Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Reception event honours teachers, researchers

Faculty and graduate students who have received awards for research and teaching excellence will be celebrated tonight at the President's Reception for Excellence in Teaching and Research at Federation Hall.

The reception honours those faculty members and graduate students who have received either an internal or external award for teaching excellence, or an external research award.

While the Office of Research has held recognition events in the past for research award winners, this will mark the first time that both teaching and research will be celebrated with a joint reception.

Speakers include President Feridun Hamdullahpur, Vice-President, Academic & Provost Ian Orchard, Vice-President, University Research George Dixon, Associate Vice-President, Academic Mario Coniglio, and the presidents of the Federation of Students and the Graduate Students Association.

The event takes place from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Deep immersion in the fast-paced world of startup entrepreneurialism

This is the latest in a series of #UWStratPlan stories that profile some of the initiatives that are part of the robust efforts to implement the Strategic Plan. 

Chaotic. Disruptive. In some learning environments, these words would spell trouble.

At Velocity, they are used with pride.

“It’s ad hoc,’’ says Mike Kirkup, director of the Velocity program at the University of Waterloo. “One of the beautiful things here is that there isn’t much we have to actively manage. It’s kind of a self-healing organization. When teams and people need help, they ask around.” 

Velocity’s edginess creates the right chemistry for innovation, turning students who have ideas into men and women running startups that create ingenious products.

By providing space for students to create, and involving business leaders who share the lessons they’ve learned, Velocity fulfils a key objective of the University’s Strategic Plan — to drive entrepreneurialism.

Velocity, Kirkup says, is really a series of solutions to opportune challenges.

The 70-bed Velocity Residence opened in 2008 to see what happens when entrepreneurial students live and think together. Those students drove the need for working space, and that led to the 2012 opening of the Velocity Garage in a 7,000-square-foot section of the Communitech Hub in downtown Kitchener.

Developing small devices and large machines tends to create noise and take up a lot of room. In 2014, Velocity’s hardware developers moved out of the Garage and into the 11,000-square-foot Velocity Foundry a block away.

It’s still within the field of energy radiated by Communitech and other companies as they invent, re-iterate and collaborate in the former Lang Tannery complex. In November 2015, Velocity announced an expansion of the Garage to almost 38,000 square feet, making it the largest free startup incubator in North America.

Velocity Science evolved out of the demand for lab space among student entrepreneurs working on life-sciences products. It was established in 2013, and has lab facilities in the Earth Sciences and Chemistry Building.

“Like any good startup, we respond to our customers,” Kirkup says. "Part of the job in running the program is making sure we are building things that get used, but being open to failure and challenges and struggles. We have a philosophy of moving very quickly, testing and constantly iterating on it until it gets better.”

Velocity added Velocity Start to its line-up of services in January 2016. It’s a 6,000-square-foot space in the South Campus Hall where a student can find his or her inner entrepreneur.

Read the rest of the story on the Strategic Plan website.

CDPI issues calls for seed grant applications

The Chronic Disease Prevention Initiative (CDPI) has been renewed for another year and will continue its work to emphasize population-based approaches to disease prevention.

The CDPI encompasses primary prevention, which reduces the likelihood of developing disease, as well as secondary prevention, which involves preventing or minimizing the progression of a disease.

Seed grants of up to $10,000, which have been a hallmark activity of the CDPI, will also be an integral component of Phase 2. The next call for applications was issued on April 26 with the deadline for electronic submission being June 6 at 4:30 p.m.

As in the past, the RFA focus is on ideas to advance chronic disease prevention research, and to do so by creating new multi-disciplinary teams.

This year there is a new addition to RFA objectives: successful proposals will support catalyst events to strengthen CDP research and its impact (e.g., stakeholder engagement events/meetings, knowledge translation activities).

This objective broadens the scope of activities that can be included in seed grant applications and is intended to support:  

• team formation and development,
• engagement of knowledge users and non-academic collaborators, and/or
• opportunities for integrated knowledge translation at various stages of research

Download the RFA and review the Frequently Asked Questions on the CDPI/Seed Fund website.

Tuesday's notes

TheGROOVE is in the heart: Classes for TheGROOVE with Cindy resume this week and will continue through to the end of August. The dance classes run on Tuesdays from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 12:05 p.m. to 12:55 p.m. in DWE 2529 unless otherwise noted.

What is TheGROOVE, you may ask? "Stupidly simple moves to great tunes so we will be united in our movements but unique in the way we do them," according to organizer Cindy Howe. The cost is $5 per class (pay as you go) or $20 for 5 classes if you pay ahead, but the first class is always free for first-time groovers.

“The Science Undergraduate Office (STC 2031) will open later tomorrow (Wednesday, May 4), at 10:15 a.m., due to staff training," says a note from the SUO. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Check the SUO webpage for regular office hours. Don't forget to sign up for our drop-in hours!”

The Keystone Campaign Picnic is held each June to “celebrate family” and thank supporters of the Keystone Campaign. In honour of Keystone’s 15^th anniversary, this year the Keystone committee will be sending out Keystone trivia questions every Thursday in May, with the chance to win prizes each week. These trivia questions will be shared each week via the University of Waterloo Staff Association's Twitter and Facebook accounts. This year’s Keystone Picnic is Friday, June 3.

Calling all Moms: What better way to celebrate Mother's Day than by participating in a research study that examines parent-child behavioural factors that impact family life? Waterloo's Child and Adolescent Neuropsychology Lab, located in the Psychology department, is starting a study that aims to better understand how the behaviours of parents and children can impact family life. The lab is looking for mothers and children aged 8-17 to participate. The study has 2 parts and involves the completion of questionnaires at home and tasks in the lab. Participants will be compensated. For more information contact the lab at canlab@uwaterloo.ca or by calling extension 32053.

Speaking of mothers, the University Club is hosting a Mother's Day Brunch on Sunday, May 8 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. "Treat your Mom to brunch at The University Club and give her spirits a French toast and lemonade boost," says a note from the club. Check out the menu and make your reservation without reservations.