Thursday, December 12, 2024

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• Promote your department with custom branded items

• Building an iconic movie car for the fun of it

• Nominate an instructor or a course author for an Online Teaching Award

Promote your department with custom branded items

A message from Print + Retail Solutions.

Looking to boost your department’s visibility or celebrate your team? W Store and W Print make it easy to create custom-branded products tailored to your needs. With quick, reliable, and hassle-free service, our team is here to guide you through the process from start to finish.

Offering personalized support for your orders, our experts are dedicated to helping you find the perfect fit for your department. Whether you’re interested in innovative promotional products or customized items for your department, we’re here to assist.

Explore a variety of customizable items that have been popular this year:

• Soft Shell Jackets: Starting at $65.00 for 12+ (3-4 weeks)
• Sublimated Lanyards: $3.60 each for 250-499 units (2-3 weeks)
• Basic 1-Colour Screen Print T-Shirts: Starting at $7.70 each (3-4 weeks)
• Branded Pens: Starting at $1.10 each for 300+ (2-3 weeks)
• Quarter-Zip Sweaters: Starting at $40.00 each (4-6 weeks)

W Print offers a range of professional printing services with quick turnaround times for all your needs. Custom sizes and finishing are available upon request.

• Business Cards:  Starting at $19.99 for 50 (minimum)  1-2 days
• Brochures/Booklets/Magazines:  Starting at $8.66 for 1  1-3 days
• Notepads:  Starting at $39.47 for 25 pads of 50 sheets (minimum)  3-4days
• Banners/Banner Stand Hardware:  Starting at $290.00 for 1  3-4 days
• Wide-Format Posters:  Starting at $6.00/Sq. ft. for 1  1-2 days
• Flyers:  Starting at $4.03 for 12 (minimum)  2-3 days
• Postcards:  Starting at $4.24 for 12 (minimum)  2-3 days
• Nametags:  Starting at $3.53 for 6 (minimum)  2-3 days

From retirement gifts and event giveaways to bulk orders and office essentials, we handle it all. Our experts ensure the process is seamless, working with trusted vendors to provide competitive pricing and fast turnarounds. By working with us, you avoid the hassle of coordinating with external suppliers.

As a bonus, we offer exclusive perks for internal accounts. All purchases from P+RS made by internal account number are tax-free and in-stock UWaterloo-branded items charged to an internal account at W Store (SCH or MC locations) are eligible for a 15 per cent discount! Some exclusions apply. Plus, on-campus shipping is free and there are no hidden fees. Not only can you feel confident that our experts will ensure your satisfaction, but know that you are benefitting the entire University! On average, more than 35 per cent of the revenue P+RS generates remains right here on campus in some form.

If you’re planning to order custom items before the term ends, now is the time to get started! Not sure where to begin? Reach out to us at wstore@uwaterloo.ca or wprint@uwaterloo.ca, and we’ll connect you with the right expert to bring your ideas to life.

Make W Store and W Print your go-to destination for all your custom branding needs!

Building an iconic movie car for the fun of it

Ben James, Rishi Kothari, Shivam Sharma, Santiago Del Solar, Hudhayfa Nazoordeen and Emmanuel Nera with the iconic "Grumobile." Photo credit: Anson Yu.

By Jack Weatherston and Charlotte Danby. This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

University of Waterloo student Anson Yu loves a design challenge, particularly one that she can work on with friends. Looking for an extracurricular project that was exciting yet achievable, Yu hit upon the idea of recreating a fun vehicle from pop culture. But which one?  

Yu teamed up with her Systems Design Engineering classmates Rishi Kothari, Shivam Sharma, and Chloe Nguyen, and Hudhayfa Nazoordeen from the Faculty of Mathematics and Emannuel Nera and Santiago Del Solar from Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, to brainstorm some ideas. They also enlisted support from their good friend Ben James, an engineer from the University of Cambridge visiting from the U.K. They had a lot of great ideas but there was one that charmed them all — building the legendary Grumobile from Despicable Me. 

The team used the Faculty of Engineering’s Sedra Student Design Centre, a cutting-edge facility dedicated to student teams and their creative projects, as their workshop. “The real MVPs (most valuable players) were the staff in the machine shop”, Yu says. “They were so patient showing us how everything worked.”  

To raise the stakes, they set a tight timeline of just four days to complete the challenge. Yu recalls a friend coming by, looking at their pile of metal and sticks and wheels, and asking them if they were going to be able to do it. 

With the clock ticking, the team learned new skills on the fly, including welding and how to use a lathe, a machine tool that produces precise parts. As their Grumobile started taking shape, other students noticed and often stopped to lend a hand, contributing additional expertise and encouragement.  

“We hit some road bumps,” Yu says. “But overall, we were having lots of fun, and I think others just wanted to be part of that too."

The team’s Grumobile hit Waterloo’s main campus streets on schedule.

The electric vehicle was an instant hit, surprising and delighting everyone who saw it — even Dr. Mary Wells, dean of the Faculty of Engineering, who took it for a spin. 

“These kinds of projects are invaluable, highlighting the importance of creativity in engineering education,” Wells says. “When students collaborate on bold and unconventional ideas, they push the boundaries of what’s possible and create lasting memories that inspire the entire campus community.” 

Yu and Nguyen, both Loran Scholarship recipients, along with others from the team, are part of Socratica, an organization founded at Waterloo, that provides participants with the space and network to create together. Its collaborative events focus on empowering people to design, play, build, to turn their ideas into reality. The organization’s framework and toolbox have resonated far beyond Waterloo, leading to its rapid expansion across Canada and internationally.  

Rooted in the Socratica ethos, Grumobile represents much more than a fun side project –– it embodies the creative and collaborative energy that thrives on campus. Student-led initiatives like this showcase how skills from different disciplines can unite to bring imaginative ideas to life. 

“We’re big proponents of prank culture and doing whimsical things that make people do a double take”, Yu says “When we were testing and driving the Grumobile around, it was like wearing a force field that made people smile.” 

Nominate an instructor or a course author for an Online Teaching Award

A message from the Centre for Extended Learning.

Please help us recognize the great work Waterloo’s instructors are doing in the digital classroom.

The Office of the Associate Vice-President, Academic and the Centre for Extended Learning would like your help to identify these remarkable people by nominating an instructor or an online course author.

Online Course Design Award

Students, teaching assistants, instructors, chairs, directors and deans are encouraged to submit nominations for the Online Course Design Award for courses that are well organized, contribute to students learning and are highly engaging.

Online Teaching Award

Were you a student in a fully online course this term? If you had an exceptional experience in your course and your instructor helped you succeed, stay motivated and encouraged participation, consider nominating them for the Online Teaching Award.

The University of Waterloo’s Online Teaching Awards recognize teaching and course design excellence in fully online undergraduate or graduate-level courses.

Nominations for this year’s awards, which include the Fall 2024, Winter 2025 and Spring 2025 academic terms, must be received by August 31, 2025.