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President issues statement on Saskatchewan attacks
A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor.
The University of Waterloo sends our deepest condolences to the families and communities of the victims killed in the horrific attacks in Saskatchewan this weekend. We wish a swift and full recovery to those injured.
We offer solidarity with the people of James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, and to everyone affected by this tragedy. Violent acts of this scale affect us all. We also acknowledge this news may be especially difficult for Indigenous communities here and across the country.
If anyone in the University of Waterloo community needs support, please know that there are resources available to you:
- Students: If you feel overwhelmed or anxious and need to talk to somebody, please contact the University’s Campus Wellness services, either Health or Counselling Services.
- Employees: Our Employee and Family Assistance Program is available 24/7 for counselling, coaching and support. Call 1-800-663-1142 or visit Homeweb.ca.
These community supports are available as well:
- Here 24/7 - 1-844-437-3247
- Grand River Hospital - 519-749-4300
- St. Mary's Hospital - 519-744-3311
- Good2Talk - 1-866-925-5454
- Crisis Services Canada - 1-833-456-4566 or by text 45645
- Empower Me (1-844-741-6389)
- MATES is a one-to-one peer support program that provides services to students who are experiencing personal or academic concerns or low-level mental health and wellness difficulties
The UWaterloo Special Constable Service partners with Counselling Services and the Canadian Mental Health Association to implement IMPACT (Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team). IMPACT is a program that has a trained mental health professional working out of the UWSCS offices to assist community members who may be struggling. IMPACT workers provide Mental Health care in after-hours settings when counselling is unavailable. IMPACT workers are available by contacting the UWSCS at 519-888-4911.
Waterloo will celebrate the life and legacy of Douglas Wright
The University of Waterloo will celebrate the life and legacy of President Emeritus Douglas Tyndall Wright with a special event on September 23.
Wright, who served as the first dean of the Faculty of Engineering from 1958 to 1966 and as Waterloo’s third president and vice-chancellor from 1981 to 1993, passed away on May 21, 2020.
As his death occurred during the pandemic, the University was unable to properly mark his passing in a significant way.
In collaboration with the Wright family, Waterloo will honour the legacy of Douglas Wright, his achievements and how he shaped the University’s future at a special Celebration of Life event on September 23 at 11:00 a.m. The event will be livestreamed on YouTube.
The special event will feature remarks and tributes from President and Vice-Chancellor Vivek Goel, dean of engineering Mary Wells and other university leaders, former colleagues and students, distinguished community leaders and members of the Wright family. The event will also include live music and video tributes.
“President Wright’s vision and drive from the very outset of Waterloo’s existence in 1958 helped propel us to where we find ourselves today,” Goel says. “While we mourn the loss of an extraordinary visionary, leader and educator, we can also celebrate his lasting impact on the University of Waterloo.”
Wright played a major role in moving the University into a whole new level of applied knowledge, patents and technology transfer.
Major computer companies saw the advantage of supporting the University by providing equipment and research dollars. For example, Digital Equipment’s $24 million donation bought eight new VAX machines that made it possible to computerize both the Oxford English Dictionary and develop the software, leading to the creation of Waterloo spinoff successes MapleSoft and OpenText.
He left a teaching position at Queen’s University to join a young upstart University of Waterloo in 1958 as the first chair of civil engineering. He soon became the first dean of engineering. While he was dean, Waterloo became the largest undergraduate engineering school in the country.
An extract from the Beyond Tradition documentary on the history of the University of Waterloo discussing the influence of Douglas Wright.
Wright left the University for a post at Queen’s Park. He became a deputy minister in 1967 with responsibilities initially for university financing, and subsequently, for social policy with the Cabinet Committee for Social Development.
In 1969, in response to concern about the mounting provincial costs for university education, the Honourable William Davis, then minister of education, put Wright in charge of the province’s Committee on University Affairs. Wright chaired the Commission on Post-Secondary Education in Ontario. From 1979 to 1980, he was deputy minister of culture and recreation.
He came back the University of Waterloo as president, and would lead it for nearly 12 years, throughout the 1980s and early part of the 1990s.
“His return to Waterloo as our third president signalled a return to the no-holds-barred restlessness and momentum of the founding years,” said Ken McLaughlin, historian and author. “He pushed, prodded and pulled us with him as he pursued academic excellence and social relevance.”
Ken McLaughlin, historian and distinguished professor emeritus, discusses the lasting impact of Doug Wright with Pamela Smyth in the Beyond the Bulletin podcast.
Waterloo leads interdisciplinary team investigating new forever chemicals in Canadian water systems
This article was originally published on Waterloo News.
The University of Waterloo is leading an interdisciplinary team to identify and treat per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – better known as forever chemicals – in water systems affecting more than 2.5 million Canadians.
PFAS, are a new class of more than 4,000 environmental contaminants whose impact on human health is unknown. PFAS are used in a wide range of products such as cosmetics, textiles, fire-fighting foams and food packaging materials.
