Thursday, December 15, 2022

Yes, we're open today

The University of Waterloo's campuses are open today and exams are going ahead as scheduled. However, please use caution if travelling outdoors as the freezing rain continues to fall.

The University will continue to monitor weather conditions and provide updates as necessary via social media and on the Weather Statement page.

The Safety Office has a Slips Trips and Falls program intended to reduce the number of fall-related injuries on campus. They note that inappropriate winter footwear, inattention to ground conditions and not using maintained pathways are factors within your control to reduce your risk.

"Please plan ahead and ensure you have proper winter footwear and enough time to reach your destination safely based on the weather and surface conditions," says a note from the Safety Office. "Always use maintained roads and pathways and if you encounter unsafe walking conditions, immediately report them to Plant Operations by calling ext. 43793 (24 hours a day)."

The green/yellow salt or sand bins that are placed throughout campus during the winter months should be used to improve traction on slippery areas.

Stay safe out there, folks.

President, provost provide update on masking

A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor and James W.E. Rush, Vice-President, Academic & Provost.

In November, we asked you to return to wearing masks for any indoor activity that is part of academic course delivery. Returning to masking in indoor instructional settings was necessary to try to limit the potential for disruption to the exam season.
 
We’re both very grateful for the community’s response to this requirement. The exam season has so far avoided significant disruptions. Please continue to wear masks for instructional activities and exams to help keep this season’s respiratory illnesses at bay.
 
We’re continuing to monitor public health data trends and the University remains in touch with local public health leaders. COVID-19, influenza and other respiratory illnesses continue to circulate in our community. These diseases continue to put the most vulnerable people in society at risk of illness and death. The effects of these diseases are also putting the province’s healthcare system under strain.
 
The data indicate that we might have passed the peak of some illnesses such as RSV, but there is still uncertainty about the outlook for COVID and the flu in the coming weeks. For this reason, we will plan to continue to monitor data sources and let you know if we will change our approach to masking for the winter term before classes start on January 9.

Get vaccinated to protect yourself and others

Over the break, many of us will be meeting with friends and family in social settings. This is a great time to make sure that you are protecting yourself and the people around you from the worst effects of COVID and the flu by getting up to date with immunizations. COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are widely available in the community, as well as at Campus Wellness.
 
The end of the year can be a stressful time. If you need any help coping, please know there is help available for you. Please reach out to one of the many resources for mental health on the Campus Wellness website.
 
As always, information about COVID-19 and our health and safety measures are available on the COVID-19 information website.

Improving medication adherence with tech innovation

By Milana Madzarac. This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

Medication non-adherence is a concern globally, and often occurs unknowingly or by mistake. Dr. Tejal Patel, clinical associate professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy, is trying to improve medication management and assist older adults when taking their medication at home by correctly matching them with new innovative technologies.

Dr. Patel has received funding for her project from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Canadian Institute for Health Research-Institute of Aging (CIHR-IA) totaling more than half a million dollars.   

Dr. Patel’s project is entitled Match making: Empowering older adults to age in place through matching automated medication adherence technology to ability. It focuses on how the cognitive, visual, auditory, physical, motivational and environmental barriers that older adults face impacts the use of medication adherence technology to assist with medicine taking. Her study also aims to enable health-care professionals to recommend the correct products for each patient and for clinicians to monitor medication taking at home. 

“My goal is to improve medication taking capabilities for patients at home by matching their abilities to appropriate medication technologies,” Dr. Patel says.

The mismanagement of medication taking can result when a patient is paired with the incorrect technology. Patients who are hard of hearing if paired with voice activated technologies may miss the verbal reminder to take their medication and should instead be matched with visual assisted technology.

However, patients with dementia and memory impairment might under or overtake their prescriptions if paired with an inappropriate technology due to cognitive barriers. Pairing their medication routine with the appropriate smart adherence technology may be the preferred solution because it alerts their caretaker when the medication is not taken properly.  However, how to pair product to capability is not known.

Currently there are many medication adherence devices on the market, but physicians, pharmacists, nurses and caregivers need to know which one is best for each individual patient. This grant will help Dr. Patel develop a decision-making guide for older adults, health-care professionals and their care-partners to fit each patient with the best technology suited to their needs, ultimately improving medication adherence, health outcomes and enabling older adults to stay home longer.

“If we equip patients with the tools to take their medications at home safely and properly, they won’t have to be admitted to long term care homes for safe medication use,” Dr. Patel says. “When they take their medications properly the risk of medication errors and side effects decreases, thereby improving their overall quality of life. This will have a direct positive impact on our health system.”

