Monday, July 23, 2018

Students fly high at rocketry competition

Members of a Waterloo Engineering student design team prepare to launch their new rocket, Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), during a recent competition in New Mexico, where they finished first in their category.

This article was originally featured on the Engineering news site.

A student design team from Waterloo Engineering recently took first place in its class for the second year in a row at an international rocketry competition in New Mexico.

Waterloo Rocketry, which is comprised primarily of engineering undergraduates, successfully launched its new rocket, Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), to an altitude of 13,412 feet to top 14 teams in the hybrid and liquid rocket category.

In all, more than 1,400 students on 124 teams from around the world took part in the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition at Spaceport America in New Mexico, where it has been held for the last two years.

Waterloo has competed at the event for eight years. The second-place finisher in its category this time out was from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Most teams rely on commercially manufactured solid engines, but Waterloo uses a hybrid engine that is both designed and manufactured by students.

“We enjoy the additional engineering challenges and learning opportunities that arise from developing this complicated subsystem ourselves,” Jacob Deery, operations lead for the team, wrote in an email.

Team part of strong Canadian showing

The team also prides itself on the development of ground support equipment, including a control system that enables launch of its rocket from 3,000 feet away. That system was the subject of a conference presentation that was also part of the competition.

The overall winner at the event was McGill University, which led a particularly strong showing by Canadian universities.

Waterloo team members at the competition were Aaron Morrison, Adam Paul, Alex Mihaila, David Ng, Doris Jiang, Edward Yang, Emily Ma, Hilbert Li, Jacob Deery, Miranda Daly, Nick Christopher, Nina Kornilovsky, Riley Holierhoek, Robin Liu, Shirley Kong and Vithusan Rajkumar.

Community feedback requested for Multi-Year Accessibility Plan

The Accessibility Committee has put together a Multi-year Accessibility Plan (MYAP) for the University of Waterloo, and is requesting feedback from persons with disabilities and others in the Waterloo community. Creating and maintaining a campus that is welcoming for everyone impacts students, staff and faculty. The MYAP is an on-going initiative that will require continued collaboration to ensure that accessibility considerations are embedded within the University’s culture. It is intended to support and align with our commitments under Policy 58: Accessibility and meet our obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Beyond that, our long-term goals will be to improve access to our campus by adopting best practices and being innovative in the realm of accessibility.

Two information sessions will be held this summer to provide a summary of the plan and address questions and comments around the MYAP. Attendees will receive a follow-up questionnaire on the plan and have an opportunity to provide feedback.

Please register for one of the following information sessions:

• July 31^st, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
• August 22^nd, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

There will be an additional session in the fall. If you are unable to attend, but would like to provide feedback on the MYAP, you can do so on the Accessibility at Waterloo page.

Stewart Forrest receives FAUW appreciation award

FAUW president Bryan Tolson and Stewart Forrest.

This article was originally featured on the FAUW website.

The Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW) presented its 2018 Appreciation Award to Stewart Forrest from Plant Operations at a reception last month. Inaugurated in 2017, the award recognizes individuals from across the University who have gone above and beyond to improve the lives of faculty members.

Forrest received the award for his work representing CUPE Local 793 on the University Pension and Benefits Committee, where he has been a consistent champion of the rights of all uWaterloo employees, including faculty.

At the reception, FAUW president Bryan Tolson described Forrest as a "go-to person" for advice on key financial issues and "a voice of calm and reason."

Tolson also said that the award "actually reflects the special relationship and service that Stewart provides to all members of the UW community since Stewart makes no distinction in terms of whom he helps or works with."

The event also celebrated the work of its many committee, council, and board members, including the recently retired chair of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee, Professor Christopher Small. More than 100 faculty members contributed to FAUW's work over the past year.

Going down: elevators tested on campus this week

Plant Operations has announced that the Delta Elevator Company will be conducting testing on a number of campus elevators this week. The testing schedule is as follows:

• Dana Porter Library elevator - Monday, July 23;
• Doug Wright Engineering C-Wing Elevator - Tuesday, July 24;
• Engineering II Elevator 2-1 - Tuesday, July 24, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.;
• UW Place Eby Hall Elevator - Wednesday, July 25;
• ERC Elevator 48-1 - Wednesday, July 25, 8:00 a.m. to 12:01 p.m.;
• School of Pharmacy Elevator 49-3 - Wednesday, July 25, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.;
• UW Place Beck Hall Elevator - Thursday, July 26;
• Physics elevator - Friday, July 27;

The elevators in each location will be unavailable while testing and maintenance is carried out.