Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca
Waterloo Magazine looks at Then and Now
The spring issue of Waterloo Magazine is now live, and the theme of the issue is Then and Now. This issue celebrates how the University of Waterloo’s legacy of learners, innovators and changemakers are leading a future of opportunity and impact.
"The origins of the University of Waterloo are genuinely inspiring," writes President and Vice-Chancellor Vivek Goel in his message that kicks off the issue. "An institution founded by its local community has grown over the past 65 years to become a globally recognized driver of innovation and impact. Together, our students, faculty, staff, alumni and community have driven Waterloo’s rich history and helped to shape its future. This issue will undoubtedly stir up nostalgia as you return to campus through photography and stories."
Waterloo Magazine is produced by a team of people from across the University – led by University Relations in collaboration with the Office of Advancement. The stories, illustrations and photography are a testament and celebration of the impact that Waterloo alumni, researchers, students and staff continue to have.
Content highlights
- Looking to our past to inspire our future- a message from President and Vice-chancellor Vivek Goel.
- Coming home - Alumnus and Professor Emeritus Ken McLaughlin (BA ’65) dives into Waterloo’s unique history and describes how the University helped shape his life.
- That band played here? - Alumni Betty Anne Keller (BA ’69) and Joe Recchia (BASc ’68, MASc ’71) share how the power of music did more than bring people together at UWaterloo. It transformed the social scene.
- There’s something in the Water(loo) - The success of global tech giants and Waterloo’s rich startup ecosystem fuels a collaborative spirit by attracting the best talent to a thriving community.
- Computing pioneer Wes Graham: Inspiring the impossible - The innovator, entrepreneur and “father of computing” who helped chart Waterloo’s path to the future.
If you like what you read in this issue, share the stories online using the hashtag #UWaterlooMagazine and tag @uwaterlooalumni.
Campus clean-up went beyond trash talk
A message from the Sustainability Office.
In honour of Earth Day (April 22), the Sustainability Office hosted their annual campus clean-up event last week. On Friday afternoon, more than 100 employees and students helped to pick up litter from “hotspots” around main campus, collecting over 80 bags of trash. Several groups also hosted smaller clean-ups throughout the month, including parts of the Health Sciences Campus in downtown Kitchener. Among the top litter culprits were bottle caps, wrappers, plastic lids and drink cups, reminding us that much of this litter can be reduced at the source with reusable alternatives.
The campus clean-up is also an important reminder of our shared responsibility to be good stewards of our environment and the collective impact we can achieve when we work together. A special shoutout goes to many departments in the Green Office program, including teams from the Centre for Career Action, Centre for Teaching Excellence, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dean of Environment Office, Finance, Geography and Environmental Management, Institutional Analysis & Planning, Information Systems & Technology, Library, Plant Operations (Campus Services), Recreation and Leisure Studies, Renison University College, Safety Office, School of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability, School of Pharmacy, and Student Success Office!
Stay tuned for several upcoming events to support biodiversity and nature on campus and at home, including a Seedling Swap on May 17and a tree planting event in late May.
New programmable smart fabric responds to temperature and electricity
A new smart material developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo is activated by both heat and electricity, making it the first ever to respond to two different stimuli.
The unique design paves the way for a wide variety of potential applications, including clothing that warms up while you walk from the car to the office in winter and vehicle bumpers that return to their original shape after a collision.
Inexpensively made with polymer nano-composite fibres from recycled plastic, the programmable fabric can change its colour and shape when stimuli are applied.
“As a wearable material alone, it has almost infinite potential in AI, robotics and virtual reality games and experiences,” said Dr. Milad Kamkar, a chemical engineering professor at Waterloo. “Imagine feeling warmth or a physical trigger eliciting a more in-depth adventure in the virtual world.”
The novel fabric design is a product of the happy union of soft and hard materials, featuring a combination of highly engineered polymer composites and stainless steel in a woven structure.
Researchers created a device similar to a traditional loom to weave the smart fabric. The resulting process is extremely versatile, enabling design freedom and macro-scale control of the fabric’s properties.
