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12 Waterloo researchers make Highly Cited Researchers 2023 list
This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.
Ten University of Waterloo faculty members have been named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers™ 2023 list from Clarivate.
In addition, one former postdoctoral researcher and a Waterloo alumnus also made the list.
Highly Cited Researchers™ are influential researchers at universities, research institutes and commercial organizations around the world who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research.
The evaluation and selection process draws on data from the Web of Science™ citation index, together with analysis performed by bibliometric experts and data scientists at the ISI at Clarivate™.
Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers™ are 1 in 1,000.
Zhongwei Chen
Dr. Zhongwei Chen is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, professor in advanced materials for clean energy at the University of Waterloo; Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, director of Waterloo Center for Electrochemical Energy, associate editor of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and vice-president of International Academy of Electrochemical Energy Science (IAOEES).
Geoffrey T. Fong
Dr. Fong is the founder and chief principal investigator of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (the ITC Project), which is the first-ever international cohort study of tobacco use. A central objective of the ITC Project is to evaluate the psychosocial and behavioural impact of key national level policies of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), thw world's first health treaty.
Michael Fowler
Dr. Fowler’s research focuses on electrochemical power sources in vehicles, specifically degradation analysis and control of batteries in hybrid and plug-in hybrid power trains. His interest takes him into the modelling of fuel cells and requires simulating the performance and reliability of fuel cells and batteries.
Sharon I. Kirkpatrick
Dr. Kirkpatrick is a Registered Dietitian with training in community and public health nutrition. Her research focuses on the intersections between nutrition, human and planetary health, equity, and policy, using a systems thinking lens.
Read the rest of the article on Waterloo News.
Teaching and Learning Conference issues call for proposals
A message from the Centre for Teaching Excellence.
Submit a proposal for the University of Waterloo’s Annual Teaching and Learning Conference, taking place May 2, 2024. Our 2024 conference theme is “Sparking and Sustaining Student Engagement”.
For our 15th annual University of Waterloo Teaching and Learning Conference, we will explore the notion of engagement and its myriad facets. Engagement is crucial for our students’ success and acts as a feedback loop: instructor engagement encourages student engagement, which in turn motivates faculty to continue to invest their energy into designing stimulating learningactivities. How can we ensure that our student-centered approaches to engagement are equitable to a variety of learners? Which assessment strategies can be implemented to further engage students with course materials? How can we leverage technology to stimulate engagement? How do programs create engaging curricula that offer sufficient choice and diverse experiences to sustain students’ engagement through their degree? How do we engage with local and global communities to bridge academia and real-world challenges?
We invite you to submit proposals for presentations, panel discussions, workshops, poster presentations, and a teaching andlearning showcase. New this year, we also invite proposals for pre-conference workshops which will be held online prior to the conference on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
For more information check out the Call for Proposals website.
Connecting with global partners
A message from Waterloo International in support of International Education Week. This article was originally published on Waterloo News.
Waterloo International is deeply invested in facilitating the growth of collaborative research projects between the University of Waterloo and the international community. The past couple of years have seen increased activity with our partners in Indonesia stemming from decades of connections and the country’s rising prominence in the world as a large and rapidly developing country.
The FINCAPES project is an excellent example of how research collaboration with international partners can lead to innovative solutions to global problems. To learn more about this faculty-led initiative by the Faculties of Environment and Mathematics with Indonesian institutions, go to: A three-pronged approach to helping Indonesia cope with climate change | Waterloo News | University of Waterloo (uwaterloo.ca)
Velocity Pitch Competition finalists announced
A message from Velocity.
The finalists for the Velocity Pitch Competition have been announced! Eight student teams will each have three minutes to pitch their business idea to a panel of expert judges to convince them of the potential and viability of their business idea for a chance to win one of four $5,000 grants.
Everyone is invited to watch the eight finalists pitch to a panel of industry professionals, and to a live audience of their peers and the community on November 30 at 12 noon to 2:30 p.m. at the Theatre of the Arts (Modern Languages Building.)
Lunch/light refreshments will be provided.
Visit the Velocity website to learn about the teams and to register
HR provides update on performance appraisals for 2023
Staff will continue to have two choices for performance appraisal documentation for the 2023 year, according to a Human Resources memo sent out to managers and their staff last week.
“Similar to last year, staff employees can choose to have their performance documented within one of two paper-based options for 2023,” says the memo from HR. These options are:
- The Staff Confidential Appraisal form; or
- The Staff Performance Summary form.
“Although we do not yet have an approved Staff Salary Recommendation effective May 1, 2024, we anticipate that it will include a merit program which uses the performance ratings as an input into the calculation of salary increases,” the memo continues. “To that end, performance ratings will need to be finalized and provided to Human Resources in early March 2024. To support this timeline, managers are encouraged to plan for the process at this time and schedule performance conversations with their Staff early in 2024.”
Human Resources highlights the availability of resources for managers and their direct reports.
“The annual appraisal provides an opportunity to formally document achievements, expectations, and identify areas where employees may need extra support or professional development,” the HR memo continues. “The content of this documentation should substantiate the performance rating assigned and provides central reference support for career advancement opportunities within Waterloo.”
If you have any questions, please contact your Human Resources Partner.
Participants needed for human-robot interaction study
Do you want to help us understand your cultural expectations of service robots? In this study, the researchers would like to ask your opinion about a service robot that welcomes you using cross-cultural greetings in different hospitality industry settings. The Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Lab is running a study entitled "Cross-Cultural Greetings by Social Robots in the Hospitality Industry" and is seeking participants.
Leading the study are Kerstin Dautenhahn, Principal Investigator, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Pourya Aliasghari, Collaborator, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Student Investigator Priyank Avijeet, MASc student, Electrical and Computer Engineering.
This study is part of Priyank Avijeet's Master’s thesis and aims at studying people's cultural preferences in different hospitality industry settings.
We are looking for participants to take part in a study about certain scenarios in the hospitality industry in which Pepper, a humanoid robot, would be welcoming you at a restaurant. For this experiment, we seek participants only from the Muslim and Chinese communities who are over the age of 18 years. We recruit from two communities that are among the University of Waterloo's major demographic groups.
The study will be online, and you need only watch some videos. We are interested in collecting questionnaire data to understand your experience during the virtual interactions. The study would last about 15-20 minutes.
To thank you for your participation, you will receive $6 loaded to your WatCard.
This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the University of Waterloo Human Research Ethics Board.
If you are interested in participating in this study or have more questions, please reach me at pavijeet@uwaterloo.ca.
Wednesday's notes
The Noon Hour Concert Series continues today with a performance by the Phoenix Trio. The Phoenix Trio performs works from the early 20th century. The group includes flautist Wendy Wagler, cellist Cathy Anderson, and pianist Beth Ann de Sousa. The concert takes place at 12:30 p.m. in the Conrad Grebel University College chapel. Admission is free.
Employers hosting an Employer Information Session this week include Deloitte | Our Journey Begins on Thursday, November 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the TC. Make sure to register through WaterlooWorks and check the calendar for any updates.