Tuesday, November 9, 2021

President Goel leads Waterloo into bold new futures

By Anne Galang.

A new era of leadership for the University of Waterloo officially begins. Vivek Goel was installed as the University of Waterloo's seventh President and Vice-Chancellor on November 8, 2021.

Hundreds of viewers tuned in virtually to the ceremony that took place live at Engineering 7, where President Goel was formally endowed the duties and responsibilities of office. Hosted by Adel Sedra, distinguished professor emeritus and former dean of Engineering at Waterloo, the installation ceremony was conducted by Cindy Forbes, Chair, Board of Governors, and Karen Jack, University Secretary.

The event opened with a special drumming performance by John Somosi, Metis Knowledge Keeper, drum-maker and singer. Jean Becker, associate vice-president, Indigenous Relations provided an Indigenous greeting. Several notable guests joined virtually to offer greetings and their congratulations to the new president, including Dominic Barton, the University of Waterloo’s chancellor and Ambassador of Canada to the People’s Republic of China, and the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

“[Waterloo's] highly prized graduates are exactly what the world needs right now,” said Ambassador Barton in his remarks. “Vivek, under your leadership as president, Waterloo is poised to create the biggest change and the best solutions for our shared future.”

President Goel shared some words on the University of Waterloo’s history, the purpose and function of the University in society, and the University’s important role in a post pandemic world.

“Gerald Hagey and Ira Needles took their experience in industry and founded a university to propel the region, and our nation, forward,” said Goel. “They laid the groundwork for one of Waterloo’s core strengths by creating a strong bond between academia, industry, government and business.”

“Emerging from the pandemic, we find ourselves at a crossroad, just as our founders experienced in the post-War era,” he continued. “As we look to build back after so much disruption, universities are and will continue to play an important role in economic recovery and ensuring society is more resilient in the future.”

In his remarks, President Goel also offered thoughts on the University of Waterloo’s future.

“We are not only concerned about solving today’s most pressing challenges, but anticipating those to come, developing approaches and solutions to equip ourselves accordingly, and therefore working towards a better future for our world,” he said. “As we look forward, we should also think about humanity’s and society’s futures, and help define the world that we want to live in, rather than letting technology shape our future as has been the case in recent decades. […] Imagining the kind of world we want to live in will drive what kind of university we want to be.”

President Goel is recognized in Canada and around the world as a leading public-health researcher, health-services evaluation expert, and champion for the use of research evidence in health policy making. He has extensive achievements in research, teaching and leadership across both public and private sectors. Last year, as COVID-19 spread around the world, he stepped aside from his administrative roles to work full-time in support of Canada’s pandemic response. He conducted research in areas such as the economic and social effects of pandemic control measures, border testing and quarantine policies, and helped to build networks of researchers such as CanCOVID and the Canadian Immunity Task Force.

Goel was announced as the next president of the University of Waterloo in November 2020. He saw the global situation with the pandemic as a reminder of the post-secondary sector’s responsibility to prepare students and citizens to confront the many challenges ahead.

“I know we are ready and willing to address future challenges in unconventional ways,” said President Goel in closing. “I am grateful for the opportunity to join your community and to continue the legacy of those who came before me. I am honoured to join you all to build on our unique strengths, and as we take the University of Waterloo into bold new futures.”

Waterloo, NAVBLUE team up to drive sustainability in flight operations

The University of Waterloo’s Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) and NAVBLUE, an Airbus company, have partnered to address some of the industry’s most complex sustainability challenges through applied research and innovation.

Over the next five years, NAVBLUE and WISA will explore how emerging technologies can identify and drive sustainability in NAVBLUE’s core business of software for operations and crew management, flight planning, aircraft performance, flight data analysis and navigational data.

“The aviation industry relies on trusted partners like NAVBLUE to provide state of the art integrated systems that work in the background yet are the backbone of every traveller’s experience,” said Suzanne Kearns, director of WISA. “There are enormous opportunities to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the sector, by supporting more direct and efficient operations, thus reducing fuel burn and resulting emissions.”