The fabric can also be activated by a lower voltage of electricity than previous systems, making it more energy-efficient and cost-effective. In addition, lower voltage allows integration into smaller, more portable devices, making it suitable for use in biomedical devices and environment sensors.
“The idea of these intelligent materials was first bred and born from biomimicry science,” said Kamkar, director of the Multi-scale Materials Design (MMD) Centre at Waterloo.
“Through the ability to sense and react to environmental stimuli such as temperature, this is proof of concept that our new material can interact with the environment to monitor ecosystems without damaging them.”
The next step for researchers is to improve the fabric’s shape-memory performance for applications in the field of robotics. The aim is to construct a robot that can effectively carry and transfer weight to complete tasks.
A paper on the research, Multi-Stimuli Dually-Responsive Intelligent Woven Structures with Local Programmability for Biomimetic Applications, appears in the journal Nano-Micro Small.
N Drive for several faculties heading to that big cloud storage facility in the sky
A message from Information Systems & Technology (IST)
Effective April 30, 2023, the IST-hosted individual user network drives and related profiles for employees ('fileu' and 'filep') and students ('files' and 'fileq') in the Faculties of Arts, Environment, Health, and Science will no longer be offered. Please note, Faculties of Math and Engineering host their own N: drives and are not included in this change.
Staff, students, and faculty in Arts, Environment, Health and Science need to:
- Migrate files you wish to keep from your N: drive to your OneDrive. Please follow the migration steps in the appropriate support article below.
- Update all relevant course notes that reference N: drives to point to an alternate, University-supported storage option (e.g., OneDrive).
Content must be migrated by April 30, 2023 to prevent data loss.
Additional Resources
Parking pass swaps and other exchanges
Looking to change your (parking) lot in life? Did you know that Parking Services offers employees with active parking passes an opportunity to switch parking lots with other employees who are looking to change lots? If you meet the eligibility criteria, you can put your information up on the parking pass swap site and hopefully connect with another employee looking to make a similar switch. It's like online dating, but not really. The successful transfer of parking permits must be done with Parking Services's approval, of course.
On Tuesday, May 16 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, the Extended Reality Community of Practice (XR CoP) will host an online session in which Lynn Long and Burcu Karabina will discuss their experience in Fall 2022 offering optional supplementary augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) learning activities via tutorials to second year multivariable calculus students. Feedback gathered indicated that both technologies enhanced student learning, that learning could be further enhanced by improving accessibility, and that complementary use of the two technologies merits further exploration. They will also discuss where they hope to go next. Note that the findings to be shared are relevant to all disciplines, not just STEM subjects.
Click here to join the meeting when it starts (no need to register in advance). All are welcome.
Link of the day
Harry Belafonte, King of Calypso, 1927-2023
When and Where
Fitness and Personal Training - Registrations opened January 5 this winter with Personal Training and Small Group Training as well as a Free Warrior Workout Program.
Waterloo Warriors Youth Camps. Spring and Summer camps available for Boys and Girls ages 5-18. Baseball, Basketball, Football, Volleyball, Hockey and Multi-Sport and Games. Register today.
Student Health Pharmacy in the basement of the Student Life Centre is now offering Covid booster shots (Pfizer and Moderna) and flu shots. Call 519-746-4500 or extension 33784 for an appointment. Walk-ins always welcome.
Final examination period,Thursday, April 13 to Friday, April 28.
Call for Expressions of Interest: Canada Biomedical Research Fund and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (CBRF-BRIF), due Thursday, April 27. Learn more about the process.
Share how you experience the UWaterloo campus in the Inclusive Physical Space Framework survey for a chance to win a $50.00 on a WatCard. Survey closes midnight on Friday, April 28. Please note the deadline extension.
Ethnicity and Ethnic Constructs in the Long History of the Ancient Mediterranean and Black Sea, Wednesday, April 27 and Thursday, April 27, German Reading Room (ML 245).
Geopolitical turmoil and its implications for the technology landscape, Wednesday, April 26, 12 noon, online.
