Thursday, February 24, 2022

Panel presentation and discussion on embedding EDI into your grant writing

A message from the Office of Research.

Learn about concrete ways to embed EDI actions and best practices into grant applications and research activities during a virtual panel presentation and discussion on Tuesday, March 1, from 1 to 2 p.m. The session is open to all Waterloo Faculty and graduate students and is intended to provide an opportunity for participants to actively engage in the session and ask questions to the panelists.

Please register to receive a link to take part in this online panel and Q & A, featuring:

Trevor C. Charles (Professor, Department of Biology, University of Waterloo) will discuss his experience embedding EDI principles to his research group and in a recent NSERC grant application. 

Imogen R. Coe (Professor, Dept. Chemistry & Biology, Ryerson University) will share her experience and insight as one of Canada's leading advocates for organizational change towards inclusive excellence in research, particularly in science and medicine.

Leslie Cove (Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research, University of Waterloo) will moderate the discussion and Q&A.

Dan Wolczuk awarded CMS 2022 Excellence in Teaching Award

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Mathematics website.

The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) has granted its prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award for 2022 to Dan Wolczuk, a lecturer in the Faculty of Mathematics.

The CMS accolade is bestowed upon a single member of the society each year in recognition of outstanding contributions and commitment to mathematical pedagogy.

Wolczuk is well-known for his work in teaching and learning, having produced a veritable library of books, resources, videos and other materials in support of undergraduate mathematics courses and the advancement of teaching in the Faculty of Math.

Wolczuk said he has always set out to be an innovator, with his teaching and otherwise, and takes a unique approach to math pedagogy.

“Odd as it may sound, I try not to teach math as such,” he said. “What I do is teach students how to learn math for themselves.”

His student-centred approach is grounded in a desire to especially help undergraduate students as they transition from high school into university. He points out that new university students can have a difficult time picking up functional strategies for studying and completing assignments.

“A big reason I feel like I can connect with the students is that, like so many of them, I also struggled in university math courses,” Wolczuk said. “I had to put in a lot of extra work and figure out strategies for learning so I could succeed. That’s exactly what I try to pass on to my students.”

One aspect of learning to deal with difficulties and overcoming challenges he promotes is a growth mindset. He encourages his students to approach assessment as an opportunity to engage with threshold concepts, rather than as a necessary evil to be dreaded and then forgotten as quickly as possible. Wolczuk says it is important that students understand the purpose of specific forms of assessment, and scaffolds his courses so levels of learning unfold progressively and transparently.

“Another thing I’m interested in is developing mathematical thinking,” he continued. “I approach each course not just as a way to teach a specific piece of the curriculum, but also with an eye to developing analytical skills that can carry over into other math courses or other parts of a student’s degree program.”

Asked about the significance of the CMS award, Wolczuk said he is grateful and humbled to receive such recognition from his peers. He mentioned, in particular, some of his colleagues who were previous winners of the same award, including the 2010 winner Jennifer Hyndman, who was his undergraduate mentor, the 2016 winner Ian VanderBurgh, who he says helped immensely during his early career, and the 2007 winner Brian Forrest, his teaching mentor for the last five years.

“It means so much to me, and I have so many people to thank for their guidance and support. The Faculty of Mathematics has such a deep commitment to pedagogy and that runs top to bottom. I want to especially thank the Dean, Mark Giesbrecht, for the ways he continues to support teaching and learning in the Faculty.”

“The CMS award is invigorating and fuels my passion to continue developing math pedagogy in support of my students and colleagues.”

Read more about the CMS Excellence in Teaching Award on the society’s webpage.

Waterloo among funding recipients of provincial EnAbling Change Program

From left to right: Marilyn Thompson, Associate Provost, Human Resources (emcee for the announcement); Minister Raymond Cho (Minister of Seniors and Accessibility); local MPP Mike Harris; Stepanka Elias, Executive Director, Plant Operations; Anne Bordeleau, O’Donovan Director, School of Architecture

Yesterday the Ontario government announced a $400,000 investment through its EnAbling Change Program, which promotes education and awareness about increasing accessibility and inclusivity in academia and building design. The 14 chosen projects will assist people with disabilities, seniors, and other marginalized communities during and beyond COVID-19, making Ontario more accessible to people of all abilities.

Two projects from Waterloo were each awarded over $100,000 through the program, and will be topped up with university contributions.

“The University of Waterloo has always been known for excellence in innovation, and I’m very pleased the Ontario Government is supporting projects that will inform future design strategy and teaching tools for better, more accessible, and inclusive spaces,” said Mike Harris, Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga. “As our understanding of accessibility needs grows, so should our response to addressing those needs, and this funding will ensure that design standards evolve to support our changing communities.”

The Inclusive Physical Space Design Strategy: partnership between Plant Operations, APHR-Accessibility, Sustainability, and Campus Wellness. The Inclusive Physical Space Design Strategy will develop an outcome-based design strategy for campus buildings that encompasses all three areas.

