Friday, July 27, 2018


Staff Enhancement Experience (SEE) Canada Grant winners

Five members of University of Waterloo staff have been selected to receive the Staff Enhancement Experience (SEE) Canada Grant for 2018. Launching this year, the SEE Canada Grant provides an opportunity for regular full-time University staff members to further their professional development through idea-exchange and learning alongside counterparts at other Canadian universities, colleges, research institutions or industry-partner organizations.

“The SEE Canada Grant is an excellent opportunity for staff, who may not travel frequently for work, to seek out fresh and innovative ideas that they can bring back to the University. In addition to furthering their professional development, they’ll be able to build lasting relationships with individuals in similar roles at our partner institutions across Canada,” says Marilyn Thompson, Associate Provost Human Resources.

Funded through the Staff Excellence Fund, the SEE Canada Grant will allow recipients to expand their knowledge, exchange best practices and apply what they’ve learned to their role at Waterloo. The SEE Canada Selection Committee reviewed applications and conducted interviews and has chosen the following recipients for the 2018 award:

  • Anne Grant, Manager, Ecology Teaching Labs
  • Danielle Jeanneault, Editor, Undergraduate Calendar and Manager, Communications
  • Dave Logan, Success Coach, Counsellor
  • Claire Taylor, Manager, Student Engagement and Communications
  • Christine Wagner, Research Coordinator/Senior Buyer

Watch the video to learn more about this year’s Grant winners and their goals.

For more information about this award, please visit the SEE Canada Grant web page.

Bruce Muirhead appointed Associate Vice-President, Research Oversight and Analysis

Bruce Muirhead has been named Associate Vice-President, Research Oversight and Analysis, for a three-year term, effective July 1, 2018. This new role, arising through a restructuring of portfolios in the Office of Research, provides leadership in the areas of research oversight and compliance, as well as co-ordination of data management and bibliometrics.

Bruce Muirhead

As a member of the executive team of the Vice-President, University Research, Bruce Muirhead is the University delegate with respect to responsible conduct of research issues and is charged with conducting inquiries and investigations when a breach has occurred. The responsibilities of his role include research ethics, co-ordination with the safety office in areas related to research safety, oversight of the research financial compliance portfolio in the research finance office, animal care and oversight of the central animal facility, driving awareness across campus of best practices related to research integrity, and management of internal processes related to allegations pertaining to research misconduct.

Bruce Muirhead serves as Chair of the University Bibliometrics Working Group and oversees co-ordination with the Library and Institutional Analysis and Planning on data management, bibliometrics, and related research analyses along with co-ordination of the strategic mandate agreement committee on research metrics. He is also a member of Waterloo’s steering committee on university rankings and serves on the Water Institute’s strategic management committee.

As a professor in Waterloo’s Department of History, he served as the Associate Dean of Arts, Graduate Studies and Research from 2008 to 2012 until he moved to the Office of Research as AVP, External Research. Bruce Muirhead has written extensively on Canadian trade negotiations since the Second World War, as well as Canadian politics, diplomacy, and economic development. His recent work has focused on the evolution of Canadian agricultural and food policy. He is the Egg Farmers of Canada Chair in Public Policy, where his research centers on issues surrounding the development and relevance of supply management in the dairy and egg industry by comparing the Canadian system with those found in comparable sectors in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and U.S.

A note on a Retiree

Friends and colleagues of Wanda Speek are invited to her retirement celebration on August 14th at 3:30 p.m. in The University Club.

Wanda Speek

Wanda started working in Food Services on a part-time basis and was hired permanently as an Accounts Payable Cheque Typist in Financial Services in July 1982. She held various positions in Finance and was a Graduate Secretary in Biology for a year before she joined Human Resources in November 1989 as Secretary/Receptionist. For the last 26 years, since October 5, 1992, in her current role of Pension Administrator she has assisted countless UW employees understand their pension entitlement and guide them into retirement. Now it’s her turn to ride off into the sunset!

Please RSVP to join us to say thanks to Wanda for her contributions.

Link of the day

65 years ago: Korean War armistice

When and where 

Celebrate Canada's Diversity at the University Club, Tuesday, July 3 to Friday, August 10, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., University Club.

Pre-examination study days, Thursday, July 26 and Friday, July 27.

#BeInTheMoment Zumba, Friday, July 27, 12:00 p.m., AHS 1686.

Chemistry Seminar Series featuring Ernesto Rivera
Professor
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico, “Luminescent grafted polymers containing pyrene and other photoactive chromophores,” Friday, July 27, 2:00 p.m., C2 361.

