Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Philanthropic champion steps forward to support Waterloo's Innovation Arena

This article was originally published on the Impact Stories website.

One of Waterloo’s most loyal donors and volunteers is helping to launch a new phase of the Velocity program for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Mike Stork — an esteemed business founder, angel investor and community leader — has committed $1.5 million to Waterloo’s Innovation Arena. The $35 million capital project will restore a University-owned warehouse in Downtown Kitchener’s Innovation District. Located at the corner of Victoria and Joseph Streets, the 90,000-square-foot building will become Velocity’s new home.

“I’m very excited by this project,” Mike says. “Velocity is a key differentiator for the University of Waterloo, and it’s an important driver of entrepreneurship in our community. Expanding the program will increase its impact on local founders and amplify the growth we’ve seen in the Innovation District over the last decade.”

The City of Kitchener has also committed $8.5 million to the project as part of their Make It Kitchener 2.0 plan. Currently, the University is seeking investments from the federal and provincial governments as well as additional philanthropic support.

A line rendering of the proposed Innovation Arena.

A gateway to venture creation

The Innovation Arena will provide enhanced business support for founders, state-of-the-art product development labs, manufacturing equipment and collaboration space. With resources for advanced technology startups and access to partners in the health care sector, as well as other organizations located at the University of Waterloo’s Health Sciences Campus including the School of Pharmacy and McMaster’s DeGroote School of Medicine, the facility will also serve as a regional nexus of health innovation.

“Partnerships with the community play an important role in Velocity’s next era,” said Adrien Côté, Executive Director of Velocity. “This expansion will enable us to respond to demand for our programs while accelerating solutions in health care and other sectors. We’re grateful to have champions like Mike involved in this initiative.”

A respected leader in Waterloo’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, Mike supports local organizations by giving his time as well as financial resources. Among other roles, he has volunteered as a member of the University’s Board of Governors and as chair of the Accelerator Centre. He also invests in companies founded by Waterloo alumni, providing funds and serving as an advisor or board member. He made his first major gift to the Velocity program in 2014 to help it flourish in its early years.

“Entrepreneurship is deeply ingrained into the University of Waterloo’s DNA in large part because of Velocity’s growth and dedication to our entrepreneurs,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, President and Vice-Chancellor. “Mike Stork’s visionary support of the program will enable Waterloo to rapidly support top innovators as they deliver technologies and services that will improve human life in Canada and around the world. We cannot thank Mike enough for seeing and contributing to what the Innovation Arena can and will do for society.”

Learn more about the Innovation Arena.

CEE announces 2020 Co-op Student of the Year and Problem Lab Award winners

A message from Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE). 

March is Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and Co-op Month and what better way to kick off the month than by recognizing exceptional performances by University of Waterloo co-op students?

Despite new surroundings, Waterloo co-op students continued to adapt during an unprecedented year in 2020.

From coordinating COVID-19 trials, to developing apps, to excelling in their new virtual environments, students make a significant impact at their workplaces.  

Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) are proud to announce the 2020 Co-op Students of the Year and Problem Lab winners as part of WIL and Co-op month. 

Each year, the Co-op Student of the Year Awards are granted to one co-op student from each of Waterloo’s six faculties based on the impact they have made with their employers, work term evaluations and academic achievement.

The Problem Lab Awards are granted to co-op students who have found and analyzed an important problem affecting their employer. For a full list of winners and their outstanding accomplishments, read the full story. 

Award recipients will be honoured at CEE’s first-ever virtual Co-op Student of the Year Awards and Problem Lab ceremony on March 23 at 11:00 a.m. ET. 

We welcome the campus community to join us for this event. Please register to attend the virtual Co-op Student of the Year and Problem Lab Award ceremony.

Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office launches March events

A message from the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO).

Waterloo’s SVPRO supports all members of the University of Waterloo campus community who have experienced, or been impacted, by sexual violence. This is ongoing work that also includes educational and capacity-building programming centred on creating a campus where consent culture lives and thrives. 

During the month of March, SVPRO has several workshops, events, and opportunities in which to engage. To encourage discussion and virtual interaction, many of these opportunities have limited group size, so early registration is suggested. Follow the links below for registration details, or visit the SVPRO Events Feature page for full details.

Responding to Disclosures of Sexual Violence Part I & II: March 22 and March 25, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Each of us plays an important role in promoting a safe(r) and inclusive environment, and this workshop will provide some of the key tools you will need to respond effectively to a disclosure of sexual violence. 

Who should attend: Students, staff and faculty whose roles on campus mean a greater likelihood of receiving a disclosure of sexual violence. 

Listening and Learning Session with Community Justice Initiatives (CJI):  

Staff and Faculty: March 30, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

You are invited to join SVPRO and CJI for a Learning & Listening Session on including Restorative Justice practices when addressing incidents of sexual violence at the University of Waterloo. Restorative Justice is embedded as an option within Policy 42 – Prevention of, and Response to, Sexual Violence and as such we would like to invite our campus community to learn more about this practice. 

Who should attend: Any staff/faculty who are curious about restorative justice and are willing to share their thoughts, ideas and wonders about its application in a post secondary context.

Wen-Do Women’s Virtual Self-Defence Workshop: March 11, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and March 26, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Join us for a 2-hour virtual Wen-Do Feminist Self-Defense class where your Wen-Do instructor will facilitate discussions that involve the breaking down and debunking of victim-blaming stereotypes and myths that surround women’s self-defence. 

