp
  • Goretty Dias
  • Robert Gibson
  • Heather Mary Hall
  • Leia Minaker
  • Prateep Nayak
  • Jonathan Price

Mathematics                                   

  • Ilham Akhundov
  • Jason Bell
  • Lori Case
  • Robin Cohen
  • Kenneth Davidson
  • James Geelen
  • Mark Giesbrecht
  • Ian Goldberg
  • Ihab Ilyas Kaldas
  • Srinivasan Keshav
  • Pengfei Li
  • Anna Lubiw
  • Eduardo Martin-Martinez
  • Zoran Miskovic
  • John-Paul Pretti
  • Gregory Rice
  • Ken Seng Tan
  • Levent Tuncel

Science                               

  • Michael Balogh
  • Kristine Dalton
  • Vivian Dayeh
  • Andrew Charles Doxey
  • Richard Epp
  • Kelly Grindrod
  • Roland Hall
  • David Hawthorn
  • John Honek
  • Linda Nazar
  • Carol Ptacek
  • Andre Stanberry
  • Scott Taylor
  • Philippe Van Cappellen
  • Shawn Wettig​
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Reminder: Presidential Lecture next Friday

Harvard professor and teaching innovator Eric Mazur will visit campus on Friday, June 8 and deliver a Presidential Lecture on innovation in teaching and learning.

The event takes place at Federation Hall on Friday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m. Doors open at 1:45 p.m. Register to secure your seat at the event today.

The event will also be livestreamed.

Office closures this week

The Finance Office will be closed on Friday, June 1 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. for a staff event.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Link of the day

Pride Month

When and where 

Undergraduate School on Experimental Quantum Information Processing (USEQIP), Monday, May 28 to Friday, June 8, Institute for Quantum Computing.

Bike Month, Friday, June 1 to Saturday, June 30, across campus.

IT seminar featuring Andrew Ward, "Duo Two-Factor: The Sequel," Friday, June 1, 9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m., MC 2009.

Keystone Picnic, Friday, June 1, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the DC Quad. In the Student Life Centre Great Hall. For those on campus in the evening, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the SLC Great Hall. Please note the revised location.

Retirement party for Karen Cressman, Friday, June 1, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Fed Hall Columbia Room.

Discovery: A Comic Lament, Friday, June 1, 7:30 p.m., Conrad Grebel University College.

Transforming Space: Immerse, interact and imagine in Philip Beesley, School of Architecture, Saturday, June 2 to Monday, October 8, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Royal Ontario Museum.

UWAG and Fine Arts present "This Could Be The Place: Performance Art Symposium," Monday, June 4 to Saturday, June 9, University of Waterloo Arts quad.

Design, Construction and Operation of PIT Tag Monitoring Systems featuring Warren Leach, Oregon RFID, Monday June 4, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 and include lunch. For more information contact Bruce MacVicar at bmacvicar@uwaterloo.ca.

Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research presents "CRISPR IP & Patenting Life," Monday, June 4, 11:00 a.m., QNC 1506.

QPR Training, Monday, June 4, 1:30 p.m.

Get a Job Using LinkedIn, Monday, June 4, 4:30 p.m., TC 1208.

Procurement and Contract services annual trade show, Tuesday, June 5 and Wednesday, June 6, DC fishbowl.

safeTALK training, Tuesday, June 5, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., NH 2447.

Tri-Agency Open Access Policy - From Author's Rights to UWSpace, Tuesday, June 5, 1:30 p.m., Library FLEX Lab.

Exploring your Personality Type (Myers-Briggs) – Part 1, Tuesday, June 5, 1:30 p.m., TC 1112.

Board of Governors meeting, Tuesday, June 5, 1:30 p.m., NH 3407.

Rapid Career Promotion Briefing (undergraduate students only), Tuesday, June 5, 6:00 p.m., TC 2218.

Résumé and Cover Letter Writing (graduate students and postdocs only), Wednesday, June 6, 9:00 a.m., TC 2218.

Annotated bibliography using RefWorks, Wednesday, June 6, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Library FLEX Lab.

Write-In Session for Résumés and Cover Letters (graduate students and postdocs only), Wednesday, June 6, 1:00 p.m., TC 2218.

Master Your Job Search, Wednesday, June 6, 1:30 p.m., TC 1208.

NEW - Technical Interview 101, Wednesday June 6, 6:30 p.m., MC (Room TBD). 

Gustav Bakos Observatory public tour, Wednesday, June 6, lecture 9:00 p.m. in PHY 313, telescope viewing 9:30 p.m.

Velocity Start: Ain’t No Model Like a Business Model, “Learn how to create a lean business model canvas”, Wednesday, June 6, 7:30 p.m., Velocity Start, SCH 2nd Floor.

Landing an Academic Job in 2018 (graduate students only), Thursday, June 7, 1:30 p.m., TC 2218.

NEW - Deadline to apply for Balsillie School of International Affairs Transformative Leadership Program, Friday, June 8.

Retirement celebration for Laura Johnson, Friday, June 8, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., EV3-3rd Floor Patio. RSVP to Tiffany Chen, tiffany.chen@uwaterloo.ca.

Presidential Lecture featuring Professor Eric Mazur, Harvard University, Friday, June 8, 2:00 p.m., Federation Hall. Register on Ticketfi.

Nukes and the Nobel: A Conversation with Setsuko Thurlow, Wednesday, June 13, 7:30 p.m., reception at 6:45 p.m. in Atrium, Conrad Grebel University College Great Hall.

Spring 2018 Convocation, Tuesday, June 12 to Saturday, June 16, Physical Activities Complex.

University Club Spring Convocation Luncheon, Tuesday, June 12 to Saturday, June 16, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., University Club.

Discover Your Career Values (for employees only), Wednesday, June 13, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., TC2218. 

Velocity Start: Do People Want Your Sh*t?, “Learn about topics related to market validation,” Wednesday, June 13, 7:30 p.m., Velocity Start, SCH 2nd Floor.

ROM Daytime: Transforming Space: Can Architecture Come Alive?, Speaker: Philip Beesley, School of Architecture, Thursday, June 14, 11:00 a.m., Royal Ontario Museum.

Design and deliver I: Presentation Essentials, Thursday, June 14, 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

The Quantum Valley Investments® Problem Pitch Competition, Thursday, June 14, 7:00 p.m., AL 105.

PhD oral defences

Management Sciences. Burak Guler, "A Regional Energy Hub for Achieving a Low-Carbon Energy Transition." Supervisors, Jatin Nathwani, Emre Celebi. On display in the Engineering graduate office, DWE 3520C. Oral defence Tuesday, June 5, 10:30 a.m., CPH 4335.

Electrical & Computer Engineering. Hatem Sindi, "Planning and Operation Framework of Smart Distributed Energy Resources in Emerging Distribution Systems." Supervisor, Ehab El-Saadany. On display in the Engineering graduate office, DWE 3520C. Oral defence Wednesday, June 6, 2:30 p.m., CPH 2371.

Statistics and Actuarial Science. Jingong Zhang, "Risk Management with Basis Risk." Supervisors, Ken Seng Tan, Chengguo Weng. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Wednesday, June 6, 9:30 a.m., M3 3001.

Physics & Astronomy. Grigory Bednik, "Topological and superconducting properties of Weyl and Dirac metals." Supervisor, Anton Burkov. On deposit in the Science graduate office, PHY 2013. Oral defence Thursday, June 7, 1:00 p.m., PHY 352.