Monday, May 31, 2021

Previous | Next

University community will celebrate Feridun Hamdullahpur today

The University of Waterloo's sixth president and vice-chancellor, Feridun Hamdullahpur, has left an indelible mark on our institution. 

Since becoming president in 2010, President Hamdullahpur has helped usher in an era of transformative entrepreneurship, expanded student development, support and success and strengthened our global community through new and expanded partnerships with leading global universities, industry partners and our global network of alumni. 

On Thursday afternoon, alumni and partners from around the world came together to acknowledge President Hamdullapur’s era of transformative leadership and global community impact. We heard from the Hon. Navdeep Bains, former Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (2015-2021); Meaghan Kimball,Alumni Council Chair; and Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, among many other tributes.

You can view some of these tributes on our Decade of Impact website.

Today, members of our campus community—students, faculty, staff, and retirees—will gather virtually at 2:30 p.m. to celebrate Feridun Hamdullahpur.

Hosted by Mike Farwell (BA ’97), the program will include remarks from Cindy Forbes, Chair, Board of Governors; Chancellor Dominic Barton, and other distinguished guests, as well as personal reflections from President Hamdullahpur on his tenure at the University of Waterloo.

Register for the celebration event

Ten years of impact: a timeline

Check out an illustrated timeline that focuses on key areas of Feridun Hamdullahpur's tenure as president and how the University of Waterloo has changed over the years. Areas of focus include campus development, entrepreneurship, equity, and co-operative education, to name a few. The images were created by Julia Nakanishi, a Toronto-based designer and researcher who holds a Master of Architecture (MArch’20) and a Bachelor of Architectural Studies (BAS ’18) from Waterloo.

Dream-like space brought to life in Venice

By Carol Truemner. This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

A Waterloo project designed to reflect an optimistic and inclusive environment is part of this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale.

Philip Beesley, a School of Architecture professor, along with a team including Rob Gorbet, a Faculty of Environment professor, dozens of Waterloo students and hundreds of other collaborators from around the world created the installation called Grove for the international exhibition, which opened May 22.

Interpreted by The New York Times as “overcoming social and political polarization by replacing hard walls with open environments”, Grove includes a canopy of what looks like luminous, lace-like clouds embedded with liquid-filled glass vessels.

Below the canopy, a pool-shaped screen projects the film entitled Grove Cradle. The projection pool is surrounded by what is described as “a forest of totemic, basket-like columns” with embedded custom speakers that carry “a 4DSOUND composition” created especially for the exhibit.

Brand new concept

The final installation is completely different from what the Waterloo team started working on before the pandemic, which postponed the launch of the Venice Biennale twice last year.

Moving away from their first heavily interactive design, Beesley and his collaborators came up with a concept that includes a unique multi-media system offering expanded physical and virtual experiences.

The new design reflects the overall theme of the Venice Biennale that asks the question “How Will We Live Together?”

“We came up with a vision of a transformed world where future architecture seeks communion with plants, animals, and inert matter alike,” says Beesley, director of the Living Architecture Systems Group.

Parts of the exhibit evolved from Meander, another installation located in Tapestry Hall near the School of Architecture in Cambridge.

Also integrated into the design of the installation were thesis work by Tahir Pervais and Bianca Weeko Martin, now architecture alumni, and experimental engineering structures built by Richard Mui and Soo Woo, who are also now architecture graduates.

Created to inspire hope and action

Beesley says developing and installing Grove during the pandemic was a “wild experience” with social distancing and lockdowns complicating all steps during the process.

One way team members responded to Covid-19 restrictions was by developing extensive online content that can be shared using any laptop or mobile phone.

Grove’s “deeply-felt artwork” is intended to stir both hope and action.

“During a time of such deep strain and uncertainty, expressions that build realistic kinds of optimism seem important,” says Beesley.

Waterloo’s School of Architecture has played a prominent role in past Venice Biennales with faculty members invited to curate exhibits at most of the recent ones.

