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Velocity Fund finals take place today
The University of Waterloo will host the Velocity Fund Finals today.
Waterloo students and alumni will pitch their innovative startups for the chance to win funding to grow their businesses, and entry into the Velocity Garage, the largest free startup incubator in the world.
Ten companies will compete for four prizes of $25,000. Judges will present one winner with an additional $10,000 for the top hardware pitch. Another 10 startups will compete for one of three awards of $5,000.
Both competitions take place in the Great Hall of the Student Life Centre. The $5K competition starts at 11:00 a.m., and the $25K competition starts at 1:00 p.m., with the event wrapping up at about 3:00 p.m.
The event will be Livestreamed.
Engineering professors receive peer recognition
This article was originally posted on the Faculty of Engineering news site.
Three professors from Waterloo Engineering have been cited for recognition by their peers at a gala that will bring together industry innovators, business leaders and policy makers in November.
Organized by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) and Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), the prestigious annual event will showcase the contributions engineers make to economic growth and technological advances through their work as innovators and entrepreneurs.
The award recipients from Waterloo are:
- Lin Tan, electrical and computer engineering: winner of a medal for young engineers. Cross-appointed with computer science, her research interests include software reliability and security, software engineering and systems.
- Susan Tighe, civil and environmental engineering: winner of a medal for research and development. She is a Canada Research Chair, Norman W. McLeod Chair and Director of the Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology.
- John Yeow, systems design engineering: winner of a medal for engineering excellence. He is a Canada Research Chair with interests in micro/nanoelctromechanical systems, microassembly and nanodevices for biomedical applications.
Tan, Tighe and Yeow are among 10 winners to be honoured in Mississauga on November 19 at the 2016 Ontario Professional Engineers Awards, which have been running for almost 70 years.
Distinguished lecturer will talk geckos and other sticky topics
The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) and the Department of Chemical Engineering present a Distinguished Lecture by Professor Jacob Israelachvili of the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Professor Israelachvili's remarks, entitled "Adhesion, friction & lubrication of surfaces & liquid films and their relation to diverse phenomena such as how geckos climb on walls and ceilings, surface damage, and sensing," will address the fundamental aspects of adhesion, stiction, friction (of dry and liquid lubricated surfaces), and give examples of everyday processes where adhesion and friction forces act simultaneously, such as the way geckos and small robots climb on walls and ceilings.
Professor Israelachvili received his PhD in Physics in 1972 from the Surface Physics Department of the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, England. In 1986 he joined the faculty of the University of California at Santa Barbara where he holds joint appointments as Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, the Materials Department and the Biomolecular Science and Engineering Department.
The Distinguished Lecture will take place at 3:00 p.m. in QNC 0101. A reception will follow the event.
Thursday's notes
The Registrar's Office has informed students that their fall 2016 class schedule is now available in Quest. Beginning Wednesday, July 20, all students can view their schedule and can check Quest for their appointment to begin making changes to their schedules. Beginning today, Drop/Add/Swap begins for new Waterloo students, with returning Waterloo students able to access Drop/Add/Swap on Monday, July 25. By Wednesday, July 27, all students will have that option available. The last day to add or swap a class is September 21, and the last day to drop classes without penalty is September 28.
The Registrar's Office offers these tips on how to be a courteous Quest user:
- fill your shopping cart with the changes you wish to make prior to your appointment
- sign out of Quest when you are finished making your changes
- do not use robots or program scripts to repeatedly attempt to enrol in a course; students using robots to perform Quest transactions may have Quest access privileges temporarily suspended.
Wilfrid Laurier University's Board of Governors has approved a new contract with CUPE Local 926, which represents approximately 110 custodial, grounds and trades employees at Laurier’s Waterloo campus and Kitchener location. CUPE ratified the agreement July 17.
A breakdown of the agreement is available on the Laurier website.
“I would like to recognize the time and effort put forth to reach this settlement,” said Max Blouw, president and vice-chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University. “We achieved a fair and responsible agreement that is in line with other settlements at Laurier and across the university sector.”
The three-year agreement is retroactive to July 1, 2015 and expires June 30, 2018.
Plant Operations is reporting that there will be a domestic cold water shutdown in Engineering 2 that will affect several rooms on Tuesday, July 26 from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. as valves are replaced. Affected rooms include 1349, 1376, 2410, 2419, 3418, 3420, and 3418A.
The Davis Centre Library will extend its hours for the exam period from Sunday, July 24 to Saturday, August 13. The Davis Centre library will be open 24 hours except Sundays (closed Sundays from 2:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.). On the last day of extended hours, August 13, the Davis Centre Library will close at midnight.