Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Waterloo hosts 113^th Convocation this week

More than 2,200 students will receive their degrees and five honorary doctorates will be given out at the 113^th Convocation ceremonies this Friday and Saturday.

Receiving awards and honours this weekend will be:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University, who will be granted an honorary Doctor of Laws at the Applied Health Sciences and Science ceremony at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, October 21.

Brant Fries, professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the School of
Public Health at the University of Michigan and chief of Health Systems Research at the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center,Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws at the Applied Health Sciences and Science ceremony at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, October 21.

David L. Donoho, a professor of statistics and the Anne T and
Robert M Bass Professor of the Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, will receive an honorary Doctor of Mathematics degree at the Environment and Mathematics ceremony at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, October 21.

Cindy Blackstock, professor in the School of Social Work at McGill
University and the executive director of the First Nations Child and
Family Caring Society of Canada, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the Faculty of Arts ceremony on Saturday, October 22 at 10:00 a.m.

C. James “Jim” Cooper, CEO and president of Maplesoft, a highly successful mathematics and engineering software company based in Waterloo and Engineering alumnus, will receive an honorary Doctor of Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering ceremony on Saturday, October 22 at 2:30 p.m.

Jonathan Sykes, an internationally respected researcher in the area
of groundwater flow and transport modelling, will become Distinguished Professor Emeritus after spending 39 years as a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
at Waterloo.

All ceremonies take place in the Physical Activities Complex.

More information on Waterloo's 113^th convocation is available on the website.

International grant helps prevent chronic disease and improve health

Barbara Riley’s goal was simple.

As executive director of the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, she wanted to expand the centre’s partnerships to help fulfil its mandate of improving population health. Propel’s purpose is to support research to prevent cancers and other chronic diseases before they start by reducing underlying causes such as tobacco use, poor access to nutrition and food, and sedentary behaviour.

“These are huge problems that have health, economic and social implications for Canada,” says Barbara. “We need to bring the best minds and resources together to help solve these problems.”

Four years ago the International Research Program Grant (IRPG) gave Barbara the opportunity to collaborate with China’s Shantou University Medical College on chronic disease prevention and management. She was funded again through the same program last year, this time to build on collaborations with the Australian Partnership Prevention Centre at the Sax Institute in Sydney and the Centre for Health Equity at the University of Melbourne.

The IRPG grant supports partnerships between researchers and institutions worldwide and is one of three initiatives within the IRPG programs aimed at developing new or existing international research collaborations with leading institutions known for high-quality research and global ranking. The projects must demonstrate strong potential to leverage direct funding to Waterloo researchers from major Canadian and international funding programs. The International Research Partnership Grants - European Union (IRPG-EU) supports partnerships in the European Union, and a new pilot program, International Partnership Grants - China, supports partnerships in China.

Co-op students bring their on-campus knowledge to the dinner table

Co-op student Sandra Yang.

by Andreea Perescu

Term after term, Annette Carroll looks to hire co-op students that can bring a fresh perspective to UW Food Services - one of Waterloo’s most visible on-campus employers. As a financial coordinator and co-op student recruiter, Carroll knows the value of hiring co-op.

“There are many benefits to hiring co-op students,” said Carroll. “They often know what is happening on campus and how to navigate through the websites. If the student lives in residence, they can share their own experience about the various meal plans we offer.”

To Carroll, the most successful co-op students make improvements in the workplace by applying their academic skills in practical ways. “One student wrote macros to assist in updating budget templates in a timely manner, allowing changes and corrections to the budget up to the last minute,” she said. “Another student saw too much repetition in the daily reconciliation process and wrote a program to quickly identify imbalances between two systems.”

When asked about the qualities that Carroll looks for in a co-op student, two things stand out: confidence and adaptability. She encouraged students to be confident during interviews and to play up their strengths. “A logical mind, for example, helps with the finance reconciliation. A calm disposition helps with the multitude of phone calls in September, January and April when parents and students are calling about meal plans,” explained Carroll.

She also emphasized the importance of being positive about taking on a variety of tasks. “Every assignment is a learning opportunity,” she said. “The daily tasks our student perform are important. We are looking for students with analytical skills that can be converted to excellent accuracy, spreadsheets and logical conclusions. Our intention is for students to gain knowledge about business and our organization when they return to study terms.”

There is a reason Carroll has been hiring Waterloo co-op students since 2012. “We recruit Waterloo co-op students because of the quality of education they receive and their knowledge base. The co-op program is an excellent training ground and each student builds on this diverse experience!”

Writing Centre at 40 presents Nora Young

by Clare Bermingham

On Thursday, following our 40^th anniversary celebration, the Writing Centre is thrilled to host a talk by and discussion with Nora Young, the host of Spark on CBC Radio and the author of The Virtual Self.

Nora’s talk is part of the Centre’s 40^th anniversary Speaker Series, which is designed to open up conversations about writing and communication in 2016. In particular, we want to step outside of academic writing and to leave behind the notion that university writing is confined to essays and research papers (as much as we love them!). Communication is a broad and diverse field, one that intersects with politics, culture, media, and technology. We want to think more deeply about the ways that everyday communication impacts our world and our lives.

We are all writing all the time. Most of us blog, tweet, and post about our daily experiences. We share pictures, videos, create memes, and tap out messages. How do these ubiquitous acts of written and visual communication produce our sense of identity and self? In what ways do they craft us as social beings in a digital world? How have they changed our engagement with media and our social networks and impacted how we move through the world?

Nora Young’s radio show and podcast focus on technology and culture, with episodes that address ways that technology impacts our identities and our lives and how we view and engage with the world. Nora is a published author, accomplished journalist, and inspiring radio personality, and her talk will be a fascinating examination of technology and communication in our lives.

Please join us for Nora Young’s talk on October 20 at 4:30pm in PHY 145. Tickets are free.

Two teams will meet their Waterloo; other notes

The Battle of Waterloo at the Kitchener Auditorium will feature cross-town rivals (well, cross-street rivals, anyway) Waterloo Warriors and Laurier Golden Hawks on Wednesday, November 2 at 7:15 p.m.  

"OUA hockey is the best kept secret in the country and features former major junior hockey players," says a note from Athletics. "Catch former Kitchener Rangers goaltender Mike Morrison (2008-11) and former Rangers captain and current Waterloo Warriors assistant coach Ben Fanelli (2009-14) in black and gold. Get your tickets now to see which school owns University Avenue.

Purchase your tickets today. For more information on the event please contact Jenny Mackay at jmmackay@uwaterloo.ca.

The UW Recreation Committee is selling group rate tickets for Cinderella The Panto Show on Saturday, November 26 at 7:30 pm at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse in Waterloo. Further information is available by emailing Shirley at schatten@uwaterloo.ca. Orders must be placed no later than Friday, October 21.

Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include Aviva Canada, Hootsuite Media Inc. Visier, Cockroach Labs, Travelers Canada, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Citi Canada, SapientNitro, Adroll Inc., Snap Inc., Autodesk , Ontario Power Generation, General Motors, and Snowflake Computing. Visit the employer information sessions calendar for more details.

Here's today's Invisible Disabilities Week myth vs. fact:

Myth: If I have a disability, I have to share all the details with my professors in order to get accommodations:

Fact: Only AccessAbility Services should be provided with your medical information, and only your accommodations (not medical information) will be communicated to instructors. Learn more about confidentiality and disclosure of information related to disabilities.

Students with invisible disabilities may qualify for academic accommodations. Today's clip describes the help and support that students can receive when registered with AccessAbility Services.