Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Problem of the Week achieves 50,000 subscriber milestone

A message from the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC).

The Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC), housed in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo begins 2023 with a milestone achievement. Problem of the Week, CEMC’s global initiative providing problem resources at five different levels to educators every week has crossed a subscriber base of 50,000. Launched by the CEMC in 2011, Problem of the Week aims to equip educators with math resources to help inspire students towards a greater interest in math in class every week.

Problem of the Week, as the name suggests, is a digital resource consisting of one mathematical problem shared with subscribers every week. These problems are meant for students from Grade 3 to Grade 12 and are organized into themes, grouping them into various areas of the curriculum, carefully created by experts at the CEMC. Educators utilize these resources to present students with a variety of mathematical opportunities, improving their ability to solve problems of different topics in a non-sequential manner. Additionally, these problems and their solutions are posted on the CEMC’s website and are available publicly for non-subscribers as well. There has been an average growth of more than 20 per cent annually in the number of unique subscribers. The subscriber base primarily consists of educators from across Canada and internationally.

“With over 1,600 problems posted since 2011, Problem of the Week aims to create an interest and enjoyment in math classrooms. Through our vast subscriber base of educators spread worldwide, Problem of the Week reaches about 1.4 million individuals on a weekly basis introducing them to the University of Waterloo via the CEMC. As we celebrate a milestone of 50,000 subscribers, the CEMC is committed to continue our effort to provide educators and learners with resources, challenges and opportunities to increase confidence, enjoyment and ability in mathematics and computer science,” said Ian VanderBurgh, Director, CEMC commenting on this accomplishment.

Read the rest of the article on the CEMC website

March Break tours, Open House this week

A message from Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment.

You might notice some excited future students and their families around campus this week. We're thrilled to have almost 800 guests registered to tour campus, faculties, and University Colleges during our March Break week tours running March 13 to 17.

Wrapping up the week is our March Break Open House on Saturday, March 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Main campus will be busy with more than 8,000 guests expected. From information sessions and sample lectures to faculty, residence, and University College tours, future students will have plenty of opportunities to discover their story at Waterloo. Open house activities are also planned at the School of Architecture, Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, and the School of Pharmacy.

If you know a university-bound student, invite them to register.

No matter how you slice it, it's Pi Day

Every March 14, the University of Waterloo joins in global Pi Day celebrations, and this year is no exception.

Pi Day marks one of life's constants: the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. This year marks the 35^th anniversary of Pi Day celebrations, as the day was established in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw.

The Faculty of Mathematics has put together this helpful Pi Day explainer for your reading pleasure.

The Mathematics Society (MathSoc) will be celebrating the occasion at 1:59 p.m. today, and as per tradition all math students, faculty, and staff are invited to partake in a slice of free pie, which will be handed out on the third floor of MC by the Math Coffee & Donut Shop.

As part of the traditional festivities, there will be a Pi Recitation Contest beginning at, when else, 3:14 p.m., held in the MC Comfy Lounge. Math students (or social members of MathSoc) may win prizes for reciting the most consecutive digits of pi. The top 3 Prizes are respectively $314, $159, and $26. A Pi-themed kahoot will follow where smaller prizes may be up for grabs for the top 3. 

The Faculty of Mathematics and Alumni Relations are encouraging Waterloo math alumni to get in on the fun worldwide this Pi Day. Follow along on social media with #PiDay2023. "Share your favourite UWaterloo Math memory with mathalumni@uwaterloo.ca or on one of our social media channels using #PiDay2023, and we will send you a special Pi Day gift!"

Math alumni have an opportunity to be one of the first five people in Waterloo, Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, or New York to identify themselves as a Waterloo Math alumni at a list of pie shops to receive a free pie.

Boosting clean energy adoption

By Rose Simone. This article is part of the Global Futures series.

Keith Cleland (MASc ‘22) 
Student, Faculty of Engineering
> Founder, Aqua-Cell Energy
> Velocity

As someone born and raised in Calgary, Keith Cleland initially thought he would end up working in the oil industry. “Being from Alberta, that seemed like the natural thing to do,” he says.

However Cleland decided to follow a different path and work for a sustainable future instead. “I really want to be contributing to sustainability, cleaning the world up and transitioning the world away from fossil fuels.”

He switched his undergraduate minor to energy and environmental engineering and later began researching a battery that would use a cheap and available resource — saltwater— to store renewable energy. Cleland continued developing his technology as part of his master’s in chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo where he met Ellsworth Bell (MASc ‘21), a classmate working in the same lab. Together, they founded Aqua-Cell Energy Inc. with plans to commercialize a saltwater battery. 

The company recently accepted a coveted residence through Venture Ready at Waterloo’s Velocity, which helps the founders of early-stage companies get the expertise and connections they need to make their businesses a success. Aqua-Cell Energy has also won several pitch competitions including the Concept $5K through Velocity in 2020, the GreenHouse Social Impact Fund in 2021 and the $15K Problem Pitch in 2022.

