Thursday, December 4, 2025

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• $10.5 million gift empowers the future of systems design engineering

• New tool helps researchers find the right solution for their data management needs
• Shaw-Mannell Research Award lecture takes on poo and zombies
• Take the Mic

$10.5 million gift empowers the future of systems design engineering

By Charlotte Danby. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.

University of Waterloo alumni and longtime supporters David J. Cornfield (BASc ’85, LLD ’24) and Linda Archer Cornfield (LLD ’24) recently announced their transformational investment of $10.5 million to the Faculty of Engineering’s Department of Systems Design Engineering.

The gift accelerates the department’s ability to educate agile, ethical and impact-driven engineers by investing in people, learning spaces, research capacity and global experiences that connect design, sustainability and health. 

“We are deeply grateful to David and Linda Cornfield for their generous gift, which strengthens Waterloo’s Systems Design Engineering program and advances our university’s vision to educate innovative problem solvers for a complex world,” said Dr. Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor, highlighting the importance and impact of this philanthropic contribution. “Their support is enabling new classrooms designed for active, collaborative learning, a named chair to renew core design courses and expanded opportunities for students to engage globally. Together, these investments empower our community to lead in creating equitable and sustainable solutions for humanity and our planet.”

A visionary contribution with an immediate impact 

The gift is already making an impact with the establishment of the George Soulis Chair in Systems Design Engineering to advance the department’s founding vision — to educate engineers who can bridge systems thinking with design practice to create integrated, participatory and human-focused solutions to pressing global challenges.  

Dr. Katherine (Kate) Sellen, a leading design researcher working at the intersection of health innovation and human-centred systems, was appointed the inaugural George Soulis Chair in May 2025. Sellen leads the renewal of core design courses and student spaces to enrich students’ interdisciplinary learning experiences and better equip them for an increasingly complex world.   

Sellen has led the design of a new design classroom which opens in 2026. This expansion and modernization of existing spaces into larger, purpose-built classrooms will enable more active, collaborative and design-focused learning for students across the program. 

“It’s been a busy first few months working with colleagues on a new classroom design and supporting some new research and teaching initiatives,” Sellen says. “It’s a warm and creative team and a privilege to be working together.”   

The name of the new chair pays tribute to the legacy of the late professor George Soulis, one of the founders of systems design engineering at Waterloo. As a former student, David J. Cornfield credits Soulis’s drive for interdisciplinary innovation with shaping his own career, from working at Microsoft to becoming an award-winning documentary producer alongside his wife Linda.  

“As 1A systems design students, we were self-selected ad-hoc problem solvers, but Professor Soulis gave us a powerful vision that design and problem solving could be studied as a discipline, reinforced by his practical workshop courses,” David says. “He described a general methodology that applied to every kind of problem — from technical to artistic to socio-economic — and showed how, by attending to this methodology, you could avoid many of the pitfalls that befall complex innovative projects. That foundation has been essential to every aspect of my career, and I’m very happy to honour Professor Soulis and support Systems Design Engineering in maintaining and expanding his vision of a transdisciplinary, practical engineering education.” 

Giving students advanced learning spaces and experiences 

The Cornfields’ gift invests in the student experience in tangible ways that prioritize learning environments, from upgraded facilities on campus to real-world problem-solving opportunities in the field. 

Upgrades to biomedical engineering facilities are underway to enhance interdisciplinary research and graduate training. The new infrastructure will support teams advancing innovations in areas such as hearing loss diagnosis and treatment, and microrobotics for medical applications. The department is proud to name one of the spaces the David J. Cornfield Biomedical Engineering Lab.

David J. Cornfield and Linda Archer Cornfield outside the newly-named lab.

Read the rest of the story on Waterloo News.

New tool helps researchers find the right solution for their data management needs

A message from the Libraries.

The University of Waterloo has launched a Data Storage Selector Tool to help researchers identify the most suitable storage options for their projects. The tool provides guidance on a variety of storage solutions, including those offered across campus as well as externally, and allows users to filter by Faculty, risk level, data size, and other criteria to find the best match for their research needs. While the tool is self-serve, it also connects researchers with their faculty computing units, IST, or library services for additional guidance and support.  

Choosing the right storage solution is critical for research integrity, security, and compliance with Tri-Agency and institutional policies. The tool addresses common challenges such as large datasets, sensitive data handling, and how to reduce risk.  

While the tool was developed with researchers in mind, it is also broadly applicable for other staff and faculty who may be looking to understand the range of data storage options available to support their work. 

Access the tool now

For questions or feedback, contact LibraryRDM@uwaterloo.ca.    

Shaw-Mannell Research Award lecture takes on poo and zombies

In the absence of an image relating to either poo or zombies, here's a photo of Dr. Neil Carr with one of his dogs. 

A message from the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies.

The Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies is proud to present the Shaw-Mannell Leisure Research Award Lecture featuring 2025 recipient, Dr. Neil Carr.

The award recognizes international career contributions to the study of leisure, broadly defined, and influence on leisure scholarship at the University of Waterloo. The award is named in honour of retired faculty members Sue Shaw and Roger Mannell to recognize their outstanding individual career achievements. 

The talk is entitled "When Love and Hate Collide: Poo and Zombies in Leisure and Leisure Studies."

"Poo and zombies are loved and hated in society," says the talk's abstract. "We put manure on our gardens to help the plants of our leisure places grow while we ban human and dog poo from the public leisurescape. Our televised leisure is replete with zombies, the bad guys we love to see being killed. Leisure studies is also filled with research enslaved by zombie paradigms that dominate thinking and ways of being as researchers. The result is research outputs that smell of roses or resemble something that is a shade of brown and slightly squishy, depending on your perspective."

"This presentation provides a critical discussion of the position of poo and zombies in leisure and leisure studies. It questions whether they should be loved more or removed from the scene. The presentation examines how poo and zombies, and our views of them, enable and bar access to leisure and leisure studies. It questions what roles our view of both play in discrimination in leisure as phenomenon and field of inquiry. Should we embrace poo, or should we cast it into the fiery pits of hell? Should we give slavish devotion to zombie paradigms or slay them like a movie hero? If we remove the poo and kill the zombies and their paradigms what happens then?"

Neil Carr is a Professor at the University of Otago/Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, New Zealand/Aotearoa. Neil’s work is grounded in notions of power, welfare, wellbeing and rights. He has explored these within the contexts of children and families, animals and sex, utilising the lenses of leisure and tourism to do so. 

This lecture is offered in person. The lecture and award presentation will take place in Sun Life Auditorium in the Lyle S. Hallman Institute (LHS) room 1621, starting at 2:00 p.m. We will conclude with a short reception in the adjacent Fireplace Lounge with refreshments.

The Shaw-Mannell Lecture is funded by the Lyle S. Hallman Professorial Endowment.

Take the Mic

A message from the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism (EDI-R).

Hear your voice like never before.

The Office of Equity is opening our space with professional podcasting gear for free 30-minute sessions for students, staff, and faculty hands - perfect for anyone curious about recording but who may not have access to the gear or training.

Come solo, or in a pair; whatever feels comfortable. Your session is private, so you can experiment and play freely. Have a real conversation and hear yourself the way you deserve to be heard. You'll learn about the basics of podcasting gear, audio editing, and the software needed to get started, all while you're recording, playing with sound effects, and having fun hearing yourself as though you were on the radio, or listening to a podcast made by you.

Keep your recording, or not. Either way, you’ll leave knowing what it feels like to sound like you belong on the airwaves.

Book a time slot today!