The joint NRC Aging in Place program and CIHR-IA funding call awarded three projects and the School of Pharmacy received one for Dr. Patel’s project. This project includes a team of collaborators: Dr. Ryan Griffin, P. Eng, National Research Council of Canada, Dr. Catherine Burns, BASc, MASc, PhD, University of Waterloo Engineering, Dr. Feng Chang, PharmD, University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy, Dr. Sara Guilcher, MSc, PhD, University of Toronto Faculty of Pharmacy, and Dr. Linda Lee, MD, CFFM FHT.

Alumni pitching robot a big hit with pro baseball teams

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Engineering news site.

A sophisticated pitching robot developed by two alumni of Waterloo Engineering is generating plenty of interest in the world of professional baseball.

Joshua Pope is a co-founder and CEO of Trajekt Sports.

Joshua Pope and Rowan Ferrabee launched Trajekt Sports in 2019, the same year they graduated with degrees in biomedical engineering and mechatronics engineering, respectively.

This month, their advanced pitching machine, the Trajekt Arc, created a buzz at the MLB (Major League Baseball) Winter Meetings in San Diego for its ability to replicate the pitches of every big-league pitcher so batters can prepare to face them in real games.

“We’ve fired a 120-mph fastball,” Ferrabee said of the machine’s abilities. “We’ve fired pitches that have so much speed and backspin, they rise.”

Based in Toronto, the company bills its device as the only commercially available pitching machine capable of replicating human pitchers.

Its technology combines robotics, artificial intelligence and 3D video to accurately replicate the spin axis, seam orientation, spin rate, velocity and shape of an actual pitcher’s pitches, giving batters the ability to practice in advance of facing them.

Trajekt Sports announced in the September that the Chicago Cubs had leased three of its state-of-the-art pitching machines and up to 12 MLB teams are expected use them next season after their recent exposure at the winter meetings.

Headline photo from Trajekt Sports.

Writing and Communication Centre update on graduate programs for winter

A message from the Writing and Communication Centre.

The Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) is pleased to announce that we will be offering many different programs and services to graduate students once the winter 2023 term begins.

Dissertation Boot Camp (DBC)

The DBC program is centred around providing students with the skills they need in order to excel in writing their thesis/dissertation. This means that throughout this program you’ll learn the best practices for how to set effective goals, how to write strategically, and how to present your work to your intended audience.

The application period will open on January 3rd, 2023 and end on January 18th, 2023. The program itself will run from February 21, 2023 to February 24, 2023.

Dissertation Boot Camp | Writing and Communication Centre (uwaterloo.ca)

Speak Like a Scholar (SLaS)

SLaS will be offered asynchronously this term and is aimed at providing you with what you need in order to speak with authority and knowledge about your research area. In addition to this, you’ll also learn how to respond to questions and engage in scholarly debate about research topics. 

SLaS lasts for 6 weeks in total. It will start on January 30, 2023 and end on March 10, 2023. Meetings are held once per week, and will typically occur on Wednesday afternoons. Applications for SLaS will open on January 3rd, 2022 and end on January 17th, 2023.

Speak Like a Scholar | Writing and Communication Centre (uwaterloo.ca)

Rock Your Thesis (RYT)

RYT is a workshop series that guides graduate students through the first phases of planning and writing a thesis or dissertation. The series covers topics such as planning and project management, structuring your thesis or dissertation, writing a literature review, using strategies for finding and recording research sources, and revision.

Registration for this series will begin on January 3, 2023.

RYT 1: January 27, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

RYT 2: February 17, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. 

RYT 3: March 30, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Rock your Thesis: Get ready to write | Writing and Communication Centre (uwaterloo.ca)

Grad Writing Cafés

To help you stay connected and motivated, the WCC offers these writing café sessions each week where graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty can write together, support each other, and get support from the WCC.

Come join us online on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and in-person on Wednesdays in room 3216 at the SLC building from 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm. These meetings will begin on January 3rd, 2023 and run throughout the winter 2023 term up until April 28th, 2023.

Writing Cafés | Writing and Communication Centre (uwaterloo.ca)

Thursday's notes

Plant Operations is reporting that the bus stop on the Ring Road by the University Club will reopen for operation on Monday, December 19. The bus shelter will be reinstalled on December 28 or 29.

With exams in full swing, the Library is offering extended hours for those students looking for a quiet place to study or a space for group study sessions. Check out the extended hours on the Library's website at https://libcal.uwaterloo.ca/hours/.

There is a Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Information Session scheduled for today from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. on Zoom. Registration is required.

Registration is open for the Map the System 2023 Competition. Students can register for a chance to win up to $2,000 and compete at the virtual Canadian Final, and the Global Final at Oxford University. Explore, probe, and research a complex social and environmental issue. The application deadline is January 31, 2023. For any questions, email mapthesystem@uwaterloo.ca or visit the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement's Map the System website. 

Map the System is a competition run by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.