Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Waterloo professors named to the Order of Canada

The insignia of the Order of Canada. Photo credit: Sgt. Johanie Maheu, Rideau Hall.

An acclaimed psychologist and an accomplished architect at the University of Waterloo have been appointed to the Order of Canada.

Geoffrey Fong, a professor in the Department of Psychology cross-appointed to the School of Public Health Sciences at Waterloo, was appointed to be an officer of the Order of Canada. Fong is the founder and chief principal investigator of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC project), leading a team of more than 150 researchers across 31 countries covering more than half of the world’s population.

Rick Haldenby is a professor in Waterloo’s School of Architecture. He was appointed to be a member of the Order of Canada. He is a Waterloo graduate and served as director of the School of Architecture from 1988 to 2013. The founder of Waterloo’s highly successful Rome program, Haldenby has conducted archaeological work in Italy, Malta and Tunisia. He is an expert in Mediterranean archaeology and the design and management of historic landscapes and sites.

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, announced 135 new appointments to the Order of Canada, which has three levels: companion, officer and member. Officers of the Order of Canada are recognized specifically for service to Canada or to humanity at large, and members of the Order of Canada are honoured for distinguished service in or to a community, group or field of activity.

Fong was named an officer of the Order of Canada for his work examining the effectiveness of tobacco control policies of the first-ever WHO treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which calls upon Canada and 180 other countries to implement measures such as large graphic warnings, smoke-free laws, higher tobacco taxes, anti-smoking campaigns, and limits on advertising and packaging. The official announcement indicates Fong was recognized for his research into improved risk messaging on tobacco products and for his role in reducing the global tobacco epidemic.

“I am humbled and honoured to receive this recognition, which I think of more as a tribute to our extraordinary research team at the University of Waterloo and our global research team, who have worked tirelessly to use our research to combat the number one preventable cause of death in Canada and the world,” Fong said.

As the official release indicates, Haldenby was recognized for his contributions to the advancement of architectural education in Canada, and for his efforts to preserve industrial and mid-century buildings.

“I am overwhelmed by this tremendous honour and deeply grateful to those who made it possible,” Haldenby said. “I think of it as recognition for the students with whom I have had the pleasure of sharing my love of architecture, for the School I have dedicated my life to building and for the cities in Waterloo region whose histories are so rich and whose futures are so bright.”

“Through his important work in the community and in architecture education, Rick Haldenby shapes our landscape in ways that both honour history and that will benefit society for generations to come. Geoffrey Fong’s work has resulted in many lives being saved around the world by demonstrating the significant role government policies play in reducing health risks,” said Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of Waterloo, who is also a member of the Order of Canada. “I wish to thank them for their dedication and extend my sincere congratulations to all of the honourees for their achievements.”

Fong is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and the Association for Psychological Science. Fong recently received the Governor General’s Innovation Award, and he has distinctions from the Canadian Cancer Society, the American Cancer Society, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the World Health Organization. He is a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher and recipient of Waterloo’s Distinguished Teaching Award.

Haldenby is a fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He is former chair of the Council of Canadian University Schools of Architecture and received its lifetime achievement award. He chaired the juries for the Dundas Square and Nathan Philips Square design competitions in Toronto. Haldenby received the Special Jury Award from Arts Awards Waterloo Region and the Dr. Jean Steckle Award for excellence in heritage education from the Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation. He was also recognized for excellence in teaching with Waterloo’s Distinguished Teaching Award.

Fong and Haldenby will receive their insignias at a ceremony at Rideau Hall. The Order of Canada recognizes people in all sectors of Canadian society for outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the country.

Copper, the COVID killer

Researchers have discovered that using a thin-film coating of copper or copper compounds on surfaces could enhance copper’s ability to inactivate or destroy the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19.

In a study that began soon after the pandemic hit in March 2020, University of Waterloo engineering graduate students investigated how six different thin metal and oxide coatings interacted with HCov-229E, a coronavirus that is genetically like SARS-CoV-2 but safer to work with. 

“While there was already some data out there on the lifetime of the virus on common-touch surfaces like stainless steel, plastics and copper, the lifetime of the virus on engineered coatings was less understood,” said Kevin Mussleman, the Waterloo mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor who led the study.

The Waterloo team partnered with Wilfrid Laurier University researchers who tested the effectiveness of the antiviral coatings on glass and N95 mask fabric.

Testing involved depositing coatings that were about 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, then immersing the coated glass and fabric in a viral solution or exposing them to smaller droplets of the viral solution. After removing the virus from the coatings, each extract was placed in contact with healthy cells and measured for its ability to replicate.

