Tuesday, September 3, 2024

A fall term message from the President

A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor.

I hope each of you had an opportunity to enjoy the summer months. At an educational institution, September always feels like the start of something new and I look forward to welcoming you (back) to campus to start or continue journeys that will help us advance the future of humanity.

While I hope we can look forward to the academic year ahead with optimism, I want to acknowledge that we continue to face challenges as a University community. Political polarization, economic instability, conflicts overseas and more continue to affect our students and employees in many ways.

Additionally, this past spring term was a difficult time for our community as we marked the one-year anniversary of the hate-motivated attack at Hagey Hall, and navigated the encampment protests on our main campus.

I know that some members of the community disagree with some of the actions taken by the University during this time. Healing from the divisions will take time and effort. Throughout the tensions, I also witnessed things that make our community so strong. Despite often highly charged rhetoric, I also heard a lot of thoughtful and respectful discussion. I saw dedication to and a genuine desire for bettering our institution—even if we didn’t all agree on the path to get there. 

The diversity of lived experiences, expertise and ways of thinking across our University is one of our strengths. Our vibrant community is resilient and passionate. While this passion can lead to challenging situations, I hope we can move forward with civility and respect—and a renewed sense of community. 

This term will give us an opportunity to start our work together to bring healing and peace to our community. You can expect to hear more on this in the coming weeks. 

Last year, we collectively identified the values that make our institution such a special place to work and learn: we think differently, act with purpose and perhaps most importantly, work together.  

These values will help guide us as we work together to make progress on the financial challenges the University faces. You can expect to hear updates throughout this term as we continue our focus on financial sustainability. 

And while we have lots of hard work ahead of us, there is lots to celebrate and look forward to. 

Over the summer we shared the exciting news that our North Campus has been selected as the site for Waterloo Region’s new hospital. To start this term, we recently opened the new International Experience Centre in Needles Hall to help us improve services to students who are a long way from home and encourage all students to explore the world in various ways.

This fall we are excited to open the new Indigenous outdoor space. We also continue work to support the five Global Futures, including some exciting developments such as the launch of the Global Futures Networks. In November, we’ll see the opening of the Innovation Arena to help us drive forward solutions in tech and health, as well as giving a new home to Velocity. 

As we move ahead, let’s keep our shared vision for the University of Waterlooforemost in our minds: We are a community of curious, collaborative, innovative and entrepreneurial problem-solvers and leaders who seek to understand and identify equitable and sustainable solutions for the future of humanity and our planet. 

Achieving this vision requires us to look out and care for one another, as a community. I look forward to continuing to work together towards this vision. 

It's a Hughes deal: Linda Nazar receives Hughes Medal from Royal Society UK

By Katie McQuaid. This article originally appeared on Waterloo News.

For an energy scientist, few things are more prestigious than receiving a Royal Society U.K. Hughes Medal. Named after Welsh-American scientist and musician David E. Hughes, who invented the first working radio communication system and the first microphone, the Hughes Medal is awarded yearly for outstanding contributions in the field of energy. Although the medal is rarely given to someone outside of the U.K., this year, Dr. Linda Nazar from the Faculty of Science was named the winner of this distinguished award. 

Nazar is a world authority in electrochemical energy storage whose immense impact on the field has resulted in seminal contributions to materials chemistry and electrochemistry. She has advanced fundamental knowledge to solve important problems related to sustainable energy storage. Her work has also inspired countless others to push the envelope in their research, which has enhanced the field overall. Over the past decade, she has been among the most highly cited researchers (Web of Science) each year with over 300 co-authored papers and more than 82,000 citations.  

Looking back on her career, Nazar shares many standout moments that make it easy to see why she was an ideal candidate for the Hughes Medal. Her early work on high-capacity cathode materials such as lithium iron phosphate led to significant advances in battery technology and the development of cathodes that offered higher energy densities and better performance at lower cost. 

More recently, a highlight of her career is her research on lithium-sulfur batteries, which hold the potential for higher energy densities and lower costs compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries. Another is her pivotal research in the last decade. “Our contributions to solid electrolytes and advanced solid-state batteries have been instrumental in moving this technology closer to practical, widespread use,” Nazar says.  

Her team has also been involved in developing and applying advanced techniques for characterizing battery materials at the atomic and molecular levels, which has deepened the fundamental understanding of how materials behave and degrade, leading to better design and longevity of energy storage.  

Winning the Hughes Medal is a significant career milestone for Nazar. “I am excited and deeply honoured to receive this prize from the Royal Society of the U.K. in recognition of the impact our work in electrochemical energy storage has had,” she says. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to my field in a meaningful way and be part of such a prestigious community. The Hughes Medal is a milestone to celebrate and a motivation to keep pushing the boundaries of knowledge and innovation.” 

What’s next for Nazar after this prestigious award win? She shares that her collaborations have played a significant role in expanding the impact of her work by integrating insights from other materials science, chemistry and engineering researchers, and she looks forward to fostering new collaborations in the U.K. “The Faraday Institution has really led the way in breaking new ground in electrochemical energy storage and I applaud the U.K. for establishing this important research institute,” Nazar says.  

Nazar embodies why Waterloo is recognized worldwide as a leading research-intensive university, celebrated for its entrepreneurship and innovation. 

Notes as the fall term begins

Today marks the first day of the fall term, with the co-operative work term kicking off today and lectures and classes beginning tomorrow. Orientation is in full swing, so you may notice an increase of activity around you on campus involving cheers and chants. Today is also Graduate Orientation, a one-day event for students starting graduate studies in the fall term.

WUSA's First Year Fair is coming up on Thursday, September 5 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the SLC green space and will feature an overview of WUSA-run student services.

Food Services operations are coming back online after the long weekend. Check the hours and locations page for details on where to get a sip and bite on campus this week. And pour out some luncheon buffet gravy on the curb for the University Club while you're at it.

Some Print + Retail Solutions operations have extended hours of operation this week, with W Store in South Campus Hall open on Saturday, September 7 from 12 to 4.

Turnkey@DC will reopen on September 4 to coincide with the start of classes.

Athletics facilities are back to their regular operating hours, and Library locations are ready to welcome students to their study spaces.