Thursday, June 13, 2019

Getting Convocation down to a Science

The Faculty of Science celebrates its graduands today with two Convocation ceremonies.

At 10:00 a.m., 524 undergraduates, 40 Master's, and 25 PhDs will cross the stage. Watch the livestream.

Bearing the mace will be Donna Strickland, Nobel Laureate and Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Birgit Moscinski will sing the national anthem.

Arokia Nathan will receive a Doctor of Science, honoris causa and will address Convocation. Nathan obtained his BSc from University of Leeds (1981), and his MSc (1984) and PhD (1988) from University of Alberta. From 1989 to 2006, he was a Professor at the University of Waterloo where he held a Canada Research Chair and was a Steacie Fellow. In 2006, he was appointed to the Sumitomo Chair of Nanotechnology at University College London. In 2011, Nathan moved to Cambridge University where he held the Chair of Photonic Systems and Displays. Currently he serves as the CTO of Cambridge Touch Technologies. Arokia is a co-founder of the Giga-to- Nanoelectronics lab, Quantum Nanofab facility, and the nanotechnology engineering program at Waterloo.

Muzammil Taj will deliver the Valedictory Address.

Emily Katherine Pass will receive the President’s Award of Excellence.

Isaac John Stuart De Vlugt will receive the Alumni Gold Medal.

The afternoon ceremony takes place at 2:30 p.m. and will see students from Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Optometry, Pharmacy, Psychology (Science), and Vision Science cross the stage. 323 undergraduates, 17 Master's, and 4 PhD students will receive their degrees. Watch the livestream.

Mario Coniglio, associate vice-president, academic will bear the University's mace. Birgit Moscinski will sing the national anthem.

George C. Woo will receive an honorary Doctor of Science and address Convocation. Woo completed a Doctor of Optometry degree at the College of Optometry of Ontario, the precursor to today’s School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Waterloo. Following graduation, he worked for the Canadian Red Cross delivering vision care to small communities in Northern Ontario. He then completed his MSc and PhD at Indiana University. In 1970, Woo joined the School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Waterloo where he was instrumental in developing the low vision program. In 1996, Professor Woo retired from Waterloo, and took the position of Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Graduating Science students celebrated with awards

Several graduate students received special awards this week as part of the Faculty of Science's Convocation ceremonies.

The Dean of Science Award recognizes creative research as presented in a student’s Master’s thesis. This year, the following students were honoured:

• Benjamin Jean-Marie Tremblay, Biology;
• Jarrod Michael Psutka, Chemistry;
• Stacey Parmenter, Earth and Environmental Sciences;
• Mariko Hirano, Optometry and Vision Science;
• Alexandra Maria Durocher, Pharmacy; and
• Sainath Motlakunta, Physics and Astronomy.

The W.B. Pearson Medal recognizes the creative research as presented in a student’s Doctoral thesis. This year's honorees include:

• Xinda Lu, Biology;
• Jonathan Grandy, Chemistry;
• Adrian Mellage, Earth and Environmental Sciences;
• Emmanuel Borquaye Alabi, Optometry and Vision Science;
• Roger Ding-Wen Chen, Pharmacy; and
• Olivia Di Matteo, Physics and Astronomy.

The award winners were celebrated at a special luncheon at the University Club on Wednesday, June 12, where the awards were presented to the recipients. 

Congratulations to all the Science award winners.

Move Your Mind Program breaks down barriers to physical activity

This is an excerpt of a Wellness Champion article originally published on the Campus Wellness website.

The goal of the Move Your Mind program is to help students experience all the benefits of physical activity by removing any barriers that might be in their way of participating. “You don’t want to go to the gym? No problem, what would you find enjoyable?” explains Kristen Leal, Group Fitness, Aquatics, and Instructional Coordinator. “The philosophy of Move Your Mind is that once you find one thing you love to do that gets you active, that’s your gateway to activity. It’s very person-centred and intended to build self-efficacy.” 

While students are primarily referred to the program from departments such as AccessAbility, Campus Wellness, and the Student Success Office, students also have the option to self-refer or refer a friend. The first step for students who are referred is to meet with the Move Your Mind coordinator, who assess their readiness to be involved and gets a sense of who they are and their interests.

“The philosophy of Move Your Mind is that once you find one thing you love to do that gets you active, that’s your gateway to activity. It’s very person-centred and intended to build self-efficacy.”

The MYM coordinator then assists the student to find an activity that is suitable to their goals, interests and needs. The student also has the option of getting matched with a peer-volunteer “workout buddy”, who is there to help them ease into the activity that they’ve chosen. The MYM coordinator then provides ongoing coaching and mentoring throughout the term, at the student’s consent and direction. One of the highlights of the Move Your Mind program is this custom plan for success every student develops in collaboration with the MYM Coordinator.

When we asked Kristen and current MYM coordinator, Shannon, how many students they currently see, they said between 30 and 40 students per term. Their hope is that “every student leaves with a positive attitude about physical activity and experiences an increase in their overall confidence and mental wellness.” By providing a positive and supportive environment, the hope is that students learn how to make physical activity more accessible to them and experience the many benefits of physical activity has to offer. 

Read the rest of the article on the Wellness Collaborative website.

Thursday's thrilling tales

There's still time to RSVP for the event that will celebrate outgoing Associate Vice-President, Academic Mario Coniglio on Wednesday, June 19. A professor in the Faculty of Science's Earth and Environmental Sciences department, Coniglio has served in the role of Associate Vice-President, Academic since 2013. His term ends on June 30, 2019.

The event takes place from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the University Club. Hors d'ouevres will be served and a cash bar will be available.

An additional internal secondment opportunity was added to yesterday's Positions Available list, but in case you missed it:

• Job ID# 2019-4313 - Residence Life Co-ordinator - Housing & Residences, USG 7