Monday, November 21, 2022

Celebrate International Education Week 2022 from November 21 to 25

A message from Waterloo International.

Today is the first day of International Education Week 2022. Every year, educational institutions, governments, and non-profit organizations celebrate international education worldwide through events showcasing global scholarship's merits. It is a great opportunity to recognize and promote the value of education and collaboration at home and abroad and the importance of internationalization on campus. We are excited to celebrate IEW 2022 with our campus community.

Various events are planned in person and virtually throughout the week for students, staff, and faculty to learn more about other cultures and experience different perspectives. This is a collaborative effort organized by multiple departments, academic support units, and student groups coordinated by Waterloo International.

Check out the Waterloo International events section to find out everything happening during the week.

Please let us know how you are celebrating by sharing your activities on social media using the hashtag #IEW2022. Also, look for further articles this week highlighting ways in which Waterloo supports internationalization activities.

Follow us on Twitter at @WaterlooINT as we document the week's events.

Provost provides update on inclusive washroom initiative

A message from Vice-President, Academic & Provost James W.E. Rush.

I am proud to share that the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Office, in partnership with the Waterloo Undergraduate Students Association and the Glow Centre, is expanding gender neutral washroom options on campus. I want to sincerely thank the Waterloo Undergraduate Students Association, the Glow Centre, and other trans and non-binary campus community members for their dedication in initiating and advancing this important work.

At least one washroom in every building on campus is being proposed for conversion. You will see signage, currently on the door of each proposed washroom, with a survey soliciting feedback on the location.

Every building will still predominantly contain gendered multi-stall washrooms and/or will have single stall washroom options for campus users who prefer a gendered or individual washroom space. The final list of washrooms will be evaluated to ensure there is a reasonable balance of men’s and women’s washrooms available in each building. 

Once the identified washrooms are converted following consultation, having options available to everyone in our community will be a critical step in enhancing the safety, access, and options for our trans and non-binary campus community members. 

Future phases of this project will also include exploring opportunities to enhance accessibility features in washrooms across campus, making minor infrastructure improvements, and installing new single stall washrooms where feasible.

Thank you in advance for your support in making the campus a safer, more welcoming space for all students, faculty, and staff.

Please email equity@uwaterloo.ca if you have any questions about the project.

Waterloo startup testing nanotechnology to reach better postoperative patient outcomes

By Etta Di Leo. This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

Growing up, Youssef Helwa was fascinated by his mother’s stories about the patients she cared for as a surgeon. Those conversations became the inspiration behind his company, FluidAI. FluidAI, formerly NERv Technology Inc., is currently developing a smart monitoring system that will examine biological data and alert health-care providers to possible complications following abdominal surgery. 

The current standard of care sees an average of eight per cent of all abdominal surgeries developing serious post-operative complications. The complications are typically clinically silent, presenting no symptoms until the issue becomes serious and life threatening. By the point of symptom onset, the complications can carry an average mortality rate of 12 per cent. 

“The best way to comprehend the problem is to think about the operative care journey for patients,” says Helwa. “Patients come out of surgery, and unfortunately, a subset of these patients ends up developing some sort of complication. They start becoming sick with symptoms, and doctors must start playing the game of investigating why these patients are feeling sick.” 

FluidAI’s smart monitoring system removes some of that guesswork by helping caregivers identify leaks, bleeds or potential infections much earlier than the current standard of care. Detecting these clinically silent issues before the onset of detectable symptoms allows the health care provider to intervene before the complication becomes critical. This reduces both mortality and the length of stay at the hospital in recovery. 

“Right now, the timeline between investigation of the root cause and treatment is a problem. If you can pick up on the complication from the point it manifests and intervene or change how you're administering care to the patient, you could end up with drastically different results.” 

Support through their university career and beyond

Helwa’s path to founding FluidAI started at the age of 15. Helwa was living in Saudi Arabia when he learned about the Nanotechnology Engineering program at Waterloo. The following year, he began his studies and soon discovered the potential impact engineering could have on medical care. “I started to wonder if I could bridge engineering with current problems in medicine to come up with a way to have better results for how patients recover.” 

Helwa soon became friends with Amr Abdelgawad, and the two began to build a vision of how they would disrupt the field of medicine. 

“Both of us come from families who are in medicine. Together we aligned our vision and our objectives to make something happen. We worked on our ideas throughout our undergrad program, and then during my masters, I had a supportive supervisor who empowered us to continue to work on the company. That gave us access to state-of-the-art research facilities and great minds who helped us tackle one challenge after another.” 

The growth of a biomedical ecosystem at Waterloo

When Helwa and Abdelgawad founded FluidAI, the ecosystem for medical devices was new in the Waterloo region. 

