Thursday, August 18, 2022

Alumnus visits campus on cross-country bike tour

By Megan McGarry.

When 23-year-old alumnus Steven Ekvall completed his degree in Geological Engineering, he had big plans of going on a big adventure. Maybe hitch-hiking through Europe, or possibly Peru; but this was April 2020 and COVID-19 restrictions limited his ability to travel.

Two years later, the Calgary native has embarked on his big adventure a little closer to home: a cross-country bike tour.

Steven began his journey on May 7, embarking from Victoria, BC with a goal to finish in Newfoundland. Steven is hoping to finish by the end of October.

“The route isn’t really designated, since I’m trying to stay off main highways and stick to trails and logging roads where possible,” said Steven. “But typically, the halfway would be somewhere around Thunder Bay and I’m past that now.”

While attending Waterloo, Steven was always active and biked to school and work but was never what you’d call an avid biker. Leading up to his departure from the west coast, he also didn’t quite have the time for all the training he was hoping for due to the long Calgary winter that extended into April.

His first few days were gruelling but now he’s in a routine of biking around 8 hours a day, from roughly 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with energy to spare. “It’s kind of like a full-time job!” he said with a laugh.

On day 103, Steven returned to campus to get a few photos with his bike.

You can follow Steven along his journey on his blog, Steven Cycles Canada.  

Seeing the quantum light

By Kayleigh Platz. This article was originally published in the Spring 2022 issue of Waterloo Magazine.

A new device being tested in the University of Waterloo Optometry Clinic may one day help prevent the leading cause of vision loss in older adults – and it all started with a chance conversation among quantum physicists.

Dmitry Pushin, a professor in the department of Physics and Astronomy, was talking to another physicist about his team’s quantum light research when the colleague mentioned that Ben Thompson, a professor in the School of Optometry and Vision Science, was studying macular degeneration and how the eye and brain see light.

Pushin’s team, based at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), had been asking the question: “Can people see quantum light with the naked eye?”

When his research team proved the human eye could indeed see quantum light, they wondered: “What can we do with this?”

Across campus, Thompson and his team were researching eye exams, asking: “How do we compare what people think they see to what they actually see?”

Waterloo's unique IP policy fosters collaboration

For Pushin, this was an opportunity for collaboration because the two research groups were asking similar questions through different lenses.

Waterloo’s culture, the research teams agree, helps foster this type of interdisciplinary research. Its unique intellectual property policy, that allows researchers to own what they invent, encourages people to work together and try out new areas, Pushin says.

Taking this idea of quantum light and macular degeneration back to the lab, Pushin’s team developed a device that allows optometrists to see how the human eye tracks polarized light. A person with healthy eyes can detect polarized light in the form of a blurry spot in their field of vision – a phenomenon known as Haidinger’s brush. This is due to structural properties of the macula, which are compromised in individuals with macular degeneration.

Today, macular degeneration is often diagnosed after irreparable vision loss has occurred. Connor Kapahi (PhD in progress), a PhD student in Physics and Astronomy, and Dusan Sarenac (BASc ’14, PhD ’18), technical lead at IQC’s Transformative Quantum Technologies (TQT) group, built the camera, which is capable of illuminating and imaging a patient’s retina with novel forms of light. The research was funded through TQT which is a Canada First Research Excellence Fund Initiative.

This diagnostic tool is being tested at Waterloo’s Optometry Clinic with the hope that it may one day detect macular degeneration in patients earlier. “Our collaboration is an unusual one, not only because it connects a relatively abstract topic in quantum technology to an established medical field in vision research, but also because it spans continents,” Kapahi says.

Thompson, now based in Hong Kong and running the University’s new Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR), is taking the collaboration international which is significantly improving their ability to test the device on patients.

Opportunities to integrate research attracts top talent

Thompson sees the Waterloo environment as key to creating opportunities for interdisciplinary research because researchers from such different disciplines typically don’t connect at many other universities. Waterloo has an open, collegial culture that actively promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, new ideas and “blue skies” thinking, he says. This environment makes it possible to identify new connections with researchers from very different disciplines.

