Friday, January 20, 2023

Representing your authentic self in digital spaces

By Jon Parsons. This article was originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Waterloo Magazine.

Among the great liberating qualities of the digital world is that it allows many people to express themselves, free from the constraints of the physical world. 

For David Kennedy (BMath ’02), vice-president and co-founder of the digital avatar company Bitmoji, the ways people represent themselves and identify online should be about empowerment and breaking free of constraints.  

“The genesis of the idea for Bitmoji is that we wanted to fill a gap in digital communication,” Kennedy said. “That gap is you. The people that you send messages to are the most important people in your life. What Bitmoji does is it actually puts you into those messages. It makes you feel closer to the people you are communicating with.”  

Now with more than one billion avatars created, Bitmoji is used across a variety of platforms and is part of the company Snap, the popular social media and camera company. Bitmoji allows users to personalize every aspect of their avatar, and of their online identity, including hair, outfits and skin tone. The avatar can be used in many digital spaces and a new feature even brings the avatars into 3D spaces and augmented reality. 

Representation matters

“Our core values are grounded in inclusivity and diversity,” Kennedy said. “Representation matters. Being seen matters. That’s something we have to honour for our users. One of the amazing things about Bitmoji is how passionate our users are and how much feedback we get from them. We want people to be able to fully represent themselves, so when we launch these new avatar traits and accessibility devices, it’s clear to see the impact it has on people.”  

These same values are embedded in Snap’s annual corporate social responsibility reports, which they aptly call their CitizenSnap Report.  

 “Another aspect of Bitmoji, and something that not a lot of people know, is that it was founded in Canada and remains primarily located in Canada,” Kennedy continued. “We have our main Bitmoji offices in Toronto and maintain close connections with Waterloo.”  

The company regularly takes on interns and co-op students from the University of Waterloo. Kennedy completed a degree in the Faculty of Mathematics, with a specialization in computer science. He also completed a minor in philosophy and was particularly interested in cognitive science.  

“The thing that stands out for me about Waterloo and the impact it had on me was that it taught me resilience,” Kennedy said. “Many courses pushed me outside my comfort zone and helped me build new skills. It’s the same with a startup — you need to be willing to struggle and you need to be persistent.”  

After 15 years in the business and with Bitmoji having recently crossed the milestone of having more than one billion Bitmoji avatars created, Kennedy is anything but complacent.  

“The physical world has so many constraints on people. Our goal is to make sure we don’t recreate those constraints in the digital world, and that inspires our work every day.”  

Using machine learning to predict brain tumour progression

This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have created a computational model to predict the growth of deadly brain tumours more accurately.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a brain cancer with an average survival rate of only one year. It is difficult to treat due to its extremely dense core, rapid growth, and location in the brain. Estimating these tumours’ diffusivity and proliferation rate is useful for clinicians, but that information is hard to predict for an individual patient quickly and accurately.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto have partnered with St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto to analyze MRI data from multiple GBM sufferers. They’re using machine learning to fully analyze a patient’s tumour, to better predict cancer progression.

Researchers analyzed two sets of MRIs from each of five anonymous patients suffering from GBM. The patients underwent extensive MRIs, waited several months, and then received a second set of MRIs. Because these patients, for undisclosed reasons, chose not to receive any treatment or intervention during this time, their MRIs provided the scientists with a unique opportunity to understand how GBM grows when left unchecked.

The researchers used a deep learning model to turn the MRI data into patient-specific parameter estimates that inform a predictive model for GBM growth. This technique was applied to patients’ and synthetic tumours, for which the true characteristics were known, enabling them to validate the model.

“We would have loved to do this analysis on a huge data set,” said Cameron Meaney, a PhD candidate in Applied Mathematics and the study’s lead researcher. “Based on the nature of the illness, however, that’s very challenging because there isn’t a long life expectancy, and people tend to start treatment. That’s why the opportunity to compare five untreated tumours was so rare – and valuable.”

Now that the scientists have a good model of how GBM grows untreated, their next step is to expand the model to include the effect of treatment on the tumours. Then the data set would increase from a handful of MRIs to thousands.

Meaney emphasizes that access to MRI data – and partnership between mathematicians and clinicians – can have huge impacts on patients going forward.

“The integration of quantitative analysis into healthcare is the future,” Meaney said.

The study, Deep Learning Characterization of Brain Tumours With Diffusion Weighted Imaging, co-authored by Meaney, Sunit Das, Errol Colak, and Mohammad Kohandel, appears in the Journal of Theoretical Biology.

SEE Canada 2022/23 grant recipients named

Spencer Small, Edita Gatchene, Leanne Racicot, and Nadeem Lawji.

The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer is please to announce that five members of the University of Waterloo staff have been chosen to receive the Staff Enhancement Experience (SEE) Canada grant for 2022/23. The SEE Canada Grant provides an opportunity for regular full-time University staff members to further their professional development through idea-exchange and learning alongside counterparts at other Canadian universities, colleges, research institutions or industry-partner organizations.

“It is wonderful to have the SEE Canada Grant return after the two-year hiatus and provide this wonderful development opportunity for staff to learn from partners across Canada to enrich our community as a whole,” says Michelle Hollis, interim Chief Human Resources Officer.   