Examinations begin, Saturday, July 28.

Online examination days, Saturday, July 28 and Friday, August 3.

Coping Skills Seminar - Cultivating Resiliency, Monday, July 30, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., NH 2302.

NEW - Computer science seminar, User-centric personal data analytics on the edge, Hamed Haddadi, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director of Research, Dyson School of Design Engineering, Monday, July 30, 1:30 p.m., DC 1302.

NEW - Computer science PhD seminar, More threshold cryptography for users with multiple devices, Erinn Atwater, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, Monday, July 30, 4:00 p.m., DC 1304.

Lobsterlicious at the University Club, Tuesday, July 31 to Friday, August 10, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., University Club.

CrySP Speaker Series on Privacy featuring Vern Paxson, University of California, Berkeley, Tuesday, July 31, 11:00 a.m., DC 1304.

ECE Seminar: Inverter-based Control for Low Inertia Power Systems: Scale-free Analysis, Performance Trade-offs, and Controller Design, Tuesday, July 31, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., EIT 3142.

Multi-Year Accessibility Plan information session, Tuesday, July 31, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., BMH 1016.

Coping Skills Seminar - Cultivating Resiliency, Tuesday, July 31, 4:00 p.m., HS 2302.

Waterloo Science Outreach at Discovery Square, Tuesday, July 31, 5:00 p.m., Kitchener City Hall.

SSHRC START training: Crafting Compelling Objectives, Tuesday, July 31, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Hagey Hall 373

Pop-Up HR session, Wednesday, August 1, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., outdoor quad between EC1 and EC5.

Part Time Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) Info Session, Wednesday, August 1, 12:30 p.m., Online Webinar.

Alleviating Anxiety Seminar, Thursday, August 2, 5:00 p.m., NH 2447.

SSHRC START training: Master Methodologies, Thursday, August 2, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Hagey Hall 373

Civic holiday, Monday, August 6, most University operations closed.

Seminar featuring Daniel Berry, Software Engineering — A rerun of "The Prehistory and History of RE (+SE) as Seen by Me", Tuesday, August 7, 10:30 a.m., DC 2310.

Coping Skills Seminar - Strengthening Motivation, Tuesday, August 7, 4:00 p.m., HS 2302.

NEW - Computer science seminar, The prehistory and history of RE (+SE) as seen by me, Daniel Berry, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, Tuesday, August 7, 10:30 a.m., DC 2310.

LGBTQ+ Making Spaces workshop, Wednesday, August 8, 12:30 p.m., NH 3318.

SSHRC START training: Knock-Out Knowledge Mobilization Plans, Thursday, August 9, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Hagey Hall 373

Quantum Cryptography School for Young Students (QCSYS), Friday, August 10 to Friday, August 17, Institute for Quantum Computing.

Examinations end, Saturday, August 11.

Perseids Sky-watching Party and lecture: "Mapping the Universe", Sunday, August 12, 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., OPT 347.

Food Services Recruitment Fair, Tuesday, August 14, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Fed Hall. 

SSHRC START training: Stellar Student Training Plans, Tuesday, August 14, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Hagey Hall 373

More Feet on the Ground - Mental Health Training, Thursday, August 16, 9:00 a.m., NH 2447.

SSHRC START training: Bringing your Budget “A Game”, Thursday, August 16, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Hagey Hall 373

PhD oral defences

Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering. Thamir Al-Dulaimi, "Design and Implementation of a Stationary Magnetic Abrasive Finishing Apparatus." Supervisor, Behrad Khamesee. On display in the Engineering graduate office, DWE 3520C. Oral defence Thursday, August 2, 9:00 a.m., E5-3052.

Statistics and Actuarial Science. Nathalie Moon, "Topics in the Design of Life History Studies." Supervisors, Leilei Zeng, Richard Cook. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Friday, August 3, 9:30 a.m., M3 3001.

Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering. Mohammad Al Mashagbeh, "Design, Optimization, and Experimental Characterization of a Novel Magnetically Actuated Finger Micromanipulator." Supervisor, Behrad Khamesee. On display in the Engineering graduate office, DWE 3520C. Oral defence Friday, August 3, 1:30 p.m., E5 3052.

Statistics and Actuarial Science. Shu Jiang, "Mixture Models for Coarsened Multivariate Failure Time Data." Supervisor, Richard Cook. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Friday, August 3, 2:00 p.m., M3 3001.