Although solar technology has dramatically come down in price over the years, Cleland explains that lithium batteries are expensive to store a lot of excess energy. This costly energy storage is a barrier to clean energy adoption. If excess solar energy on sunny days could be stored and used to lower energy costs in the evening when electricity is most expensive, or on cloudy days, renewable energy would become much more cost-effective, attractive and widespread.

Cleland hopes to make that happen with Aqua-Cell Energy’s technology.

Although the idea has been around for some time, previous technology to do this was not that efficient. So when Cleland realized excess renewable energy could be stored in a saltwater battery, he set out to make the process commercially viable. He proposed the project to professor Anne Benneker at the University of Calgary and professor Jeff Gostick, his master’s supervisor at Waterloo. Cleland says both have been meaningful mentors for the project.

In Gostick's lab at Waterloo, Cleland developed a prototype for a much more efficient energy storage battery. He has tested the prototype and proven that it works well in the lab. It uses salt that is cheap and can be mixed with water in tanks.

In 2020, Aqua-Cell Energy has been working with Velocity student supports when they applied to the Problem Lab’s Problem Pitch. This is a competition that invites teams to thoroughly research an important industry problem and pitch findings to a panel of judges for funding to support their venture. They were successful in winning the pitch in winter 2022 after being a finalist in spring 2021. Through Velocity Cornerstone, Aqua-Cell Energy was able to identify their customers and target market. 

Now, with the help of Velocity, Aqua-Cell Energy is moving forward with a pilot project and is seeking grants to help them scale. “We are in the phase of scaling up the technology to store a lot more energy. We know it works in the lab but now we need to scale it up and build confidence in the technology.”

Cleland aims to sell Aqua-Cell Energy’s batteries to renewable energy developers and industrial facilities who utilize solar energy such as having solar panels on their roofs, or businesses that operate fleets of electric vehicles and want to use more of the solar power they generate on site.

Although Aqua-Cell Energy will initially focus on the solar energy storage market, Cleland says the battery could be used to store wind energy or clean, low cost hydroelectricity from the grid overnight as well.

Eventually, if the battery can be developed for use on an even larger scale, hydro companies might be interested. Right now, the operators of electricity grids have a problem known as curtailment. This happens when there is more clean energy being produced than can be safely stored, which means the energy has to practically be given away to neighbouring jurisdictions at prices far below what it costs to produce it. Better energy storage would save them a considerable amount of money.

Cleland says working with Velocity will be a huge boost for Aqua-Cell Energy. “We need to grow our team and develop relationships with potential customers. Velocity is providing a space we can work out of and will be helping us as we get in touch with people who face this problem of expensive energy storage. The mentorship will be incredibly helpful,” he says.

Cleland is passionate about contributing to a cleaner environment.

“I believe we have the power to reduce fossil fuel emissions and be a catalyst for improving solar energy adoption. Expensive energy storage is a huge problem right now, but if we can bring those costs down and boost solar adoption, then we have a possibility to change the world.”

EPOCH: Annual Senior Undergraduate Exhibition opens March 16

"It is with great pleasure that the Department of Fine Arts invites you to the opening reception of Epoch, the 49^th annual senior undergraduate exhibition," says an announcement from Fine Arts. "The exhibition reflects both the creativity of the students and the diversity of practices that they have been exposed to in the studio program."

"Having made it past the difficult and isolating circumstances of these past few years, they are collectively anticipating what lies ahead," says the event invitation. "Perhaps this is why “epoch” is so fitting a title for this exhibition. Our students share the following thoughts: 

“The University of Waterloo’s Fine Arts class of 2023 stands at the edge of an epoch: the ending of a distinct period in our lives and the beginning of a new one. Epoch is a reflection of what has brought us here, a celebration of what we have accomplished, and an introspection of what is to come. This epoch is coloured by excitement, trepidation, and curiosity.”

The exhibition will feature artworks from Amy Bee, Renee Christensen, Leah Creelman, Lyn Michelle Cruz, Victoria Edghill, Leah Friesen, Emilia Haag, Ashley Harper, Riley Hexamer, Yu Ji, Rachel Jung, Sophie Kleist, Britney Nguyen, Jazlin Nicholas, Theris Olazo, Victoria Ross, Nour Salem, Haochen Shen, Lanbin Wen, Jasmine Woo, and Yue Zha.

The 49^th Annual Senior Undergraduate Exhibition will run from March 16 to April 1.

The opening reception takes place on Thursday, March 16 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with opening remarks at 6:00 p.m. in the University of Waterloo Art Gallery in Room 1239 of East Campus Hall.

"Please join us for this celebration of undergraduate creativity and achievement," the announcement from Fine Arts concludes.