The SEE Canada Selection Committee has chosen the following recipients for 2022:

• Edita Gatchene, International Student Programs Specialist, International Student Experience, Student Success Office;
• Nadeem Lawji, Resource Sharing Supervisor, ILL Lending Coordinator, Dana Porter library;
• Leanne Racicot, Laboratory Instructor, Chemistry;
• Alannah Robinson, Learning & Development Specialist   Organizational and Human Development; and 
• Spencer Small, Counsellor, Counselling Services, Campus Wellness.     

The recipients will be travelling over the winter term as part of their professional development experience.

University shares update on Policy 30

The revised Policy 30: Employment of Graduate Student Teaching Assistants has received provostial approval and was made effective in December 2022, according to a memo sent by Jeff Casello, Associate Vice-President, Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs to graduate students earlier this week.

"As shared with the University of Waterloo Senate on January 16, 2023, the Policy was jointly drafted over several years by a very collegial and productive committee comprised of many graduate students and various university administrators," says Dr. Casello's memo. "The Policy was greatly improved through multiple consultations with student groups, most notably the Graduate Student Association – University of Waterloo (GSA-UW), as well as our Faculties and academic support units."

"Overall, you will note that the Policy is predicated on the creation of collegial and respectful relationships between Instructors, Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), and the administrators responsible for overseeing TA appointments. The Policy also acknowledges the concurrent roles of GTAs who, while TAing are supporting the University’s educational mission, continue to pursue their own academics."

 Highlights of the updated Policy include the following:

• The Policy defines key roles, including the TA Administrator, who will be responsible for TA appointments and for being a point of contact to support graduate students;
• The Policy establishes expectations of the University, the TA Administrator, the Instructor, and the GTA that further emphasize the collegial goals of successful, collaborative course delivery;
• The Policy requires transparency in the processes by which TA appointments are made known to students and through which TAs are selected;
• The Policy also requires an agreement (See Appendix C) to be created collectively by the GTA and the Instructor that outlines core responsibilities and estimated time allocations;
• The Policy clarifies how training necessary to serve as a GTA will be supported;
• The Policy specifies pathways, informal and formal, to resolve disagreements between GTAs and Instructors. The Policy also ensures that a GTA continues to receive their financial support while disputes are being resolved; and
• The Policy requires an end-of-term evaluation of the TA that will be provided to the TA Administrator and can inform subsequent TA appointments.

"For the full policy document, including appendices, I encourage you to visit the Secretariat’s website: Policy 30: Employment of Graduate student Teaching Assistants (TA)," Casello's memo continues. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank the drafting committee members, which included staff, graduate students, and faculty members. I am pleased that through our collective efforts, we were able to create a policy that benefits graduate students and the University alike, and that supports the delivery of the University’s academic mission while acknowledging the diversity of responsibilities that our graduate students hold while serving as a TA. The Policy is in effect now; all Faculties will be working with their staff, faculty, and students to have a transparent rollout of the GTA appointment process in full effect by fall 2023."

"As always, I welcome your input – feel free to email me: gspa-avp@uwaterloo.ca," Casello concludes. "Thank you for your support."

Last chance to submit a proposal for UW Teaching and Learning Conference; other notes

The deadline to submit a proposal for the University of Waterloo’s Annual Teaching and Learning Conference, taking place Thursday, May 4, 2023, is Wednesday, January 25. The 2023 conference theme is “Teaching and Learning with Kindness and Care”. We invite you to submit proposals for presentations, panel discussions, workshops, poster presentations, and a teaching and learning showcase. "New this year, we also invite proposals submissions for pre-conference workshops which will be held online prior to the conference on Wednesday, May 3, 2023," says a note from the conference organizers.

For more information check out the Call for Proposals website.

Waterloo International is calling on interested faculty and staff members to apply for an opportunity to participate in an Erasmus+ Teaching/Training Mobility experience at the Charles III University of Madrid. This opportunity involves a 5-day experience for one staff or faculty member to be taken before July 31, 2023. The deadline to apply is February 3, 2023.

On Sunday, January 22, people on the Waterloo campus and around the world will be celebrating the Year of the Rabbit on the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. The lunar new year, which is also known as “Chinese New Year” or “Spring Festival” depending where you are and who you're with, features traditional observances that take place over 15 days of celebration, ending with the Lantern Festival on Sunday, February 5.

Celebrations on campus include an event at Renison University College today at 11:00 a.m. in the college atrium involving food and fun, and an event at DC Bytes featuring lion dancers at 12 noon on Wednesday, January 25.

The Rabbit is the fourth in the twelve-year Chinese Zodiac cycle, and in traditional Chinese astrology is closely connected to the Moon. It should be noted that Vietnam is celebrating the Year of the Cat.

Locally, the Lunar New Year is among the holidays that Waterloo's city council has included in its fireworks bylaw, alongside Canada Day, Victoria Day, and Diwali. Observers are permitted to set off fireworks one day before and after the holiday, with a time limit of 11:00 p.m.

And so, on behalf of the Daily Bulletin: Xīn nián kuài lè (Mandarin for “happy new year”) and Gong hei fat choy (Cantonese for “wishing you great happiness and prosperity”).