Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Intellectual Property Presentation Series launches with commercialization talk

The first of Waterloo's Intellectual Property Presentation Series is set for Friday, February 5. The workshop is entitled “IP 101 and Commercialization” and will feature Eric Luvisotto, technology transfer manager in the Office of Research, and Mike Crinson, who will cover the basics of Intellectual Property (IP) protection with a focus on patents.

Attendees will learn about the different types of IP protection available, some of the most common pitfalls to avoid, and can learn about the resources available at the University of Waterloo, including the Waterloo Commercialization Office (WatCo). Hear how IP is used to commercialize technology through licensing or start-up creation and more helpful tips. Future sessions in the Intellectual Property Presentation Series will include a look into an interactive IP case study, Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Trade secrets for IP, and IP Copyright & Software.

The workshop will take place through Webex and will run from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

These sessions are open to all Waterloo faculty, staff, and students. Registration is required to receive a link to the event.

Celebrating 50 years of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

By Linden Fairbairn.

Today is World Wetlands Day, which marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands 50 years ago on February 2, 1971. The convention, signed in Ramsar, Iran, is an international government agreement acknowledging the importance of wetlands and plays a central role in the conservation of these critical ecosystems.

World Wetlands Day events are taking place around the world, including at the University of Waterloo.

This is the 9^th year that the Ecohydrology Research Group will host the World Wetlands Day research symposium at Waterloo, with support from the Water Institute and Faculty of Science. This year’s event at Waterloo will be the first held virtually.

We will start with research talks in the afternoon (2:30 p.m. EST) featuring researchers from University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University and McMaster University. In the evening (7:00 p.m. EST), the Waterloo Public Library will co-host a public event featuring the Distinguished Lecture, delivered this year by Waterloo’s own Dr. Rebecca Rooney from the Department of Biology. The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion on how we can better protect wetlands. The panelists include:

• Mike Schreiner, MPP for Guelph and Leader of the Green Party of Ontario
• Natalia Moudrak, Director of Climate Resilience, Intact Centre
• Chief Dave Mowat, Alderville First Nation
• Brad Stephens, Senior Manager, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority

Visit the event webpage to find more details about the event and to register.

Canada currently has 37 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, with a surface area of 13,086,767 hectares. Overall, Canada is estimated to have about one quarter of the world’s wetlands.

Schlegel-UW RIA receives $2M in funding for national dementia projects

Nearly half a million Canadians are living with dementia, and that number will grow as the population ages. The Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) was awarded $2M in federal funding to lead two national projects that will advance research and drive innovation to enhance quality of life for persons living with dementia and care partners.

The Dementia Knowledge Hub project will facilitate collaboration and optimize the impact of community-based projects across the country that are funded under the Dementia Community Investment. The Dementia Surveillance System project will focus on enhancing the national dementia data system to improve our understanding of dementia and its progression. Both projects are funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

“The RIA is honoured to be awarded this funding and play a leadership role in these national dementia projects,” said Josie d’Avernas, RIA executive director. “These projects will allow us to understand dementia in ways we haven’t before in this country and drive practice and policy change so we can support all Canadians to live well with dementia.”

The Dementia Knowledge Hub will support community projects to build capacity in areas such as intervention research, evaluation and the engagement of persons living with dementia. A core component will be the development of a community of practice to enable projects from across the country to share information and collaborate. The Hub will share lessons learned and resources to help inform dementia policy and practice in Canada.

To advance this work, the RIA team is working closely with Professor Carrie McAiney, Schlegel Research Chair in Dementia at the RIA and University of Waterloo, and Professor Laura Middleton, RIA research scientist and associate professor at the University of Waterloo. The team will collaborate with experts, including persons living with dementia and care partners, from across Canada.

Middleton will also work with Schlegel Research Chair in Nutrition and Aging, Professor Heather Keller, on an additional project funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada to build the capacity of wellness advocates to support persons living with dementia and care partners.

The Dementia Surveillance System will use a holistic approach to expand data monitoring to include a comprehensive list of factors, including lifestyle, income, geographic location, and other health conditions.  The information gathered will improve our understanding of the range of experiences people have in developing dementia and as their dementia progresses. For the first time, there will be a detailed picture of dementia in Canada.

The surveillance system research team is led by McAiney and Dr. George Heckman, Schlegel Research Chair in Geriatric Medicine at the RIA and University of Waterloo. Heckman and McAiney will work together with researchers in dementia from 8 provinces as well as an Advisory Group that includes persons living with dementia and family care partners.

The voices of those with lived experience will be an integral part of both of these projects.

“If we want this work to be meaningful to people living with dementia, we must integrate their voices into everything we do,” says McAiney.

“We will benefit as a country by including the invaluable insights of people with lived experience as policies and practices are built out. By working in this way, we’ll optimize the relevance and impact of our efforts and investments.”

Board of Governors meeting today and other notes

The University's Board of Governors has its first meeting of 2021 this afternoon. Among the agenda items:

• Approval of faculty sabbatical and administrative leaves;
• A motion to approve incidental fee changes for the 2021 spring term;
• A motion to approve residence fee changes for 2021/2022.

The President's report to the Board will include updates on PART (delivered by Charmaine Dean, vice-president, research & international), as well as an update on the University's strategic plan.

In addition, the Vice-President, Academic & Provost's report will include a motion on tuition fee setting.

Other agenda items include:

• A motion to approve the $17.5 million budget for renovations to the third floor of the Earth Sciences & Chemistry Building (ESC);
• A motion to approve an amendment to the Board's February 2019 approval in principle regarding the development of the Math 4 building. This amendment relates to relocating the building site to the Math & Computer/Davis Centre link area with a revised budget of $90 million.
• A motion to approve the 2021/22 tuition fee changes and the 2021/22 co-op fee.
• A motion to approve amendments to the extended health benefit for eligible University of Waterloo employees and retirees effective 1 May 2021, and to approve additional recommendations contained in the Pension & Benefits Committee's report.

Today's Board meeting takes place at 1:30 p.m. via Microsoft Teams.

The Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) elections take place from today until February 4 at 11:59 p.m. Eligible students will be voting for WUSA executives, councillors on Students' Council, and the student seats on the University's Senate. This year all voting will be done online and no public in-person polling stations will be available.

Updated versions of the WatSAFE Desktop Notification tool, for both Windows and Mac, are now available, according to a notification from Information Systems & Technology (IST).

If your machine is managed by IST, the new Windows client will be made available through SCCM.

If your machine is not managed, please see the appropriate IST knowledge base article for steps on downloading and installing the new client:

• Windows client
• Mac client

Moving forward, both the Windows and Mac clients will automatically update.

Managed machines outside of IST: If you are responsible for managing a group of Windows or Mac machines, you may request a package-based deployment version via Request Tracker (RT), https://rt.uwaterloo.ca/SelfService/Forms/IST-General/.

Anyone with questions or concerns is invited to contact the IST Service Desk at helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca.

The Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) is organizing PJ-Friendly Writing Groups this term. "Hey undergrads, hate writing alone?" WCC asks. "Want to meet other undergrads, brainstorm and do some productive writing with a group?"

Then join WCC’s PJ-Friendly Writing Groups Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. You can attend multiple sessions to "earn free goodies," according to the WCC.

• Monday groups run from February 22 to April 19 (no meeting on Monday, March 15)
• Wednesday groups run from January 27 to April 21 (no meeting on Wednesday, February 17)