“When we got started, there was a lot of knowledge and a lot of past experiences from software and hardware companies, but there weren’t many medical device companies. The ecosystem advanced dramatically over the last five to seven years. The number of medical companies increased exponentially. Waterloo has been behind that change with the University’s biomedical engineering program and places like Velocity and Medical Innovation Xchange helping health-care startups.” 

He credits the University of Waterloo with preparing him to build FluidAI and embarking on the life of an entrepreneur. 

“My time [at Waterloo] was a valuable transformational experience for me. It's not like I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Waterloo provided that strong entrepreneurial mindset and mentality.” 

The University of Waterloo is building out a pipeline for health innovation in Southwestern Ontario thanks to a $10-million investment from FedDev Ontario. 

The investment will support a new partnership between Velocity, Western University, the City of Kitchener and Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX) to build a Southwestern Ontario Health Innovation network. This partnership will strengthen the Canadian tech ecosystem, specifically in the health and medtech sector by supporting innovators and entrepreneurs from start to scale. 

Clinical trials and beyond

Today, Helwa is the Chief Executive Officer of FluidAI and he continues to focus on scaling his startup to a leading medical company. Abdelgawad is the Chief Operating Officer while other Waterloo grads include Abdallah El-Falou, FluidAI’s Chief Technology Officer, who works on the development of the organization’s technology and Mohamed Okasha, FluidAI's Research & Development Scientist who has contributed to the development of the sensor technology. 

FluidAI is in the process of conducting clinical studies at several sites across North America, including the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, and the company has recently raised more than $7 million in funding. They received Health Canada approval in early 2022 and expect to have a global reach with their ground-breaking device. 

“Very recently, we reached the point where our devices are functioning every minute of every day on patients somewhere in the world. The feedback has been incredible. We went into the clinical studies with certain expectations, and so far, it’s been a blessing where we are surpassing every one of our expectations.” 

W Days event in SCH concourse this week

A message from Print + Retail Solutions.

Start your holiday shopping early. W Store is hosting its annual W Days Event starting Monday, November 21 to Friday, November 25. The event is in the South Campus Hall concourse from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day.

Shop apparel, technology products, drinkware, accessories, stationery and more. Items are priced at $40, $30, $20, $10, or less.  Shop early for the best selection. Items are only available while supplies last. W Days is an in-person event and will not be available to shop online.

Senate meets today and other notes

The University's Senate meets today at 3:30 p.m. in NH 3407. Among the agenda items:

• A motion to approve a new research-based Doctor of Philosophy in Entrepreneurship and Organization, offered by the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, effective September 1, 2023;
• A motion to approve the removal of a part-time option from the Master and PhD in Pure mathematics and both the Master and PhD in Pure Mathematics-Quantum Information;
• A motion to approve identifying the process for students to enter the thesis study option for the Master of Mathematics in Pure Matematics and the Master of Mathematics in Pure Mathematics-Quantum Information;
• A motion to approve removing the personal statement from the list of minimum admission requirements for the PhD in Pure Mathematics and the PhD in Pure Mathematics-Quantum Information;
• A motion to approve adding a transfer entry internship option to the PhD in Combinatorics and Optimization and the PhD in Combinatorics and Optimiziation-Quantum Information programs, in addition to keeping the regular exiting PhD programs;
• A motion to approve adding a Master's Research Paper study option to the Master of Mathematics in Data Science program;
• A motion to approve the proposed Biomaterials and Tissues Specialization, Mecial Artificial Intelligence Specialization, and Medical Devices Specialization, effective September 1, 2023;
• A motion to approve the proposed Building Science Specialization effective September 1, 2023;
• A motion to approve changes to the Bachelor of Sustianability and Financial Management, effective September 1, 2023;
• A motion to approve the 2023-2024 academic calendar dates and calendar guidelines for establishing academic dates;
• A motion to approve the Principles and Guidelines for Digital Learning, effective January 1, 2023;
• A motion to approve revisions to the Academic Decisions for the Faculty of Engineering, effective Septemebr 1, 2023;
• A motion to approve revisions to the Academic Promotion Rules for the Faculty of Engineering, effective September 1, 2023; and
• A motion to approve revisions to the Undergraduate Communication Requirement for the Faculty of Environment, effective September 1, 2023.

Senate will also receive a report from the University Committee on Student Appeals, and reports from the President, the Vice-President, Research & International and the Vice-President, Academic & Provost.

The Centre for Career Action is putting the word out about Grad WIL Focus Group opportunities.

"Support the development of grad work-integrated learning opportunities by sharing your feedback!" says a note from the CCA. "Apply by November 25 to join focus groups taking place in early December. All focus group participants will have $10 added to their WatCard as a thank you for participating. Learn more about the Grad WIL focus groups."