A first in Canada, WISA was launched in the summer of 2021 to foster cross-disciplinary research technology, and education aimed at making the aviation and aerospace sectors more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics, to research new technologies for flight operations” said Thomas Lagaillarde, head of Product Portfolio & Programmes and Managing Director Canada at NAVBLUE. He adds: “Sustainability is a complex issue we can only solve by working together. Working with WISA allows us to combine NAVBLUE’s flight operations expertise and Airbus’ manufacturing knowledge, with the University of Waterloo’s renowned research capabilities to build sustainable solutions for our partners.” 

Sustainable aeronautics is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field that encompasses all types of air transport, including aviation, aerospace, and space. Researchers develop innovative solutions, tools, and practices to create a viable future for air transport that delivers long-term social, environmental, and economic value.

“Aeronautics can be a force for good – connecting people around the world, driving cultural and economic exchange, creating millions of jobs, and providing limitless opportunities for innovation” said Jean Andrey, dean of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment, where WISA is housed.

The long-term viability of the aviation and aerospace industries depend on socially, environmentally, and economic sustainable solutions and practices. Through this partnership, faculty and graduate students from across the University of Waterloo will work collaboratively with the team at NAVBLUE on applied research to address some of the industry’s most complex issues.

Craig Janes receives medical anthropology career award

A message from the Faculty of Health. This article was originally posted on the School of Public Health Sciences website.

Craig Janes, director of the School of Public Health Sciences, received the 2021 George Foster Practicing Medical Anthropology Award from the Society for Medical Anthropology last week. The career award “recognizes those who have made significant contributions to applying theory and methods in medical anthropology, particularly in diverse contexts, to multidisciplinary audiences, and with some impact on policy.”

Janes researches human-environment interactions, social inequities and health, global health systems and maternal and child health. His current work focuses on public health governance of the resource sector and the impact of climate change on health systems. He teaches global health and comparative health systems. 

 “This award is a great and unexpected honour, particularly because it recognizes the contributions that I have made by applying my training in anthropology to multidisciplinary scholarship, academic leadership and policy advocacy to global public health,” Janes said. “It also honours my many colleagues, partners and current and former students who have very much contributed to my applied and policy work. Global health is a team sport and they are as deserving of this honour as I am!”

The award is named in honour of George Foster (1913-2006), who was a faculty member at University of California, Berkeley and one of the founders of medical anthropology.

A decade's worth of editorial reflections

If you'll permit an old man a moment of self-indulgence: a decade ago today, on November 9, 2011, I stepped into the role of editor of the Daily Bulletin, following in the footsteps of my predecessor Chris Redmond, who originated the Daily Bulletin in 1993 before "online" was even really a thing. Ten years and 2,470 issues later, I'm still here, carrying on the work of keeping the University community up to date on happenings both inside and outside the Ring Road, while providing a modest amount of literary commentary alongside the facts, figures, and features.

The University of Waterloo continues to grow in both size and complexity as an institution and the Daily Bulletin has gone through a number of changes as well, for example, being dragged kicking and screaming into the WCMS in April 2015 (prior to that the Daily Bulletin had been put together using a modified, hacked version of Adobe Contribute), establishing an e-newsletter version of itself in September 2016, and launching the Beyond the Bulletin podcast in June 2019.  The Daily Bulletin recently crossed the 7,000-issue mark this fall, which works out to about 14 million words, give or take, for a publication that averages about 2,000 words an issue and is produced between 246 and 248 times a year.

The editor in 2011, about 2,470 Daily Bulletin issues ago.

After a few years in the editor's chair, one becomes acutely accustomed to the ebb and flow of the institutional calendar, much in the same way that a sleep-deprived festival goer becomes conscious of the rotation of the Earth after enough time watching day turn to night and back again (I do not speak from experience. Or do I?): the passing of the terms, the Welcome Weeks and Open Houses, Convocations, Orientations and Residence Move-Ins, the "Fees Arranged" and Library term loan deadlines, Senate and Board of Governors meetings, student elections, employment and retirement milestones, annual conferences and campaigns and the many days, weeks, and even months of significance that Waterloo has come to recognize and celebrate. Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could throw the University completely off its rhythm. As the years go by, the Daily Bulletin's mission of helping to equip Waterloo employees with the information they need to succeed and to celebrate the accomplishments of members of our community continues. The Daily Bulletin is great fun to write and edit, but it would not have survived from 1993 to 2021 without its readers. And so, as always, thanks for reading.