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Empowering future innovators: Waterloo students lead massive web migration project
By Krista Henry. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on the Hire Waterloo website.
To build and migrate more than 1,000 websites to a new content-management system, the University of Waterloo relies on an interdisciplinary team of talented co-op students.
Waterloo’s website development and migration project is one of the University’s most complex technical projects. The project, which started in 2021, will see the University’s website move from Waterloo Content Management System (WCMS) 2 to an upgraded version called WCMS 3.
“This is a complex rewrite of the WCMS which is not one update, but will see every site migrated and remediated individually,” says Charlotte Armstrong, computing consultant (WCMS team) and WCMS 3 migration co-ordinator.
“It’s quite a big project and co-op students have been essential. We wouldn’t be able to migrate and remediate these sites without them.”
The project entails a new build of the content management software called Drupal. The new website will offer improved user functionality, more creative information architecture options that improve visitor experience, increased responsiveness on mobile devices and added security.
Since spring 2021, the WCMS team has hired 46 co-op students as content migration specialists. Six students have returned for a second term and three returned for three terms.
Returning students join the team as senior content migration specialists. With the support of these co-op students, the WCMS team have migrated more than 500 websites.
"We’re now accelerating and doing larger sites," says Armstrong. "We’re fixing migration issues, encountering new ones and manually correcting aspects as we go along. Our students are curious, easygoing and understand that tech projects like this are challenging work."
The WCMS team consists of the web development as well as the training and support team. As content migration specialists, students participate in the site migration process. The experience is helping them to become experts in migrating components and remediating migration issues in the upgrade.
Student roles include assisting with site pre-migration preparation and testing and updating training documents and websites. They also test and document the WCMS 3 migration updates and issues to ensure others know what to do if they face the same problem. Co-op students also assist with WCMS 3 training, including leading remediation training sessions.
Read the rest of the article on the Hire Waterloo website.
2023 Renison Reports magazine is out now
A message from Renison University College.
The 2023 edition of Renison Reports has just been published! This edition includes stories from across Renison University College over the past year, plus a special feature focused on our Master of Social Work program, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Renison Reports is produced and sent to all Renison University College alumni, staff, faculty and friends each year. It provides news to Renison alumni about other alumni, Renison, its students, faculty, and staff.
Renison's Office of External Relations and Internal Communications determines story line-ups, sources copy and photography, edits, and manages the design and printing of Renison Reports. To ensure that Renison Reports meets the needs of its audience, alumni contributions to Renison Reports are welcome and encouraged.
Read the 2023 Renison Reports Magazine
Daily drips in the data deluge
The Games Institute is hosting a panel discussion entitled Physiological Measures for Games and VR: Novel Tools and Approaches today. "This hybrid panel covers the exploration of biometrics (or physiological measures) in game user research, driven by advancements in sensing technologies and the increased accessibility of signal processing tools," says the event's background information. "While the application of complex biometric modalities outside of controlled laboratory settings remains limited, analyzing player frustration, learning, and flow during playtesting sessions has become more common, providing valuable insights that complement other game user experience methodologies."
Panelists include Dr. Ifigeneia Mavridou, the Research Consultancy Manager and Lead Affect Engineer in XR at Emteq Labs and Dr. John E. Muñoz, a game designer and interface technologist specialized in the use of physiological signals to optimize the user experience in interactive systems. John is currently the Chief Science Officer at J&F Alliance Group and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo carrying out research in the fields of physiological computing, assistive technology, human-robot interaction, and virtual reality.
The panel discussion takes place from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in EC1 1323 and online.
Interested in learning how to get certified to teach the English language? Tomorrow, Renison University College is hosting an ACE-TESOL program information session. "The ACE-TESOL certificate at Renison University College is your way to get TESL Canada certified and gain the basic tools, strategies, skills, and knowledge to be successful as an English language teacher," says a note from Renison.
The information session is scheduled for Thursday, August 10, at 12:30 p.m. via Zoom.
UW Food Services will be holding its Recruitment Fair on Saturday, August 12 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Federation Hall. "Bring your resume, option to be interviewed on the spot!" says a note from Food Services. "Casual part time and full time positions available. No experience necessary!"
If you're less interested in sandwiches and more interested in stargazing on Saturday, the Faculty of Science has got you covered with a Perseids Sky-Watching Party and Astronomy Lecture featuring Dr. Roan Haggar from the Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics entitled "Meet the cosmic neighbours: planets, comets, and aliens?" in OPT 347 at 7:30 p.m.
"The Solar System is home to a huge range of celestial objects: eight planets, hundreds of moons, and countless other smaller bodies," says the lecture's background material. "As far as we know, life only exists on one of these -- the Earth. But is this really the case? And if so, why? We will talk about what life needs to survive on Earth, whether life could survive anywhere else in our Solar System, and what our chances are of finding it."
Following the lecture, there will be a stargazing party at Columbia Fields beginning at approximately 8:30 p.m. Keep your fingers crossed for clear weather! Register in advance for updates.