Pathways to Addressing (with Care) Disclosures of Racism | Students, Wednesday, April 26, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
W3+ Meet and Greet + Trivia Lunch, "Why should grad students join Waterloo Womxn + Nonbinary Wednesdays?" Wednesday, April 26, 12 noon, Graduate House.
NEW - Understanding Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy, Thursday, April, 27, 2:00 p.m., virtual (Zoom).
When and Where to get support
Students can visit the Student Success Office online for supports including academic development, international student resources, immigration consulting, leadership development, exchange and study abroad, and opportunities to get involved.
Instructors looking for targeted support for developing online components for blended learning courses, transitioning remote to fully online courses, revising current online courses, and more please visit Agile Development | Centre for Extended Learning | University of Waterloo (uwaterloo.ca).
Faculty, staff, post-doc and graduate student instructors can find upcoming teaching and learning workshops, self-directed modules and recordings of previous events on Centre for Teaching Excellence Workshops and Events page.
Instructors can access the EdTech Hub to find support on Waterloo’s centrally supported EdTech tools. The Hub is supported by members of IST’s Instructional Technologies and Media Services, Centre for Teaching Excellence, Centre for Extended Learning and subject matter experts from other campus areas.
Supports are available for employees returning to campus. Visit IST’s Hybrid Work and Technology guidelines and workplace protocols to assist with the transition.
Students with permanent, temporary and suspected disabilities and disabling conditions (medical conditions, injuries, or trauma from discrimination, violence, or oppression) can register with AccessAbility Services for academic accommodations (classroom accommodations, testing accommodations, milestone accommodations).
Instructors can visit AccessAbility Services' Faculty and Staff web page for information about the Instructor/Faculty role in the accommodation process. Instructors/Faculty members are legally required to accommodate students with disabilities. AccessAbility Services (AAS) is here to help you understand your obligations, and to offer services and resources to help you facilitate accommodations.
Did you know that the Writing and Communication Centre offers many in-person and virtual services to support you with any writing or communication project? This term we've added The Write Spot: a new student space in South Campus hall, complete with bookable workspaces, drop-ins with our peer tutors, and free coffee and tea. We also have one-to-one appointments with our writing and communication advisors and peer tutors, email tutoring for grads and undergrads, drop-ins at Dana Porter Library, online workshops, writing groups, English conversation practice, and even custom in-class workshops. For any communication project, the Writing and Communication Centre is here to support you.
Research Ethics: Find yourself with an ethical question, unsure if your work requires an ethics review, or need advice about putting together a research ethics application? Reach out to one of our friendly staff by booking a consultation or email us with your questions.
Co-op students can get help finding a job and find supports to successfully work remotely, develop new skills, access wellness and career information, and contact a co-op or career advisor.
The Centre for Career Action (CCA) has services and programs to support undergrads, grad students, postdocs, alumni, and employees in figuring out what they value, what they’re good at, and how to access meaningful work, co-op, volunteer, or graduate/professional school opportunities. Questions about CCA's services? Live chat, call 519-888-4047, or stop by our front desk in the Tatham Centre 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.
Drop-in to in-person Warrior Study Halls on Thursdays from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in DC and DP. Join a Peer Success Coach to set goals and work independently or in groups each week.
Renison's English Language Institute continues to offer virtual events and workshops to help students practice their English language skills.
If you feel overwhelmed or anxious and need to talk to somebody, please contact the University’s Campus Wellness services, either Health Services or Counselling Services. You can also contact the University's Centre for Mental Health Research and Treatment. Good2Talk is a post-secondary student helpline available to all students.
The Library is here to help, both in person and online. Our spaces are open for access to book stacks, study spaces, computers/printers, and the IST Help Desk. For in-depth support, meet one-to-one with Librarians, Special Collections & Archives and Geospatial Centre staff. Visit the Library’s home page to access our online resources for anywhere, anytime learning and research.
The Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW) continues to advocate for its members. Check out the FAUW blog for more information.
The University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA) continues to advocate for its members. Check out the UWSA blog for more information.
The Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-racism (EDI-R) works with students, faculty and staff across campus to advance equity and anti-racism through evidence-based policies, practices and programs. If you have a concern related to anti-racism and/or equity, please complete our intake form.
