Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Anita Layton wins Krieger-Nelson Prize

Professor Layton has built an impressive academic career with accomplishments throughout applied mathematics and the sciences. She holds the Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematical Biology and Medicine and is a professor of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Pharmacy and Biology at Waterloo. 

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Mathematics website.

Professor Anita Layton has been named the 2021 Krieger-Nelson Prize recipient for her exceptional contributions to mathematical research with applications ranging from fluid dynamics to biology and medicine. Professor Layton will receive her award and present a prize lecture during the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) Summer Meeting in June 2021.

The Krieger-Nelson Prize was inaugurated in 1995 by the CMS to recognize outstanding contributions in the area of mathematical research by a female mathematician.

“Congratulations to Anita on receiving this much-deserved prize from the Canadian Mathematical Society,” said Mark Giesbrecht, Dean of the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Mathematics. “Anita is an outstanding applied mathematician whose research is broad, interdisciplinary, and having real-world impact.” 

“I am incredibly honoured to be this year’s recipient of the Krieger-Nelson Prize,” Professor Layton said. “Relocating to Waterloo has been tremendously beneficial. I appreciate the University’s commitment to discovery, impact and innovation, and its effort in promoting equity, diversity and inclusion. A special shout out to my group of talented graduate students for motivating me to explore new research directions. Without you, very little would get done.”

Professor Layton has been recognized as a distinguished figure in the applied mathematics research at the interface of mathematical computation and biomedical sciences with a direct impact on clinical health care. She is the author of over 170 publications that include top journals in applied mathematics, physiology, and medicine.

The work by Professor Layton has inspired new experimental and clinical studies in the area of renal physiology and associated medical care. Her work has also highlighted the importance of sex differences in mathematical models for biological systems. Overall, she is an outstanding applied mathematician whose impact is vast and truly interdisciplinary. 

In addition to groundbreaking work in mathematical biology, she has also published many impactful and well-cited studies in computational fluid dynamics, particularly computational methods for fluid-structure interaction problems. Here, a deformable object is immersed in an incompressible fluid so that the object moves with the fluid and exerts forces on it. These problems are notoriously hard to solve, both analytically and computationally. Dr. Layton has been at the forefront of studying and developing numerical methods that preserve the sharp fluid-boundary interface. For example, with then colleague Tom Beale, she was the first to present a rigorous analysis of the immersed interface method of Li and LeVeque.

In part, Professor Layton’s expertise on systems of nonlinear advection-diffusion equations coupled with algebraic equations has furnished her long-standing program of research on kidney function, and specifically on the kidney’s ability to concentrate salt and other products in the outflow. Here she has addressed important problems in physiology and medicine and corrected several misconceptions about kidney function that have plagued the textbooks for years. By working with renal physiologists, Professor Layton developed a model of fluid and solute exchange in the kidney that accounts for its concentrating ability. She developed a fast numerical solver that proved to be vital as it allowed for parameter sensitivity studies based on many repetitions of otherwise time-consuming and costly simulations.

Professor Layton’s work has inspired new experimental and clinical studies in the area of renal physiology and associated medical care. Her work has also highlighted the importance of sex differences in mathematical models for biological systems.

Campus remembers Pearl Sullivan

More than 450 members of the community joined the virtual campus memorial for former Dean of Engineering Pearl Sullivan yesterday morning.

President Feridun Hamdullahpur, Dean of Engineering Mary Wells, Vice-President, Academic & Provost Jim Rush and Engineering alumnus Abdullah Barakat all shared personal recollections about Pearl's life, career and impact at the University of Waterloo during the memorial event.

If you missed it, you can watch the 30-minute memorial video on YouTube.

All are welcome to send a condolence to Pearl's family or share a memory at the Erb & Good Tribute Wall.

You can't handle the sandal: new study shows the dangers of flip-flops

This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

Flip-flops have a tendency to come off the foot entirely during slips in dry and wet conditions, contributing to a greater risk of injury, says a University of Waterloo study.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo partnered with 30 Forensic Engineering, a firm that specializes in forensic reporting, to better understand why slips and falls can happen to better inform clients and the courts of the science behind injuries.

Lia Tennant, a PhD student in Waterloo’s Department of Kinesiology, said the firm wanted to know how slips in flip-flops change if the foot is also wet—a scenario unique to open footwear and one that had never been documented to their knowledge.

The researchers expected to see more sliding of the foot within the flip-flop when the foot was wet, but they were surprised to find the flip-flop came off the foot entirely – “decoupling” in both wet and dry conditions. 

“Decoupling tended to happen most often when participants were slipping on wet tile with a wet foot, but also on dry tile with a dry foot,” Tennant said. “If the tile was wet but the foot was dry, we tended not to see decoupling as often. We collected 27 slips for each participant, and we saw decoupling at least once in 12 of our 17 participants.”