Who should attend: All women and non-binary students, staff and faculty of all abilities, along with women and non-binary household members aged 10 and older. 

Policy 42 and You: March 30, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

At this session, you will find out more about the key updates to Policy 42: the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Policy and Procedures, the process for making a complaint, as well as your roles and responsibilities as a university employee or student leader when someone has been impacted by sexual violence. 

Who should attend: All staff, faculty and student leaders.

International Women's Day breakfast coming up; other notes

There's still time to register for the International Women's Day virtual breakfast event taking place on Monday, March 8. "Women’s voices have always been powerful, relevant and necessary," says the event's marketing materials. "Our rapidly changing world is creating new spaces and opportunities for these voices to have an impact. Join us for a very special University of Waterloo 2021 International Women’s Day breakfast as we discuss how diversity and equity are critical to helping power shifts in science, technology, entrepreneurship, and social change."

The event's speakers include President Feridun Hamdullahpur, a keynote address by science journalist, author and broadcaster Angela Saini, as well as a panel discussion moderated by author Ziya Tong that features Dr. Janét Aizenstros, entrepreneur and winner, 2020 WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneur, and Trishala Pillai (BA ’16, economics), Director of Strategy, Rumie and advisor, Greenhouse social innovation discovery lab.

The event will be broadcast live from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The University of Waterloo's Employee and Family Assistance Plan provider Homewood Health has published its "Life Lines" article for March 2021 on the topic of women's mental health.

"While it’s a given that everyone should have the goal of maintaining good mental, physical and emotional health, women’s unique experiences frequently shine a light on the challenges they face in daily life," says the article. "Women are often socialized to hide their real emotions, which can create inner conflict and introduce increased anxiety and chronic stress, both of which boost the odds of developing depressive disorders."

"Contrary to the idealized societal expectations, women don’t need to appear to be happy all the time: they can feel stressed, angry, and sad and express these emotions freely. However, societal influences in how they experience fulfilling their roles within the community, workplaces, and homes can make dealing with positive and negative situations overwhelming."

Read the full newsletter and access mental health resources.

Instructors recently received an email inviting them to share their experience instructing remotely this term (Winter 2021). "We encourage you to participate if you have not already done so," says a note from Institutional Analysis and Planning on behalf of the Keep Learning Team. "Waterloo carried out a similar survey in Spring 2020, and made extensive use of the results in our efforts to better support remote instruction in subsequent terms. Results of the present survey will be useful for our continuing efforts to provide supports to instructors teaching remotely, and will also help us when we return to campus since online teaching is likely to be a larger part of what many of us choose in our courses in the future."

To participate, please visit the Winter 2021 Instructors Survey website and follow the survey link near the bottom of the page. You will need to log in with your WatIam credentials to access the site. However, your login information will not be linked to your survey response. This survey should take about 10-15 minutes and will be available until Friday, March 5.

"Participation in this survey is voluntary and you may decline to answer any questions or withdraw from the survey at any time without affecting your relationship with the University," says IAP. "Your answers will be kept confidential. This survey does not ask for any personally identifying information. Any reports of this survey will include only summarized results, ensuring that no individual can be identified."

The University of Waterloo's Pension & Benefits Committee has published its 2020 report to the community. In this report, the committee provides an overview of the issues that they addressed during the past calendar year, including the work of the Holistic Benefits Working Group, the Employee and Family Assistance Program, an analysis of healthcare benefits provisions in the university’s plan, and matters relating to the University's Pension Plan, including valuation, and other general items.

Here's the latest Nutrition Month "Myth vs. Fact" supplied by Health Services Dietitian Sandra Ace: 

Myth:

Vitamin D supplements can prevent or treat COVID-19.

Fact:

Evidence that vitamin D supplementation prevents or treats COVID-19 is currently lacking and needs further investigation. 

The possible link between Vitamin D and COVID-19 has generated a lot of excitement, as well as soaring Vitamin D sales, since researchers found that people with Vitamin D deficiency are more likely to test positive for COVID-19 and may have more severe disease outcomes. What research has yet to establish is whether low levels of Vitamin D are the cause or simply associated with COVID-19 risk and severity. 

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient which has many important functions in the body, including building and maintaining strong bones and supporting normal immune system function. In addition to Vitamin D, many nutrients work to support your immune system. These are best obtained by eating a balanced and varied diet rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, protein and plant oils and through other healthy lifestyle habits like adequate sleep, regular exercise, stress management and not smoking. Supplemental Vitamin D is not currently recommended for prevention or treatment of COVID-19, except as part of approved randomized-controlled trials. Nor is there evidence that any specific food, nutritional supplement or natural health product can prevent or treat COVID-19.

While researchers continue to examine the Vitamin D and COVID-19 link in numerous ongoing and future clinical trials, it makes sense to ensure that you are getting enough of this nutrient throughout the year. Our bodies make Vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight. However, people living in northern climates like Canada have limited sunlight exposure in the fall, winter and spring so may be more likely to have insufficient levels of Vitamin D. Food sources are not widespread but include milk and fortified milk alternatives, fatty fish like salmon and egg yolks. The RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) for children and adults ages 1 through 70 is 600 IU. If you are over 50 years old, Health Canada recommends taking a daily Vitamin D supplement of 400 IU in addition to eating foods that contain vitamin D. Consult with a registered dietitian or your healthcare provider if you have questions about whether you should take Vitamin D or read more in this article.