Interdisciplinary research is powerful but it poses many challenges such as communication, confidence in moving outside of your comfort zone and trusting collaborators outside your discipline, Thompson says.

"Early exposure to successful interdisciplinary research allows trainees to overcome these fundamental challenges and experience the exhilaration of being involved in the generation of new ideas and technologies that would not have been possible without combined expertise. This, in turn, lays the foundation for trainees to incorporate interdisciplinary projects into their future careers.”

The cutting-edge invention is attracting talent to Waterloo. During the research phase, Thompson welcomed Andrew Silva, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Optometry and Vision Science to the team. Silva was instantly engaged in the research that extended beyond silos and the usual academic restriction. Learning to think in a collaborative and interdisciplinary way early on helps shape your focus and future as a researcher, Thompson said.

“Something extra can be found through collaboration,” Kapahi says. “By collaborating across fields that have historically been separate, researchers can find opportunities to solve problems that their colleagues might have thought intractable. I see interdisciplinary collaboration as a cornerstone of the future of academic research.” 

Modelling disaster recovery

Post-earthquake housing recovery assessment for Alameda (CA)

This article was originally published on the Systems Design Engineering website.

After a disaster strikes, the ability of individuals to recover is shaped by the many inter-connected systems that make up a community.

Exploring this complex problem is the goal of Rodrigo Costa, who recently joined the Department of Systems Design Engineering (SYDE) as an assistant professor. His research integrates knowledge from engineering, planning, and social sciences to understand how extreme natural events impact communities. At the core of the issue is how the interaction of systems can worsen disaster risk and inequalities.  

“Urban communities are, by definition, a system of systems. You have your infrastructure systems, economic systems, social systems, political systems, and many others. Thus, to understand how extreme events, like an earthquake, flood, or wildfire, disrupt urban communities it is essential to approach this problem from a system of systems perspective,” said Costa. “I am excited to join Waterloo because SYDE has the perfect environment and community to foster this perspective.”

Modelling how the systems interact at a community level can help residents and governments prepare for and make decisions during disaster recovery. For example, Costa’s research has modelled the distribution of housing infrastructure in a post-disaster scenario that incorporates social and economic factors. The results highlight inequitable recovery rates across socioeconomic statuses and strategies to improve make recovery more equitable.

“While homes are being repaired, displaced residents may compete for temporary housing with out-of-town reconstruction workers, raising rental prices,” explained Costa. “This one of the many barriers for residents at lower socioeconomics statuses. With my research, I identify these potential barriers before a disaster strikes so we are better prepare to mitigate their negative impacts during recovery.”

Costa joins the University of Waterloo from Stanford University, where he held a post-doctoral scholar position at the Stanford Urban Resilience Initiative. He earned his PhD in Civil Engineering with a focus on earthquake engineering from The University of British Columbia. He received the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s 2021 Graduate Student Paper Award for his paper “Agent-based model for post-earthquake housing recovery" published in the journal Earthquake Spectra.

Costa’s work is described on his personal website.

Elevator maintenance has its ups and downs

Plant Operations has announced a series of elevator service interruptions relating to repairs and maintenance in buildings across campus. The dates, times and locations are as follows:

• Engineering 7, Monday, August 22, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.;
• Physics, Tuesday, August 23, 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.;
• Applied Health Sciences, Tuesday, August 23, 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.;
• Arts Library, Wednesday, August 24, 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon;
• Douglas Wright Engineering (DWE), Wednesday, August 24, 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.;
• Engineering 5, Thursday, August 25, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.;
• UWP-Beck Hall, Thursday, August 25, 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon;
• Quantum-Nano Centre, Thursday, August 25, 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.; and
• School of Pharmacy (PHR), Friday, August 26, 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon.

During the maintenance period, elevators will be taken out of service one at a time in the affected buildings.