Monday, July 10, 2023

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• Waterloo students win national evaluation case competition
• International microrobotics community gathers to celebrate 20 years of groundbreaking research
• Save the date for upcoming community forums; other notes

Waterloo students win national evaluation case competition

The winning team, Summit Consulting.

A message from the Faculty of Health.

Congratulations to the two finalist teams from the School of Public Health Sciences who were awarded free travel and registration to the Canadian Evaluation Society national conference, where they competed in the final round of the competition. One of them, Summit Consulting, won the national competition.

Made up of grad students Jiselle Bakker, Amanda Demmer, Sarah Sousa, McKenna Szczepanowski and Thepikaa Varatharajan, Summit won first place and is eligible to compete in the World Evaluation Case Competition in the fall. Summit Consulting’s presentation style and understanding of the complexity of the case put them ahead of their competitors.

The other team, Encompass Solutions, was made up of Tasha Lake, Karolina Kaminska, Maria Ramirez Prieto, Laura Peach and Ying Zhu. Both teams were coached by Professors Kelly Skinner and Jennifer Yessis in the School of Public Health Sciences.

“Kelly Skinner and I are exceptionally proud of both of the SPHS UW Case Competition Team finalist teams,” said Dr. Yessis. “They both represented Waterloo in ways that made us proud. Bringing home the top prize was icing on the cake!”

International microrobotics community gathers to celebrate 20 years of groundbreaking research

The Southern Ontario Medical MicroRobotics Symposium (SOMMeRS) will bring together researchers and scientists at the University of Waterloo tomorrow. This symposium marks a significant milestone, celebrating more than two decades of medical microrobotics research.

Medical microrobotics is a multidisciplinary field where small robots, often less than one millimetre in size, are used for diagnosing, monitoring and treating health conditions. The emerging field has great potential to transform medical interventions for non-invasive surgery and highly targeted drug delivery. 

The symposium will showcase cutting-edge research from leading experts. Topics of the featured talks include opportunities for cancer treatment, advances in power generation, and innovations in fabrication using biomaterials and soft robotics.  

SOMMeRS is organized Dr. Veronika Magdanz and Dr. Hamed Shahsavan, both from the Faculty of Engineering at Waterloo. The symposium runs from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in Engineering 7. Registration is closed.

Save the date for upcoming community forums; other notes

Following the recent hate-motivated attack related to gender expression and gender identity on the main campus, President Vivek Goel and Vice-President, Academic & Provost Jim Rush are hosting two community forums to hear University community members’ concerns and address questions about how to make campus safer and more inclusive, promote well-being, and move forward together. 

The forums will be held on Monday, July 17 in the Theatre of the Arts in Modern Languages, with an employee forum running from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., and a student forum from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Both events will be livestreamed.

Registration information will be sent to the University community today via email, so watch your inboxes for more info.

Friends and colleagues of Bernie Rutter are invited to join in celebrating his retirement at the Grad House tomorrow from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The drop-in event celebrates Bernie, who has worked as IT Specialist in Mapping, Analysis and Design in the Faculty of Environment for the past 18 years. 

The Office of Indigenous Relations is hosting its You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know Part 1 and 2 virtual workshop series beginning this week.

"This is a two-part virtual workshop that journeys through First Nations, Inuit, and Métis relations with settlers," says the event's background material. "As the title indicates, you don't know what you don't know so everyone is welcome. You will be introduced to the concept of Miskasowin (wholistic self-evaluation) that will define content, context, and relationship promoting further action, accountability, and responsibilities as a treaty person in this land now known as Canada." Part 1 takes place on Thursday, July 13 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., with Part 2 scheduled for Wednesday, July 26 from 1:00 p.m. Part 1 is a prerequisite for Part 2, so register for both sessions separately on GoSignMeUp. There are limited spaces available, so sign up today.