Results showed the other coatings did not have the same antiviral effects as copper or a copper-containing compound.

Additionally, they found that in some cases “nanoscale thin films of copper can come off from the surface and rapidly dissolve in virus-containing droplets, enhancing the virucidal effect,” said lead study author Louis Delumeau, who recently graduated from Waterloo with a master’s degree in nanotechnology engineering. “There is an opportunity to tailor the coating in a way that enhances its interaction with the viral droplet and the antiviral effect,” added Musselman.

While wearing a mask is an effective way of preventing the spread of COVID-19, Delumeau said adding an antiviral coating containing copper to the outside of the protective material or an inside filter could add an additional layer of safety.

“Not only would a mask that covers the nose and mouth greatly limit the transmission of the virus but adding a coating such as the one we developed could actually kill the virus rapidly and reduce the amount of virus spread,” he said. The researchers’ antiviral coating could also be applied to high-touch public surfaces, Delumeau said.

The Waterloo research group is developing coating techniques for masks and is continuing to explore the dissolution process for smaller droplet sizes, as well as investigating how to control the adhesion of copper films to various surfaces.

The study, Effectiveness of antiviral metal and metal oxide thin-film coatings against human coronavirus 229E, authored by Louis Delumeau, Hatameh Asgarimoghaddam, Tamiru Alkie, Alexander James Bryan Jones, Samantha Lum, Kissan Mistry, Marc G. Aucoin, Stephanie DeWitte-Orr, and Kevin P. Musselman was recently published in the journal APL Materials.

A short but sweet visit from Michaelle Jean

St. Paul's University College Chancellor Michaelle Jean meets with some members of the institution's Board of Governors. Seated row, left to right: Brenda Simpson, Julia Salvini, Brad Siim, Tracy Mann, Jeff Casello. Standing row, left to right: Don Shilton, Banuja Sivarasah, Michaelle Jean, Tracy Primeau, Rick Myers.

A message from St. Paul's University College.

Just over a year ago, St. Paul’s proudly welcomed our third Chancellor, the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean. Chancellor is a ceremonial position of the Board of Governors of St. Paul's University College. In late November, for the first time since she was installed as Chancellor, Mme Jean was able to visit the St. Paul’s campus, meet our students, staff and board members as well as some members of the University of Waterloo community.

What could seem like an intimidating moment was exactly the opposite; Mme Jean brought warmth to the college as she toured around meeting as many people as she possibly could in the short time she had with us. Mme Jean has many shared interests with the St. Paul’s community, which in turn made it important for her to experience as much as she could. Luckily, while mighty, St. Paul’s is a small community, which made it possible for Mme Jean to meet with many key people and groups while she was here.

Read more about Mme Jean’s visit to campus on the St. Paul's website.

W Store Essentials | MC temporarily closing and other notes

"W Store Essentials located in the Math and Computer Building will be temporarily closed for in-person shopping until further notice," says a message from Print + Retail Solutions. "W Store will continue to process all orders placed via wstore.ca for door-to-door shipping or contactless curbside pickup."

"For information on our store hours for this location as well as others, please visit wstore.ca."

Human Resources has announced the following minimum wage changes, effective January 1, 2022:

More information is located on the HR website including a link to the Government of Ontario's website outlining the recent changes. 

"The majority of our employees are not impacted by this change; however, there may be some employees where attention is required and will be identified by Human Resources, with review by managers to ensure compliance," says the HR memo, which was circulated to managers, department heads, executive officers, administrative officers, administrative assistants, and timekeepers yesterday. "Workday will then be updated by HR with the new minimum wage. Please be aware of this change when hiring employees after January 1, 2022. Users of the Time Tracking System in Workday should also keep in mind the new legislation to ensure employees are paid compliantly."

Please direct any questions you may have about the minimum wage changes to hrhelp@uwaterloo.ca. 

One correction from yesterday's Daily Bulletin to note: in the article announcing openings and closings for the winter 2022 term, the Early Childhood Education Centre (ECEC) is in fact closed until January 24. The Daily Bulletin regrets the error.

Employers hosting Virtual Employer Information Sessions (VEIS) this week and next week include: WealthSimple, Milliman, Thumbtack, Capital One, Persona, BGIS, Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg, Splunk, Verily Canada Corp, Argus Group, Datadog, and Genesys. Make sure to register through WaterlooWorks and check the calendar for any updates.