Rob Parkinson, a vice-president at 30 Forensic Engineering, said the more data that exists to understand why an event like a slip and fall can happen, the more clients and courts can understand the science behind costly injuries.

“By maintaining our relationship with world-leading researchers at the University of Waterloo, we are able to answer real-world questions regarding practical issues such as the role of footwear in a slip and fall. The answers to these questions help in understanding and preventing these events to avoid the significant personal and financial costs that result.”

The researchers created a simulation in the lab using a 3D active motion capture system, a body harness to keep participants safe, and a cable and pulley device attached to an ankle strap, inciting a slip at random times. Participants wore the same brand of flip-flop from the 2018 Canadian Paralympic team collection. All trials were performed on a Terrazzo tile surface to simulate workplace and commuter settings.

“While people may choose to wear minimal footwear for comfort and style, wearing flip-flops, in particular, may contribute to a greater risk of injury,” Tennant said. “As consumers, we likely focus on how comfortable the footbed of a flip-flop is, but the materials and the surface texture of the footbed could also be important from a safety and design perspective.”

So should we stop wearing flip-flops altogether? Tennant said that further study of real-life scenarios like walking or going downstairs is needed to see if decoupling occurs as frequently in these scenarios as what they saw when they forced a slip to occur.

“Another consideration is experience,” Tennant said. “Research has shown that people are adept at wearing a variety of footwear and can adapt how they walk for the specific demands of what they are wearing.” She pointed to suggestions from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, who recommend not rushing and paying attention while walking. 

The study, “Analysis of invoked slips while wearing flip-flops in wet and dry conditions: Does alternative footwear alter slip kinematics?” was published in Applied Ergonomics, and was co-authored by Liana Tennant, Donna Fok, David Kingston, Taylor Winberg, Rob Parkinson, Andrew Laing and Jack Callaghan.

Waterloo projects among D2L Innovation Guild recipients

Three of five projects that were recently awarded research grants from the D2L Innovation Guild (DIG) are headed up by Waterloo faculty and staff. 

The DIG grant program is a brand-new initiative from D2L that is intended to support research projects relating to teaching and learning practice and/or teaching and learning technology.

The Waterloo-led projects are:

• Exploring Extended Reality (XR) Pedagogical Initiatives at Three Guild Member Universities: An Environmental Scan
    Lead PI — Dr. Mark Morton, University of Waterloo
    Co-PI — Gillian Dabrowski, University of Waterloo
• Leadership Skills to Support Experiential Learning for Canadian Engineering Grand Challenges
    Lead PI — Dr. Christine Moresoli, University of Waterloo
    Co-PI — Dr. John Donald, University of Guelph
    Co-PI — Dr. Nadine Ibrahim, University of Waterloo
• Understanding Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Online Education during Turbulent Times
    Lead PI — Dr. Colleen McMillan, Renison, University of Waterloo
    Co-PI — Dr. Dr. Alice Schmidt Hanbidge, Renison, University of Waterloo
    Co-PI — Dr. Heather Boynton, University of Calgary
    Co-PI — Dr. Beth Archer-Kuhn, University of Calgary
    Co-PI — Dr. Judy Hughes, University of Manitoba

More details about these Waterloo-led projects, as well as two other funded projects, are available on the D2L Innovation Guild website.

Wednesday's notes

Here's what is happening at the Centre for Career Action (CCA): 

• Wednesday, January 27: Exploring Your Career Interests, 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST;
• Thursday, January 28:
  • Academic Interviews (Graduate Students and Post-docs), 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon EST
  • Success in the Remote Workplace, 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Monday February 1: Project Management as a Career Option , 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST
• Wednesday February 3: Exploring Your Personality Type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) Part 1 , 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST

See CCA’s full offering of virtual programming online. Students can register on WaterlooWorks.  

CCA virtual drop-in advising hours for January/February:

Résumé, cover letter, and interview drop-ins for UG and Masters students are offered Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., 12 noon to 1:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Career Consult and work search drop-ins for UG and Masters students are offered Monday to Friday, 9:00 a .m. to 10:00 a.m. and 12 noon to 1:00 p.m.

PhD and Postdoc drop-ins are offered Monday to Friday, 12 noon to 1:00 p.m., (drop-ins cancelled on January 25 and January 27)

Further education support can be requested by filling out the  Further Education Support Form Students can book all virtual drop–ins through WaterlooWorks. Online registration begins at 8:30 a.m. daily.

The Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) is inviting graduate students and faculty members to join the weekly Virtual Writing Café. "Write together, connect with other grad students and faculty, and make progress on your work. Join any (or all) of the three virtual writing café sessions every week," says a note from the WCC.

Meeting times:

• Tuesdays and Fridays, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
•  Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.