The Accessibility in the Built Environment: collaboration with the Canadian Council of University Schools of Architecture (12 schools, with project to be led by Waterloo’s School of Architecture). Accessibility in the Built Environment will develop:

• Learning and teaching tools to integrate universal design standards as part of curriculum;
• Accessibility assessment tools for different architecture education spaces (such as design studio, fabrication labs, and computational tools); and
• Materials, guidelines to integrate UD standards across a variety of domestic, civic, and institutional spaces to promote creation of inclusive environments

Read the full media release

Universal blockchain interoperability network Axelar raises $35 million USD Series B funding, joins ranks of unicorns

This article was originally published on the Cheriton School of Computer Science website.

Axelar, a decentralized network that connects application builders with blockchain ecosystems, applications and users, has successfully completed a $35 million USD Series B funding round, bringing its market valuation to $1 billion USD. This latest funding infusion follows the company’s previous $25 million Series A funding round in mid-2021 and $3.75 million in seed funding secured in 2020.

Co-founded in 2020 by Cheriton School of Computer Science Professor Sergey Gorbunov, who also serves as CEO, Axelar gives developers the ability to build on the best platform for their needs while using Axelar’s connectivity to allow blockchains to communicate with each other seamlessly.

Cheriton School of Computer Science Professor Sergey Gorbunov builds systems and protocols that protect data and information in untrusted, distributed, and highly adversarial environments such as in cloud computing or blockchains. His research enables new types of applications that have built-in trust and security properties and allows users to share, exchange, and compute information without having to trust each other or any third party.

With this latest round of funding with investments from Dragonfly Capital, Polychain Capital, North Island Ventures, Rockaway Blockchain Fund, Cygni Capital, Lemniscap, Olive Tree Capital, Blockchange Ventures, Node Capital, and angel investors including Waikit Lau and Gokul Rajaram, amongst others, Axelar will continue to grow its network, while laying down foundations for Web3 — a new iteration of the World Wide Web based on blockchain technology.

“Lack of scalable interoperability is the blockchain industry’s biggest obstacle to date, preventing mainstream adoption,” said Professor Gorbunov. “It’s great to see the support from our existing and new investors that see Axelar network as the core infrastructure stack that will accelerate the growth of the entire ecosystem.”

Blockchains are used as digital ledgers for cryptocurrencies as well as many other applications where an immutable ledger is needed to keep track of records and transactions securely. Despite their many uses, blockchains are at an early stage of development and many core infrastructure elements are still missing. A particularly important element for widespread adoption is the ability to connect different blockchain systems. This is precisely what Axelar addresses — building a network, along with the protocols and tools, to easily connect different blockchain ecosystems.

“As we move forward into 2022, there are more blockchain networks than ever before, and mass adoption has begun,” said Professor Gorbunov. “It’s critical that these chains are developed to communicate with one another so that assets such as tokens, NFTs and smart contract information can be transferred between chains. We see the demand ahead and have a huge opportunity to accelerate blockchain space by connecting siloed blockchains.”

New security tech monitors power use for warning signs of cyberattacks

This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

Researchers have developed new technology to protect governments, businesses and other organizations from cyberattacks by monitoring for unusual power consumption.

The technology combines a small piece of hardware to collect data with artificial intelligence (AI) software that can determine if power usage in a system is inconsistent with known, predictable patterns. If so, the AI sends an alert to security officials within the organization that its infrastructure might be under attack by hackers or malicious ransomware stealing or locking crucial information.

“If suddenly, for instance, several machines exhibit a similar pattern of high-power usage in specific patterns, we would raise an alert that there might be spreading crypto-ransomware in the network,” said Sebastian Fischmeister, an engineering and computer science professor at the University of Waterloo.

The research team and spinoff company Palitronica Inc. are now testing the technology – which is designed to complement, not replace, existing security controls such as network intrusion detection – in several Ontario municipalities, with a dozen more interested in participating.

“Ransomware and malware are serious threats to municipal governments,” said Jamie McGarvey, the mayor of Parry Sound and president of the Association of Municipalities Ontario. “We have seen an alarming increase in attacks and are encouraged that the University of Waterloo, the security company Palitronica, and the federal government are working with municipalities to improve municipal IT infrastructure systems.”

Fischmeister said the concept at the core of the technology, which is far less vulnerable to tampering since it sits outside the monitored system, means it has a wide variety of potential applications.

“It could be used to protect network equipment and computers, but also water supply, 5G infrastructure, trains and airplanes – we can protect anything that consumes power,” he said.

In the last six years, the technology was developed in projects backed by several government agencies, including the Department of National Defence (DND), and industry partners in defence and critical infrastructure.

“The ability, speed and accuracy of human triage activities of this unique Canadian technology show great promise to efficiently increase the safety and security of our Canadian Armed Forces,” said Eric Fournier, Director General Innovation, Innovation for Defence, Excellence and Security, at the DND.