Thursday, April 18, 2019

Global Impact: Mathematicians help build better surgical plans

This is the second in a seven-week series looking at the stories in Waterloo's Global Impact Report.

When doctors at The Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto wanted to ensure the best outcomes, they called on math researchers at the University of Waterloo.

“When Waterloo was asked to help improve an operation for infants, there was only one possible answer in my mind: yes!” recalls Jochen Koenemann, professor and chair of the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization. “This project has provided a rare opportunity for us mathematicians to contribute in a meaningful way and improve the lives of young children.”

Read more about how math is supporting medicine.

Professor Sarah Tolmie shortlisted for Griffin Prize

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Arts news site.

The Faculty of Arts is very proud to congratulate Professor Sarah Tolmie, who has been shortlisted for the 2019 Griffin Poetry Prize—Canada’s most prestigious honour for works of poetry, and the world’s largest prize for a first edition collection of poetry written in English.

Prof. Tolmie’s nominated book The Art of Dying explores the ways we fear, honour and attempt to escape death. The collection is described by its publisher, McGill-Queen’s University Press, as “a satirical look at the euphemistic practices of dying today.”

The Griffin Prize jury described the collection as a “multifaceted meditation on mortality beneath its deceptively simple lyric surface. […] Tolmie leverages the subversive possibilities of doggerel to upend our assumptions about everything from abortion to the Anthropocene. Wickedly funny, this is work of great intimacy, too…” 

A member of the Department of English Language & Literature and a scholar of the medieval period, Prof. Tolmie is shortlisted along with authors Dionne Brand and Eve Joseph. The Griffin Trust awards two literary prizes annually, each valued at $65,000, and an additional $10,000 to each shortlisted poet who reads at the annual Griffin Poetry Prize Shortlist Readings in Toronto.

“I am delighted!” said Prof. Tolmie of the nomination. “And it’s great news for my press, McGill-Queen’s. Already practicing for the readings...”

Prof. Tolmie will read, alongside fellow nominees on June 5 at Koerner Hall in Toronto. The following night, both the international and Canadian Griffin prizewinners will be celebrated at a gala ceremony.

The Art of Dying is Professor Tolmie’s second collection of poetry; her first, Trio, was shortlisted for the 2016 Pat Lowther Memorial Award.

It’s National Poetry Month! Here is CBC Books’ post on/with Sarah Tolmie.

Quantum-Nano Centre to be closed Saturday for repair work

Plant Operations has announced that an exhaust unit atop the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre will be replaced on Saturday, April 20, which requires a complete building lockdown from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The entire building will be closed and inaccessible while the exhaust unit replacement is carried out, and there will be a closure of the Ring Road between the Physical Activities Complex's lower parking lot and the entrance to the Needles Hall parking lot to make room for the crane and support vehicles during the operation.

What's open and closed this long weekend

The President's Office has a message (and a tasty treat) in Needles Hall for students currently studying for exams. Photograph courtesy of Pamela Smyth.

Tomorrow is Good Friday, a statutory holiday for the University, and most services and operations will be closed for the Easter long weekend. To summarize:

Print + Retail Solutions W Store locations will be closed.

Most Food Services locations will be closed for the holiday weekend, including Browser's Café, Brubaker's, East End Café, H³ Café, Starbucks STC (closed Friday and Sunday), Subway, Tim Hortons SCH, Tim Hortons Express DC, and William's Fresh Café (closed April 19 to May 5).

Exceptions include Mudie's, which will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily from April 19 to 21, REVelation, which will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily, The Market at CMH, open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and Tim Hortons SLC, open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 

Some units will close April 19 until September including Bon Appétit in the Davis Centre, Starbucks AHS, Tim Hortons DC, 

The PAC and CIF will be closed from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.

The Dana Porter Library will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Good Friday and the Davis Centre Library will be open 24 hours, with the circulation and service desks at both locations staffed from noon to 6:00 p.m. The Library is also operating under extended hours for the examination period. Check the Library's locations and hours page for more details.

The Turnkey Desk in the Student Life Centre will be open for business all weekend. The Turnkey @ DC location will be open to help students with their holiday weekend travel from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

As always, even on holidays, the University police (ext. 22222, or 519-888-4911), and the central plant will monitor campus buildings (24-hour service and maintenance line, ext.33793).

Have a Happy Easter weekend and we'll see you on Monday!