This year’s Venice Biennale is open to the public with health and safety precautions in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The exhibition closes on November 21.

Celebrating admitted students at You @ Waterloo Day

A message from Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment.

On May 25, professors, students, and staff from across the University connected with admitted students during You @ Waterloo Day.

Hosted by Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment, You @ Waterloo Day is an annual event that gives admitted students the opportunity to celebrate their offer and get their final questions answered before the June 1^st deadline to accept their offer and submit their residence community ranking form and deposit. The virtual event featured chats, digital downloads, and live and pre-recorded presentations, including a welcome keynote from Nobel laureate and Waterloo professor Donna Strickland. Admitted students took advantage of the chat features to connect with one another and get to know their future classmates.

Over 1,900 people registered to attend with 1,462 checking in during the event.

Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment continues to offer a range of virtual offerings for prospective students. If you know a student interested in applying, encourage them to visit our tours and events website to learn more and to register for an upcoming offering.

Special thanks to our campus recruitment colleagues and partners who have supported our new and ongoing undergraduate recruitment initiatives.

Waterloo prepares to celebrate Pride in June

A message from Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion.

Pride at Waterloo is an opportunity to prioritize the diverse voices and experiences of two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (2SLGBTQ+) students, faculty and staff, celebrating and acknowledging their significant contributions and vital roles within the campus community. Pride at Waterloo is also a time to hold space for conversations on how we can work together to create a more inclusive campus.

This Pride, as we think of the historical and ongoing systemic racism in Canada, and on our campus, we must recognize that advancing equity, social justice and the dismantling of systems of oppression cannot happen in silos. We must work together to centre the voices of Black, First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and other racialized individuals as we advance 2SLGBTQ+ initiatives, disability justice, decolonization, anti-racism, gender equity, and all other intersectional and anti-oppressive work. Pride is about celebration and it is a time  to reflect on Pride’s protest roots: it is about resistance, reform, advocacy, and justice.

Explore this resource page, which gives students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to explore supports, resources, community, and educational tools. We recognize that the pandemic has disrupted typical avenues for celebration and community – and hope that some of the events listed will be useful for 2SLGBTQ+ campus members and allies. We also recognize that the pandemic has and continues to have significant, often overlapping impacts on diverse communities, and encourage you to engage with these resources in a way that feels safe and healthy, while continuing to practice self-care. 

Happy Pride!

Monday's notes

Calling all early career researchers for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The Worldwide Universities Network has launched a series of workshops for early career researchers to encourage networking and building connections around the world to colleagues in similar fields focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Through its connection to the SDSN community, registration to join these workshops has been opened to researchers from the University of Waterloo. There are three upcoming workshops in June, which you are invited to join:

• June 8: SDG 5 - Gender Equality featuring opening speaker Ms. Bineta Diop, African Union Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security;
• June 15: SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth featuring opening speakers Dr. Romina Boarini, director of the OECD Centre for Well-Being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity; and Mr. Oliver Chinganya, director, African Centre for Statistics at the UN Economic Commission for Africa; and
• June 22: SDG 15 - Life on Land featuring opening speaker Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace.

When registering, note that Waterloo is included as a choice in the 'affiliation' section, listed as SDSN Guest: University of Waterloo.

The Renison Lecture Series continues in June with Living the Student Experience Through a Pandemic, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, June 15 at 7:00 p.m. "What is it like to mark a milestone online?" asks the lecture's promotional material. "Or balance online courses while working as a grocery store clerk wearing full PPE? Renison’s chaplain, Megan Collings-Moore, gets some perspective about the past year from four University of Waterloo students. The panel will discuss everything from online learning, pandemic co-op placements, connecting with friends, managing mental health, and marking convocation without an in-person ceremony – and much more! Join us for a glimpse into the lives of university students during a year unlike any other."

The event will be moderated by Ven. Megan Collings-Moore, chaplain, Renison University College, with a panel of students including Devon Jones, Viola Wang, Bethany McMullen, and Kendra Elizabeth Fortin.

You can register for the event on Eventbrite.