Wednesday, September 20, 2023

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• First Nations Principles of OCAP seminar coming up in October
• Calling all alumni: Join us for Black & Gold Fest
• A defining moment
• Faculty of Math wants you to get a Clue
• Postdoc e-newsletter available to keep you in the loop
• IST celebrates career of Reg Leland; Peace and Conflict Studies lecture; other notes

First Nations Principles of OCAP seminar coming up in October

A message from the Office of The Vice President, Research and International. 

The Inclusive Research Team in the Office of the VPRI is hosting a virtual presentation on the First Nations Principles of OCAP®, facilitated by Leslie MacGregor from the First Nations Information Governance Centre.

The presentation will take place on Tuesday, October 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Please note it will not be recorded, but there will be future opportunities to participate in similar sessions. To learn more and register, please visit the registration page.

The First Nations principles of OCAP® establish how First Nations’ data and information will be collected, protected, used, or shared. Standing for ownership, control, access and possession, OCAP® is a tool to support strong information governance on the path to First Nations data sovereignty. Given the diversity within and across Nations, the principles will be expressed and asserted in line with a Nation’s respective world view, traditional knowledge, and protocols. For more information, please visit the FNIGC website.

This session will be of interest to researchers and teams partnering with Indigenous communities, or those who are interested in learning more about Indigenous Data Sovereignty. Please feel free to share widely across your networks - everyone is welcome to attend!

For more information or questions, please reach out to Indigenous.Research@uwaterloo.ca. 

Calling all alumni: Join us for Black & Gold Fest

A message from the Office of Advancement.

Grab your Waterloo gear and dust off your feathered hat! This fall, we're celebrating the Waterloo alumni community with a week of events that feature an Oktoberfest flair. Black & Gold Fest includes a lineup of international and on-campus events — from beer hall socials to traditional campus events, like the VIP tent at the Warriors Football game.

Events run from Saturday, September 23 to Saturday, September 30.

A defining moment

Dean of Engineering Mary Wells and fourth-year Electrical Engineering student Duke Gand.

By Angie Docking. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.

Engineering is a profession long steeped in tradition, with the symbolism of hard hats and Iron Rings held in high esteem.

This September, the Faculty of Engineering is introducing a new tradition – the Waterloo Engineering pin - to symbolize students’ commitment to their studies and to each other.

First-year students will receive pins designed by fourth-year mechatronics student Gordon Fountain during their first few weeks of classes in exchange for their pledge to uphold the highest ethical standards of learning, conduct and professionalism.

The commitment pledge features four fundamental principles – community, responsibility, innovation and excellence. With their signature, each student will commit to reflect these values in everyday campus interactions and to make a positive difference.  

The Waterloo Engineering pin design.

Key to its development were student leaders Duke Gand (fourth-year electrical engineering), Dylan Ellingson (third-year mechatronics engineering), and Dean Mary Wells.

In the following Q&A, Gand, Ellingson and Dean Wells discuss the importance of this new tradition.

Read the Q&A on Waterloo News

Faculty of Math wants you to get a Clue

A Key Clue, that is.

"Geese have taken over Dana Porter, we need your help!" says a note from the Faculty of Math. "Can your team be the first to solve the puzzles and find the item hidden on campus that is necessary to save the students taken hostage inside the library? Join us for this year's Key Clues challenge, open to all staff, students, postdocs, faculty, and alumni of the university.

The competition begins on September 27 and the final puzzles will be released on September 30. Teams are to be between 3 and 6 puzzle solvers strong, and registration will be opening imminently!

Watch this space for more information.

There will be a Key Clues Kick-Off event held on Thursday, September 21, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the DC 1301 fishbowl.

Postdoc e-newsletter available to keep you in the loop

This message is published as part of National Postdoc Appreciation Week. 

Are you a postdoc? If so, there is an electronic newsletter (e-news) publication just for you! 

The Postdoc e-news offered by Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs is a great place to access information on postdoc specific or applicable resources, events, and information. Staff and faculty who work with postdocs are also welcome to subscribe to stay informed and encourage postdocs to attend relevant events. 

Learn more about how to subscribe or submit a post on the GSPA Postdoc e-news webpage. 

IST celebrates career of Reg Leland; Peace and Conflict Studies lecture; other notes

"Please join in me in congratulating Reg Leland on his upcoming retirement," writes Theepiga Sritharan, Manager, Service Desks in Information Systems & Technology. "Reg’s retirement date is October 1, 2023, and his last of day of work was September 15, 2023."

