Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Waterloo team will walk for Cystic Fibrosis research

On Sunday, May 29, join the University of Waterloo along with 70 communities and thousands of fellow Canadians in support of a world where cystic fibrosis is no longer a progressive, life-shortening disease.

Students, faculty, staff, and alumni are invited to sign up with the UW Foot Brigade for the CARSTAR Walk to Make Cystic Fibrosis History at Waterloo Park.

All funds raised will be invested in innovative research to help Cystic Fibrosis Canada pursue the next medical breakthrough and provide the highest standard of care for cystic fibrosis patients. If you cannot join us for the walk on May 29, please consider donating to this important cause through the University of Waterloo team. Interested participants can contact Team Captain, Dana Gies, for more information.

Together we can make a difference in the lives of Canadians living with this disease.

Preparing our students for co-op

by Max McKee

Every term, Co-op 101 events are held across campus for students new to the co-op process.

“The goal is to better prepare junior students who will soon be looking for their first co-op work term,” said Janice Bruin, faculty relations manager at Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA). This term, Bruin helped the faculties of Science and Applied Health Sciences (AHS) adopt a new strategy.

“We decided to build off the success of the Kinesiology 101 student panel from last year where senior co-op students were on hand to answer any questions junior students had,” said Bruin. “These sessions were the first time this was offered faculty-wide.”

The response was very positive, and feedback from participants highlighted the value of having senior students reflect on their own experiences. One student said Co-op 101 was “eye-opening in terms of preparing to present myself better for interviewers.”

Bruin is pleased with the outcome, and hopes to incorporate student panels into more training opportunities.

“Based on the feedback, they’ll be a staple at future events,” she said. “The student panel and event facilitator, Taryn MacLean from the Centre for Career Action, were instrumental in making these events a success.”

Professor wins OCUFA service award

Professor Kate Lawson is one of this year's recipients of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Service Award.

Lawson, associate professor and Chair of English in the Department of English Language and Literature in the Faculty of Arts served as the president of OCUFA from 2013 to 2015, "guiding the Confederation through a period of challenge, change, and opportunity," according to a statement from OCUFA. "She has also provided critical leadership as Chair of OCUFA's Online Education Committee with her characteristic wisdom, insight, and sensitivity."

Also honoured is Constance Adamson, an academic librarian at Queen's University, who served as OCUFA president from 2011 to 2013.

“The OCUFA Service Award was established to honour individuals who have done, or continue to do, exceptional work on behalf of OCUFA and its member faculty associations,” said Judy Bates, president of OCUFA. “We are thrilled to bestow this award on two such deserving individuals."

OCUFA was founded in 1964 and represents 17,000 faculty and academic librarians in 28 faculty associations across Ontario.

“The recipients of this award have time and time again gone above the call of duty and provided tireless service to their colleagues at home and across the province,” said Bates. “Without their work, OCUFA could simply not achieve its dual goal of protecting the rights and interests of faculty while promoting a high-quality, accessible university system.”  

Administrators, they be administrating

At the April Board of Governors meeting, governors received for information an update on administrative appointments throughout the University:

• Michael Balogh, appointed as Interim Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy (September 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016);
• Eric Croiset, re-appointed as Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering (May 1, 2016 to April 30, 2020);
• David DeVidi, re-appointed as Chair of the Department of Philosophy (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2018);
• Bernard Duncker, re-appointed as Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Science (January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018);
• Leeann Ferries, appointed as Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2020);
• Troy Glover, appointed as Chair, Recreation and Leisure Studies (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2020);
• Brendon Larson, appointed as Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Environment (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019);
• Brian McNamara, appointed as Chair, Physics and Astronomy (January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020);
• Barbara Moffatt, re-appointed as Associate Dean, Student Relations, Faculty of Science (September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2018);
• Ian Rowlands, appointed as Interim Associate Vice-President, International (February 15, 2016 to February 14, 2017); and
• Lola Sheppard, re-appointed as Interim Director, Architecture (January 1, 2016 to April 30, 2016)

Congratulations all on your past, present, and future appointments.

Wednesday's notes

A team of University of Waterloo students has been selected as a finalist in the IEEE AP-S 2016 student competition.

There were 50 international submissions and Team Waterloo is the only Canadian team among the 6 finalists who will be competing for the best design of an energy harvesting system.

The team members are Luyao Chen, a second year Masters student in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Luxsumi Jeevananthan, a first year Masters student in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Ben Milligan, an undergraduate in Nanotechnology Engineering, and Shiran Qu, an undergraduate in Mechatronics Engineering. The team is supervised by Adjunct Assistant Professor George Shaker of Electrical and Computer Engineering. 

You shall not pass: The area between South Campus Hall and Grad House, the Grad House and Arts Library, the Arts Library and Tatham Centre and the Tatham Centre and South Campus Hall has been fenced off with all walkways inside the fence off limits to all University personnel during construction, according to a note from Plant Operations.

The redevelopment work on the South Common will be in progress to the middle of August.

Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include Mattermost, Sandvine, Noom, Infusion, Sun Life Financial, Pacific Services Canada, Atomic Labs, Wish, Loblaw Analytics, Nulogy, Hatch, Loblaw Digital, Amazon, Palantir, Google, Digiflare Inc, and WeMesh.