Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Waterloo supports front line of COVID-19 pandemic

One of two van loads of personal protective equipment supplies delivered to a regional distribution hub on Friday, March 27.

by Natalie Quinlan. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo Stories.

In the wake of COVID-19, Canada is calling on communities to fight a global pandemic.

At home, the University of Waterloo is offering the skills, time and resources to help against the spread of the coronavirus.

“I want to acknowledge and thank our researchers, students, staff and alumni who are stepping in to respond to the urgent needs facing the Waterloo region,” says Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. “This is a time we can all work together with health-care practitioners, governments, public health officials and industry to slow the spread of coronavirus and support front line health-care workers.”

On Friday, University staff in Central Stores delivered two van loads of personal protective equipment (PPE) to a regional distribution hub so that it could be sent on to those most in need. Days earlier, researchers from faculties and institutes had dropped off gloves, face masks, lab coats, cartridges for respirators and sanitizers from their labs.

Departments stepping up to produce PPE equipment

Meanwhile, 3D printing labs across campus are producing medical equipment like face shield parts and devices that are in short supply for local hospitals. Up to 50 engineered polymeric headbands and bottom reinforcements are being developed in the Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing (MSAM) Laboratory. Waterloo’s Print and Retail Solutions are also shifting priorities, 3D-printing parts that will contribute to medical shields for hospitals in Waterloo region and continuing production seven days a week, 24-hours a day.

Read the full article on Waterloo Stories.

Spring Convocation to be a virtual celebration

The University of Waterloo's 120^th Convocation will look different this June as the University has announced that in-person ceremonies will not be taking place.

"As the University of Waterloo responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, the well-being of our students, their families and our campus community is our top priority," wrote President Feridun Hamdullahpur in a memo circulated to the University community on Monday. "The decision to not host in-person convocation ceremonies was a very difficult one to make. Each spring, we see many of faculty, staff and students volunteer — bringing our whole community together to celebrate our students’ academic achievements."

Diplomas to be distributed by mail

"For our students, convocation is the culmination of years of hard work, passion, and commitment. We will confer degrees in June so our students can start on the next steps of their career journey," the president writes. "Students will be sent their diploma in the mail. We are asking students to update their home address in Quest by June 1, 2020."

Virtual Convocation ceremony

"We are working to give students the best experience possible as they graduate from Waterloo this spring," the president writes. "In June, we plan to conduct a “virtual” convocation. We will share these details with our graduating students and Waterloo community once confirmed."

"We know that students and their families may wish to celebrate this milestone in person. Students will have the option to attend a ceremony in person at another time. While we know that this may not be an option for some students, we want to make sure that option is available so students that are able may come back to campus and celebrate their accomplishments." 

"Although we hope to be able to welcome our new alumni to Waterloo in the fall, we do not know exactly when this will be during this period of great uncertainty," the president continues. "We will share more information with them by July 1, 2020." 

"The past two weeks have shown how resilient and understanding our community is in the face of unprecedented times that are impacting each of us," President Hamdullahpur's memo concludes. "Thank you to everyone for working together to ensure the best academic experience for our students."

Up-to-date information is available on the University's Convocation website.

#RethinkPharmacists: Managing province-wide projects

Each March Pharmacist Awareness Month (PAM) celebrates the contributions that pharmacists make to our health care system. This month, the School of Pharmacy is showcasing how our alumni go beyond dispensing pills and play a pivotal role in the health of Canadians with #RethinkPharmacists content.

Please note: several inacurracies within this piece have since been corrected. The Daily Bulletin apologies for the errors.

Nikki Domanski is a 2017 pharmacy grad and is already hard at work educating Canada’s next generation of pharmacists. She’s a clinical pharmacist and lecturer at the University of British Columbia and works at the university’s Pharmacists Clinic as a preceptor for students on rotation there.

Her team will also be involved in a major project supported by BC's Ministry of Health, aimed at hiring and training fifty new primary care pharmacists to work in physician offices across the province. Pharmacists offer services like vaccinations, in-depth medication reviews, and testing for various conditions, and by partnering them with existing family physician teams, the project aims to enhance health and foster strong collaboration between clinicians.

Nikki’s work experiences in hospitals have given her first-hand insight into the benefits of effective teamwork between pharmacists, physicians and other health care providers. 

“Some patients presented to the hospital with leg pain and ended up leaving with a life-changing diagnosis such as cancer. Navigating through difficult conversations filled with lots of emotion and anxiety was challenging, but also very rewarding,” she says. “I loved the opportunity to work closely with a wide range of clinicians, and being able to establish relationships with my patients through ongoing follow-up.”

Read more about Nikki’s career path.

Even more Good Buddies of the University

The pet photos keep on coming. Here are even more of your furry friends:

"Here's Mason, looking weird in front of a partially redacted screen and also looking normal in front of a very contrasty screen," writes Mike Patterson, manager, information security operations. "Mason will often supervise me from his catbed that I've set up on a spare chair, but he also likes to sometimes get closer to point out mistakes and demand compensation in the form of pats. If you video conference with me, there's a good chance he'll come up and either try to tell everybody else what mistakes they've been making, or turn around and show them parts of himself they'd probably rather not see."

"My students are already quite familiar with my new 'teaching assistant', Schroedinger," writes D.A. Hadfield, a lecturer in English Language and Literature. "I normally have 3 or 4 different device keyboards connected on my desk at any given time now, and he clearly believes my motivation for that is only to provide him with a more challenging keyboard parkour route. I shamelessly blame all typos and most other hasty teaching gaffes on him. I hope everyone is staying healthy at an appropriate social distance!"

"This is Vally," writes Rebecca Cordick, student relations officer in Applied Health Sciences. "She is super cute but tends to hinder my work by yelling at me to play whenever I'm on a video call."

"Attached is Mojo, he’s my 10 year old cat who thinks cuddling with me will definitely help me have more fun working from home," writes Carmen Jaray, department administrator in Central Stores. "And he’s right! I have a cat and a dog, they each want to help me do my work now its Tehya's turn to help me with my work...No shortage of furry love here!"

Remember, you can send in photos of your canine co-workers, feline fellow travellers, avian allies, and so on to bulletin@uwaterloo.ca.