"Reg has been a staff member at the University of Waterloo for 41 years," Sritharan's message continues. "After obtaining his honours Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree from the Faculty of Environment, he started working for the Department of Computing Services in July of 1982. In his role, he started out in the I/O (Input Output room) and progressed through the ranks from Junior to Senior Computer Operator in the main computer room (the Red Room). After the Red Room was decommissioned in 1999, Reg transitioned to the newly-opened CHIP desk (Computer Help and Information Place) where he provided computer support to faculty, staff, and students. During this time, Reg became part of the Mac Support team and started to teach his infamous Excel courses. He then became the IST rep for the Registrar’s Office, the Secretariat, Audio Visual (ITMS), Communications and Public Affairs (now University Relations), Central Stores, and the UW Theatre. He transitioned to supporting various Faculties and academic support units: Faculty of Environment (2006-2013), Faculty of Science (2013-2014), CECA (2014- 2015) and Campus Housing (2015-2019). He then joined as Computing Consultant with the Service Desk in 2019."

"Reg has been an invaluable member of the Service Desk team, leaving a lasting impact both within IST and across the entire campus," Sritharan writes. "Throughout his years of dedicated service, he has not only excelled in his role but also actively contributed to the campus community."

"On behalf of everyone in IST, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Reg. His presence will be dearly missed, but we know that his retirement marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in his life. We wish him all the best in retirement!"

(On a personal note, when I joined Communications and Public Affairs in 2007, it was one of the few Mac computing environments on campus, and Reg was an invaluable resource when it came to getting me set up with my very first MacBook. That was about three or four MacBooks ago now. Thanks for the (tech) support, Reg!)

On Thursday, September 21, the Peace and Conflict Studies department will be hosting a public talk as part of their annual Thursday Talk lecture series. The talk will be held in the Grebel Gallery from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. and will feature Cesar Jaramillo, Executive Director at Project Ploughshares, who will give a talk entitled From the Cuban Missile Crisis to Today: Nuclear Weapons 60 Years On.

"Focused on cutting-edge research in peace and conflict studies, this event will present an opportunity for students to engage with the diverse voices shaping peace and conflict studies today," says a note from PACS.

"In the 1960s, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the spectre of nuclear war close to North American shores, the number of states testing nuclear weapons increased, and at the same time there was rising international pressure to ban nuclear testing and a nuclear non-proliferation agreement was signed," says the talk's abstract. "Where are we at with nuclear weapons and non-proliferation 60 years on? Cesar Jaramillo, Executive Director at Project Ploughshares, will engage these important questions. Cesar’s research areas include nuclear disarmament, the protection of civilians in armed conflict, emerging military technologies and conventional weapons controls."

Participants will also have a chance to view the current Grebel Gallery exhibit Trinity, Then and Now by Mary Kavanagh.

For more details and to confirm attendance, visit the official event page.

As a reminder, the Instructional Programs and Practices team, as part of the broader Accessible Education project,are seeking faculty members to join and support this important work. Expressions of interest are due Friday, September 22 at 5:00 p.m.

The University of Waterloo Knowledge Mobilization Community of Practice will be hosting an online meeting onThursday, September 28 from  2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on MS Teams. "This session will focus on the Trust in Research Undertaken in Science and Technology Scholarly Network (TRuST) and implications for knowledge mobilization," says a note from meeting organizers. "All Waterloo staff and faculty members who engage in knowledge mobilization in their roles are welcome to join the Community of Practice. Contact Nadine Quehl at nquehl@uwaterloo.ca to request a Teams invitation for this session. You will be asked if you'd like to join the Knowledge Mobilization CoP mailing list as well to get information about future sessions.

Employers hosting Employer Information Sessions this week include EY, BDO, CCL, Rippling, Verkada, Wawanesa, Hatch, Kiewit, Foresters, Cisco and BCI. Make sure to register through WaterlooWorks and check the calendar for any updates.

Here's today's Consent Awareness Week Tip of the Day:

When we think about consent, we often think about sexual consent, however, if we use consent in our everyday interactions, sexual consent will come more naturally.

Tip: Before touching someone in any way (e.g. a hug, picking a fuzzy off their shirt, pushing their wheelchair) ask for consent (e.g. It looks like you may want a hug? You have a fuzzy on your shirt, would you like me to pick it off? Would you like me to push?)