Monday, November 28, 2022

Giving Tuesday is tomorrow

A message from the Office of Advancement.

Tomorrow, you can unlock thousands of dollars in charitable support for Waterloo students!

• Waterloo Faculty Challenge: When 225 unique faculty members make a Giving Tuesday gift, an extra $1,000 is unlocked for the Waterloo Fund;
• Waterloo Staff Challenge: When 325 unique staff members make a Giving Tuesday gift, an extra $1,000 is unlocked for the Waterloo Fund; and
• Waterloo Retiree Challenge: When 65 unique retired faculty and staff make a Giving Tuesday gift, an additional $3,000 is unlocked for the Retirees Bursary Fund.

Check out our Giving Tuesday website to see all the challenges

Fall 2022 Velocity $5K winners share desire to innovate

A message from Velocity.

Excitement permeated the packed room as eight finalist teams made their last effort to convince a panel of judges that their business idea was deserving of one of four $5,000 awards at Velocity’s $5K pitch competition.  

The fall term pitch competition took place November 23 in the Black and Gold Room at the University of Waterloo’s Student Life Centre. Student startup teams had only three minutes to pitch, and three minutes to answer questions from Judges Neha Khera, General Partner at 2048 Ventures, Sydney Robinson, Cofounder of Vessl Prosthetics and Philbert Chan, Student Venture Fund Associate. 

The teams took to the stage after weeks of perfecting their pitch, which included a semi-final round and live feedback from founders during a practice pitch that was held at Velocity downtown Kitchener. 

It was a standing room only event, and even those that stood all stayed to catch a glimpse of the winning teams. 

Leading with an entrepreneurial mindset

Winners AFAIK, Relay MD, TrainPro, and Landscape Direct all presented high quality business ideas and each received the $5,000, presented by University of Waterloo’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Vivek Goel, who spoke during the event. 

“Success is not getting to that billion-dollar company — it’s getting these experiences, taking them out into the world,” Goel said. “We all need that entrepreneurial mindset and commitment to solve these problems (and) it takes courage to take these kinds of risks.” 

Read the rest of the story on Velocity's blog.

Indigenous Speaker Series continues this week with Dr. Talena Atfield

A message from the Faculty of Arts.

This Thursday the Indigenous Speakers Series proudly presents Dr. Talena Atfield, member of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River, and a professor of History here at Waterloo.

Focusing on her work with Hodinohso:ni basket weavers, she will speak about Western notions of the origins of Indigenous artistic practices versus the importance of arts and creation within the community. Dr. Atfield will be joined for an on-stage kitchen-table conversation with Indigenous research colleagues, Sara Anderson (Office of Research) and Savannah Sloat (Faculty of Science).

As part of the event opening, the Mohawk Thanksgiving will be offered by Elder William Woodworth, PhD, (Elder Bill), the Faculty of Engineering’s Elder in Residence.

Before joining Waterloo as a faculty member, Dr. Atfield was curator of eastern ethnology at the Canadian Museum of History. Her research engages with tangible and intangible Indigenous knowledges held in museums, galleries, and community centres, with a special focus on Hodinohso:ni material culture. She is an advisory board member of The Longhouse Labs research-creation lab here at Waterloo.

The Indigenous Speaker Series is organized by Indigenous and settler faculty, staff, and students from the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre (WISC), the Dean of Arts Office, the Office of Indigenous Relations, the Office of Research, and the departments of History and Communication Arts. The series is co-sponsored by WISC and the Faculty of Arts with the support of donors to the Arts Indigenous Initiatives fund.

Join us Thursday, December 1 at 3:00 p.m. in Theatre of the Arts, ML. No registration required. Attend in person (please wear a mask) or via livestream on MS Teams. Details.

Reni Moose is coming in for a landing on November 30 for some coffee

A message from Renison University College.

As you may know, Renison University College has recently partnered with Guelph's Lost Aviator Coffee to create a unique Renison coffee blend! $6 from the sale of each bag will go to support Renison student scholarships. 

To launch our new coffee, you are invited to a special tasting event on November 30 at Renison. At this drop-in event we will have coffee samples and baked goods - it's a great chance to connect with us and try the new blend. 

Date: November 30, 2022
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Location: Renison Great Hall (cafeteria)

To go with the coffee, we have 2 limited edition Renison mugs available for purchase as well. These 14oz ceramic mugs are both created using original paintings, one featuring a flying moose painted by John Huggins, and the other is a painting of pansies created by our very own President (and artist) Wendy Fletcher. 

President's Pledge

For a limited time, Renison President Wendy Fletcher (pictured right) will donate an additional $10 to student awards and scholarships for every bag of coffee and every mug purchased. That means if you purchase both a bag of coffee and a mug, $26 will go to benefit students at Renison.

Engineering celebrates the legacy of Sue Gooding today

A message from the Faculty of Engineering.

The Faculty of Engineering invites everyone to join a celebration of the life and legacy of longtime staff member Sue Gooding at a special event this afternoon.

The celebration will include a commemorative plaque unveiling in Engineering 5, with a light reception to follow. The event will be hosted by Dean Mary Wells and will take place from 3:30 – 5 p.m. All are welcome.

Gooding, who passed away in July 2021, began her four-decade career at Waterloo as a parking attendant before working her way up to become an invaluable member of the Faculty of Engineering’s administrative leadership team.

In 2005, Gooding became Operations Manager and subsequently Manager, Facilities and Space, both roles in which she oversaw the design and construction of engineering’s newest buildings (Engineering 5, 6 and 7). She also managed ongoing renovations of older buildings and research spaces.

The result of her hard work and dedication is a set of first-class buildings that are the envy of engineering faculties across Canada.

Dr. Adel Sedra, distinguished professor emeritus and former dean of engineering, says that her impact on the Faculty of Engineering extended far beyond her role in space and facilities as she often gave her time to support other faculty functions like human resources, events and student-run projects and initiatives.

“Sue’s gift was that she was the ultimate problem-solver,” says Sedra, who worked with Gooding for close to nine years. “If she didn’t have the answer to your question, she would make it her mission to find it for you before the end of the day.

“She was a wonderful colleague and a trusted friend, and I miss her very much.”

Campus rally for Iran on Wednesday and other notable notes

The University of Waterloo will join academic institutions around the world for a demonstration on Wednesday, November 30 in support of the people of Iran.

The Campus Rally for Iran will begin at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday in the Arts Quad outside the Dana Porter Library. The international event is being organized by Iranian Scholars for Liberty and local partners. There will be the singing of hymns of the 1401 revolution (1401 being the current year rendered in the Persian calendar), remarks from speakers, and a public vigil as participants walk through campus before returning to the Arts Quad to conclude the event. The event should conclude at 6:00 p.m.

Transformative Quantum Technologies (TQT) has announced that the deadline for Round 11 of the Quantum Quest Seed Fund (QQSF) has been extended. Applications will now close at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December 12. 

"This fund is intended to develop new ideas and applications for quantum devices," says a reminder from TQT. "This opportunity is open to all tenured and tenure-track faculty at the University of Waterloo. Proposals are encouraged that articulate the use of quantum properties in existing systems including superposition, tunnelling, entanglement in applications, and the development of new systems that display quantum properties."