Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Join the conversation about Indigenous economic reconciliation and empowerment

On Wednesday, October 30, JP Gladu, President and CEO of Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) and Chancellor, St. Paul’s University College will speak about “Economic Reconciliation- For all Canadians”.

JP champions the belief that when Indigenous communities are economically empowered and have the opportunity to manage wealth rather than poverty, then all of Canada prospers. JP will speak to current opportunities and challenges in terms of building a modern economy in concert with Canada’s Indigenous entrepreneurs. He will also reflect on the role of governments, corporations and Indigenous people themselves in shaping a more prosperous and inclusive future.

The lecture will take place from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Humanities Theatre with reception to follow.

This is a free public lecture, but registration is required.

Help define Waterloo's culture of responsible innovation and technology

Attend the Summit for Responsible Innovation and Technology on Wednesday, October 23 and help shape the direction of research, education, and policy at the University of Waterloo.

The summit is an opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to provide valuable input to Waterloo’s Council for Responsible Innovation and Technology, a new group with a mission to ensure that education and governance at Waterloo progress at the same pace as innovation.

Register by October 18 to attend this exciting event featuring:

• Keynote speakers Jason Millar and Carla Fehr as they share their expertise in philosophy and ethical engineering related to responsible innovation and technology
• Lightning talks where you can find out about cutting-edge research and teaching initiatives at Waterloo
• Breakout sessions and town halls where you can provide input on the direction of responsible innovation at Waterloo
• Opportunities to network and build connections with others working in the area of responsible innovation and technology
• Continental breakfast, catered lunch, and reception with networking opportunities

Registrants are welcome to attend all or part of the day. 

Credit where credit is due: against contract cheating

A message from the Office of Academic Integrity.

Today is the 4^th Annual International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating. On this day, institutions around the world raise awareness by speaking up and out against contract cheating. Contract cheating is an academic offence occurring when someone (e.g. a friend, a tutor, an online service) completes academic work for another person, who then submits it for credit.

Join us in the Dana Porter Library lobby today from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. to raise awareness against contract cheating. There will be free treats, swag, and a raffle prize!

To learn more about academic integrity resources to support students, staff, and instructors, visit the Office of Academic Integrity website or contact us. Read more about contract cheating in the Imprint article “You do not want to ride this Uber”.

Sprott Lecture goes deep into statistical thinking as elections loom

The latest in the David Sprott Distinguished Lecture series is set to take place on Thursday, October 17. Delivering the lecture will be Xiao-Li Meng, the Whipple V. N. Jones Professor of Statistics and the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Data Science Review. Meng's lecture is entitled "Building Deep Statistical Thinking for Data Science 2020: Privacy Protected Census, Gerrymandering, and Election."

"The year 2020 will be a busy one for statisticians and more generally data scientists," says the talk's abstract. "The US Census Bureau has announced that the data from the 2020 Census will be released under differential privacy (DP) protection, which in layperson’s terms means adding some noises to the data. While few would argue against protecting data privacy, many researchers, especially from the social sciences, are concerned whether the right trade-offs between data privacy and data utility are being made. The DP protection also has direct impact on redistricting, an issue that is already complicated enough with accurate counts, due to the need of guarding against excessive gerrymandering. The central statistical problem there is a rather unique one: how to determine whether a realization is an outlier with respect to a null distribution, when that null distribution itself cannot be fully determined? The 2020 US election will be another highly watched event, with many groups already busy making predictions. Will the lessons from predicting the 2016 US election be learned, or the failure be repeated? This talk invites the audience on a journey of deep statistical thinking prompted by these questions, regardless whether they have any interest in the US Census or politics."

Xiao-Li Meng is well known for his depth and breadth in research, his innovation and passion in pedagogy, his vision and effectiveness in administration, as well as for his engaging and entertaining style as a speaker and writer. Meng was named the best statistician under the age of 40 by COPSS (Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies) in 2001, and he is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his more than 150 publications in at least a dozen theoretical and methodological areas, as well as in areas of pedagogy and professional development. He is the author of “The XL-Files," a thought-provoking and entertaining column in the IMS (Institute of Mathematical Statistics) Bulletin.

Wednesday's notes

The family of retiree Larry Marks, who recently passed away, has announced the details of his celebration of life, which will take place at the Waterloo Knights of Columbus at 145 Dearborn Place on October 27 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

"Larry’s family shared that they are overwhelmed by the love they have felt during this difficult time," says a note from Housing and Residences, where Marks worked for the last 16 years of his 47-year career at Waterloo. "They are asking that everyone please bring their favourite photo or memory to the celebration to be shared in a book created in his honor. Most of Larry’s family are not active on social media, and therefore are having a difficult time viewing the heartfelt comments and photos being shared. This would help the family acknowledge and preserve Larry’s legacy. Everyone is welcome to drop by the celebration, enjoy a refreshment and share your memories/stories. A cash bar will also be available." In lieu of flowers, donations to Sick Kids Hospital would be appreciated.

This week's Research Ethics drop-in session for faculty and students takes place today from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Dana Porter Library study booth on the main floor.

Professor Lai-Sang Young of New York University will deliver the Distinguished Lecture in Applied Mathematics today entitled "Dynamical systems, statistical mechanics and the brain" at 2:30 p.m. in MC 5501.

As part of Waste Reduction Week Canada and the upcoming Zero Waste Week Challenge here at the University, University of Waterloo Campus Compost will be hosting a Project Zero Waste event on Friday, October 25 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Faculty of Environment buildings, including the EV3 Atrium, the Ecology Lab, the Tree Lab, and elsewhere. There will be a keynote speaker, a catered lunch, workshops and games and information books. Check out the Facebook event for more information.

Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include Shareworks, Points International Ltd., Goldman Sachs, LoyaltyOne Technology, and Flybits. Visit the employer information sessions calendar for more details.