Friday, March 29, 2019

Medical imaging startup among big winners at Velocity Fund Finals

This is an excerpt of an article originally published in Waterloo Stories.

Startups in the fields of medical imaging, advanced manufacturing, construction, and travel were among the winners of the Velocity Fund Finals, which took place today at the Tannery Event Centre in downtown Kitchener.

The winners will receive, for the first time in the competition’s history, direct equity investments worth $50,000 each – a move announced in January that is aimed at benefiting both startups and investors.

ClearVoxel Imaging, a medical company that aims to help radiologists diagnose patients more quickly and accurately, was among the recipients of the grand prize. Their prototype, which uses eye-tracking and analytics, has been tested with 40 different radiologists. They have two hospitals currently signed up for pilot studies.

Co-founded by University of Waterloo Computer Engineering graduate Zamir Khan, along with  Western University PhD graduate Yann Gagnon, ClearVoxel has been working out of the Velocity Garage startup incubator to bridge the innovation-to-adoption gap in medical imaging. The startup said the $50K investment will help them accelerate validation pilot studies in Canada and the U.S.

“We wanted to see the standard of care raised by the wider adoption of exciting image analysis technologies,” Gagnon said. “At first, we thought it was an IT problem. But radiologists insisted that current radiology workstations are overwhelmingly burdensome. One more click is one click too many when it comes to adopting new technologies.”

During the competition, nine finalists pitched their businesses to a panel of judges representing the investment, startup and business communities. Judges considered innovation, market potential, market viability, traction and overall pitch.

The following three startups also won an investment and will continue to work at or be admitted to the Velocity Garage startup incubator:

• SiteVue is a software platform that allows construction managers to monitor their projects in real time. Most recently completed a case study with AECOM on the Highway 427 expansion construction project. 
• Glove Systems cloud-based end-to-end solution for the fabrication industry and construction industry to reduce scheduling and cost risks.
• Tugolo generates authentic, unique and cultural travel experiences created and run by local providers. To date, the startup has helped 650 travelers book trips.

The new, AngelList-powered venture fund will invest in startups in industries ranging from software to biomedical. It will give investors a simple way to invest in a diversified portfolio of early-stage startups supported by Waterloo’s Velocity Garage startup incubator.

Read the rest of the article on Waterloo Stories.

Executive actions in Hong Kong and beyond

President Feridun Hamdullahpur with Philip Chan, interim president of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

It’s Friday, March 29. Do you know what your president is up to?

March has been an active month for President Hamdullahpur that saw him take part in a number of on and off campus meetings and events over the past few weeks. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the President’s recent activities and a look ahead at what's on his calendar.

President Hamdullahpur welcomed a group of undergraduate and graduate students for the second President’s Pop-up Café on Tuesday, March 5. The conversation was a wide-ranging and informal opportunity for discussion on a number of topics from the students and university leaders.

The annual International Women’s Day Dinner on Friday, March 8 brought out hundreds of supporters from the University community and the President was on hand to welcome the packed crowd at Fed Hall and also celebrate the spectacular writers who contributed to the HeForShe Writing Contest Anthology.

The President traveled to Hong Kong from March 11 to 14 and reconnected with several international partners, including touring and meeting with the leaders of both the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, visiting with many of our esteemed local alumni, and having a productive meeting with the President’s Advisory Committee on Asia.

President Hamdullahpur had an eventful meeting on the morning of March 13 with alumni Calvin Choi, President and Chairman of AMTD Group as the AMTD Foundation announced the creation of a multi-million dollar fund to support future global leaders and the establishment of a $200,000 undergraduate scholarship in honour of Canada’s newest Nobel laureate and University of Waterloo Professor, Donna Strickland.

The President, along with Vice-President, Academic & Provost Jim Rush, were invited to the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre on Thursday, March 21 for its weekly Soup Lunch and informal conversation with Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, staff and faculty.

The 2018 Co-op Student of the Year Awards took place on Friday, March 22 and President Hamdullahpur was at the ceremony to congratulate our Co-op of the Year Award winners, those who received Honourable Mentions and the inaugural recipients of the Co-op Problem Lab Awards.

Later that day the President welcomed former Ontario Premier Bob Rae who came to campus as the Water Institute’s RBC Distinguished Lecturer for World Water Day.

The 2019 Hagey Lecture took place on Monday, March 25 and President Hamdullahpur had the pleasure of welcoming guest keynote speaker, Professor John Borrows, for his talk on Living Indigenous Law in Canada.