The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) supports all members of the University of Waterloo campus community who have experienced, or been impacted, by sexual violence. This includes all students, staff, faculty and visitors on the main campus, the satellite campuses, and at the affiliated and federated Waterloo Institutes and Colleges. For support, email: svpro@uwaterloo.ca or visit the SVPRO website.
The Office of Indigenous Relations is a central hub that provides guidance, support, and resources to all Indigenous and non-Indigenous campus community members and oversees the University's Indigenization strategy.
The Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre, based at United College, provides support and resources for Indigenous students, and educational outreach programs for the broader community, including lectures, and events.
WUSA supports for students:
Peer support - MATES, Glow Centre, RAISE, Women’s Centre - Click on one of the links to book an appointment either in person or online for the term.
Food Support Service food hampers are currently available from the Turnkey Desk 24/7 in the Student Life Centre. Drop-off locations are also open again in SLC, DC, DP, SCH, and all residences.
Co-op Connection all available online.
Centre for Academic Policy Support - CAPS is here to assist Waterloo undergraduates throughout their experience in navigating academic policy in the instances of filing petitions, grievances and appeals. Please contact them at caps@wusa.ca.
WUSA Student Legal Protection Program - Seeking legal counsel can be intimidating, especially if it’s your first time facing a legal issue. The legal assistance helpline provides quick access to legal advice in any area of law, including criminal. Just call 1-833-202-4571.
Empower Me is a confidential mental health and wellness service that connects students with qualified counsellors 24/7. They can be reached at 1-833-628-5589.
GSA-UW supports for graduate students:
The Graduate Student Association (GSA-UW) supports students’ academic and social experience and promotes their well-being.
Advising and Support - The GSA advises graduate students experiencing challenges and can help with navigating university policies & filing a grievance, appeal, or petition.
Mental Health covered by the Health Plan - The GSA Health Plan now has an 80 per cent coverage rate (up to $800/year) for Mental Health Practitioners. Your plan includes coverage for psychologists, registered social workers, psychotherapists, and clinical counselors.
Dental Care - The GSA Dental Plan covers 60 to 70 per cent of your dental costs and by visiting dental professionals who are members of the Studentcare Networks, you can receive an additional 20 to 30 per cent coverage.
Student Legal Protection Program - Your GSA fees give you access to unlimited legal advice, accessible via a toll-free helpline: +1-833-202-4571. This advice covers topics including housing disputes, employment disputes, and disputes with an academic institution.
The Graduate House: Open Monday to Tuesday 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday to Friday 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. We’re open to all students, faculty, staff, and community members. The Graduate House is a community space run by the GSA-UW. We’re adding new items to the menu. Graduate students who paid their fees can get discounts and free coffee.
Positions available
On this week's list from the human resources department, viewable on the UWaterloo Talent Acquisition System (iCIMS):
- Job ID# 2023-10246 - Chief Stationary Engineer - Plant Operations, USG 13
- Job ID# 2023-10170 - Departmental Office Administrative Assistant – Chemistry, USG 5
- Job ID# 2023-10266 - Payments Associate - Finance - Payments & Expenses, USG 6
- Job ID# 2023-10243 - International Manager - CEE - International Strategic Initiatives, USG 13
Secondments/Internal temporary opportunities
- Job ID# 2023-10240 - Computing Consultant - IST, USG 9
- Job ID# 2023-10257 - Project Manager, Strategic Initiatives & Continuous Improvement - Campus Housing, USG 8
- Job ID# 2023-10263 - Educational Developer, Indigenous Knowledges - Centre for Teaching Excellence, USG 11
- Job ID# 2023-10235 - Technical Writer - Office of the Registrar, USG 7
- Job ID# 2023-10247 - Graduate Admission Coordinator - Course Based Programs - Electrical and Computer Engineering, USG 6
- Job ID# 2023-10267 - Co-op Student Experience Manager (Accessibility) - CEE - Co-operative Education, USG 10
Affiliated and Federated Institutions of Waterloo opportunities