“PFAS are even more stable than plastics. Their carbon fluorine bond is one of the strongest that you can make in chemistry – very, very thermodynamically stable,” said Scott Hopkins, project lead and a professor in Waterloo’s Department of Chemistry. “Because it’s man-made, there are very few natural things that can actually impact it.”
“Traditional water treatment methods are ineffective at destroying these chemicals,” said Hopkins. “Many smaller Canadian communities do not have the capacity to test for pollutants like PFAS or the ability to implement new water and wastewater treatment technologies. As a result, pollutants will stay in their ecosystems and biomagnify, or build-up, in the local food web.”
Hopkins has partnered with professor Franco Berruti from Western University, along with USP Technologies, Brown and Caldwell, the Ontario Clean Water Agency, Ontario Water Consortium, Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, and seven regional water supply systems in Ontario.
“To tackle large, complex issues like this, you need to engage many experts who bring unique and valuable skills to the table. Our team has leading experts in chemistry, chemical engineering, artificial intelligence, water treatment, policy and regulation,” said Hopkins. “We have members from academia, industry, non-profit, and government agencies, all invested in solving this problem.”
Samples will be taken from input and along various points throughout the treatment process. Researchers will focus on catchment areas of Union Water Supply System, Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System, Elgin Area Primary Water Supply System, Lambton Area Water Supply System, Peel Region, the City of Cornwall Water System, and the cities of Durham and London.
Hopkins and his team will focus on the detection, characterization, and use of machine learning models to predict the physicochemical properties of PFAS and the transformation products generated by the treatment processes.
“Our specialty in ion mobility and mass spectrometry allows us to separate complex mixtures and see what’s in them,” said Hopkins. “We also use machine learning to infer things about the chemical processes that we’re dealing with and find the optimal treatment conditions so we can make the best use of the instrumentation we have.”
Western will focus on the treatment as Berruti, and his ICFAR colleagues have already made considerable advances in the destruction of PFAS in biosolids using thermochemical treatment (pyrolysis), and in water via UV treatment. This work is done in collaboration with Domenico Santoro, senior manager, research and innovation at USP Technologies Inc. and adjunct research professor at Western.
“This (NSERC Alliance Option 2) funding allows us to further our advancements in best practices for removing forever chemicals from Canada’s water supply,” said Franco Berruti, a professor from Western University. “In partnership with industry, municipalities, and colleagues from the University of Waterloo, ICFAR is extremely proud of our expanding research activities aimed at developing new innovations in water purification while making a direct impact on the community.”
This joint research project will determine which PFAS are present in Ontario waters, determine the chemical and physical processes underpinning treatment technologies, and provide key information to inform Canadian water systems of potential PFAS contaminants and treatment options.
The project is funded by the NSERC Alliance Option 2 grant. Alliance grants encourage university researchers to collaborate with partner organizations, which can be from the private, public or not-for-profit sectors. These grants support research projects led by strong, complementary, collaborative teams that will generate new knowledge and accelerate the application of research results to create benefits for Canada. Under Alliance Option 2, NSERC provides increased financial support to research projects that aim to address important issues that directly impact society.
Introduce campus employees to the student experience with See It Like A Student
A message from the Student Success Office (SSO).
The Student Success Office is opening a call to student support units to participate in a new event for student-facing employees, such as academic advisors, program coordinators, immigration consultants and others who work directly with current students. As campus returns to primarily in-person learning for the first fall term since 2019, staff and faculty are working hard to re-orient students to our campus. See It Like a Student will take place during Fall Reading Week and provide an opportunity for student-facing employees to also re-familiarize with campus.
This event will provide a forum for your unit to invite student-facing employees to tour your space and learn essential information about your services. See It Like a Student will also:
- Empower employees to understand how other areas function
- Enable employees to apply this information for more effective student referrals
- Foster a connected and supportive community that inspires students, faculty, staff and alumni to feel valued while achieving their personal, academic and professional goals
Log into the SSO Staff Resources website to register to participate as a host unit. Please reach out to Paige Doherty (p3dohert@uwaterloo.ca) if you have questions.
Curious about experiencing campus as a student? Stay tuned for more information and save the date –Friday, October 14 – to See It Like a Student!
Wednesday's notes
WatSPEED will be hosting a "Start Your Career in Data Science" info session on Friday, September 9 at 12 noon. "Whether you are a recent math or science graduate, a working professional in operations, business intelligence, or marketing and communications, or simply interested in advancing your career, this info session will empower you to explore the in-demand field of big data," says a note from WatSPEED.
Employers hosting Virtual Employer Information Sessions (VEIS) this week and next include: Oliver Wyman, Geotab, Konrad Group, Deloitte LLP, Calgary Economic Development, Manulife, Eckler Ltd., Snapcommerce, Databricks, Bloomberg, Big 4 CPA Night (KPMG, EY, Deloitte and PwC), GHD, Definity (Economical Insurance), Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, FDM Group, Capital One, PwC Canada, Sun Life, Formlabs, Genesys, OMERS and Oxford Properties, Powering Change, and QES - AE4H Project, IBM Canada, and TD Bank. Make sure to register through WaterlooWorks and check the calendar for any updates.