President Hamdullahpur hosted a “Coffee Date with the President and Provost” that was a prize from the recent United Way campaign on campus. The President and Provost both sat down for a coffee and some treats with winner Paula Zahra and several of her Retail Services colleagues.

What’s next on the President’s schedule?

The President will be helping welcome and celebrate more than 200 new Canadians on campus today as they take their Oath of Citizenship in what will be Waterloo Region’s largest citizenship ceremony ever.

Later tonight, President Hamdullahpur will celebrate the accomplishments of our fantastic student-athletes, coaches, staff and volunteers at the Waterloo Warriors Athletics Banquet.

The annual Staff Conference starts April 8 with the President stopping by to welcome and kick-off the two-day professional development conference.

The President will present the inaugural President’s Student Leadership Awards on April 8 to one undergraduate and one graduate student. The winners will be recognized at the annual President’s Leadership Awards Banquet for demonstrating exemplary leadership skills in various ways at the University and/or in the surrounding community.

Annual SMF Research Symposium coming up

The St. Jerome's University Department of Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies (SMF) is preparing for its 9^th Annual SMF Research Symposium taking place on Saturday, April 6. The annual event is a one-day interdisciplinary academic conference that highlights student and faculty research dealing with relationships, families, and human sexualities. The Research Symposium was first launched in 2009 to bring together an academic community of shared interests in scholarship and research.

“Each year we receive a wide variety of really impressive proposals to present at the annual Symposium,” says Department of Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies Chair Toni Serafini. “It’s wonderful to see how different disciplines address SMF topics in different ways, opening up the learning landscape for students, researchers, and community members who attend. Intentional opportunities for critical discussion have been key to the success of this conference!”

The SMF Department will welcome Dr. Karen Blair, Assistant Professor of Psychology at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, as the 2019 keynote speaker. Dr. Blair studies the role that social support for relationships plays in the development, maintenance and dissolution of relationships, LGBTQ psychology, and the connections between relationships, social prejudices, and health. In her talk, “Why we Need More Research at the Nexus of Sexualities, Relationships, and Families,” Dr. Blair challenges the paucity (and often absence of) attention to sexual diversity or even sexual activity at relationship conferences, non-sexual relationship dynamics at sexuality conferences, and non-traditional relationships and sexualities at nearly all conferences. 

In addition to the keynote, the conference features a variety of research presentations and a Critical Close-up on “Femme Theory”. To find out more about the 2019 SMF Research Symposium, visit the St. Jerome’s University Public Events page. Online registration is now open, with tickets for students at $10.00 and $30.00 for non-students. Lunch, refreshments, and participation in the Social Hour are included with registration.

Citizenship ceremony today and other notes

The University of Waterloo and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will be holding a citizenship ceremony this morning from 10:30 a.m. until noon in the Student Life Centre Great Hall. The event will see 200 new citizens sworn in by a citizenship judge. The event is open to the public and all are welcome.

This month, Health Services Dietitian Sandra Ace has been providing Nutrition Month "myth vs. fact" messaging that focuses on healthy food choices. Thanks again Sandra for providing this interesting content throughout the month of March. Here's Sandra's final Nutrition Month message for 2019:

If you’re searching for the “perfect diet” I can save you time – it isn’t out there. Eating patterns don’t need to be perfect and the idea that there is a one size fits all approach that supports optimal health for everyone is a myth. People have unique needs and our diverse population and food supply support many different eating patterns, all of which can be synonymous with good health. 

Dr. David Katz at Yale University's Prevention Research Center compared the medical evidence for and against every mainstream diet. His research led to an extensive review that concluded no single diet is clearly best, but there are common elements across eating patterns that are proven to be beneficial to health. “A diet of minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants, is decisively associated with health promotion and disease prevention and is consistent with the salient components of seemingly distinct dietary approaches.” While countless fad diets compete for our attention, most have scant evidence to prove that they can help us to live longer, healthier or happier lives.

In the quest to find a perfect diet, the importance of enjoying meals can easily be lost. With the recent release of Canada’s Food Guide, a new section was added which encourages Canadians to consider more than simply what they eat, but also where, when, why and how they eat; read more here. If you would like personalized advice about a sustainable eating pattern that works best for you, a dietitian can help you to identify your goals and plan a pathway there.

Thank you for taking the time over the past month to read my take on some current nutrition myths and controversies. I would be happy to hear any feedback you have and hope to meet you back at the Daily Bulletin in March 2020.