Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Professors named Canada Research Chairs

This article was originally published on the Office of Research website.

Fourteen University of Waterloo researchers have been awarded Canada Research Chairs (CRC). They are:

Applied Health Sciences

• Ken Stark (Kinesiology) – CIHR Renewed Tier 2 CRC in Nutritional Lipidomics ($500,000 over five years)
• Mark Ferro (School of Public Health and Health Systems) – CIHR New Tier 2 CRC in Youth Mental Health ($500,000 over five years)

Arts

• Andrew Bauer (School of Accounting) – SSHRC New Tier 2 CRC in Taxation, Governance and Risk ($500,000 over five years)
• Kathryn Henne (Sociology and Legal Studies) – SSHRC New Tier 2 CRC in Biogovernance, Law and Society ($500,000 over five years)

Engineering

• Frank Gu (Chemical Engineering) – NSERC Renewed Tier 2 CRC in Nanotechnology Engineering ($500,000 over five years)
• Luis Ricardez Sandoval (Chemical Engineering) – NSERC New Tier 2 CRC in Multiscale Modelling and Process Systems ($500,000 over five years)
• Stephen Smith (Electrical and Computer Engineering) – NSERC New Tier 2 CRC in Autonomous Systems ($500,000 over five years)
• Lin Tan (Electrical and Computer Engineering) – NSERC New Tier 2 CRC in Software Dependability ($500,000 over five years)
• En-hui Yang (Electrical and Computer Engineering) – NSERC Renewed Tier 1 CRC in Information Theory and Applications ($1.4 million over seven years)
• Weihua Zhuang (Electrical and Computer Engineering) – NSERC Renewed Tier 1 CRC in Wireless Communication Networks ($1.4 million over seven years)

Environment

• Christine Dow (Geography and Environmental Management) – NSERC New Tier 2 CRC in Glacier Hydrology and Ice Dynamics ($500,000 over five years)

Mathematics

• Jun Liu (Applied Mathematics) – NSERC New Tier 2 CRC in Hybrid Systems and Control ($500,000 over five years)
• Karen Yeats (Combinatorics and Optimization) – NSERC New Tier 2 CRC in Combinatorics of Quantum Field Theory ($500,000 over five years)

Science

• Michel Gingras (Physics and Astronomy) – NSERC Renewed Tier 1 CRC in Condensed Matter Theory and Statistical Mechanics ($1.4 million over seven years)

Excellence Canada update and open session invitation

A message from the Excellence Canada Advisory Committee.

The Excellence Canada Advisory Committee would like to thank everyone who participated in the Excellence Canada assessment activities. Over 1,600 employees responded to the survey in May and 200 employees participated in focus groups held from June to September.

The survey and focus groups were conducted with employees to gain a greater understanding of the University’s current state against Excellence Canada’s Excellence, Innovation and Wellness (EIW) Standard. Findings from these preliminary assessment activities will inform an initial scoring of the University against the EIW Standard and will be used by the Excellence Canada Advisory Committee to understand the University’s strengths and areas of opportunity to enable them to advise on priorities during action planning and implementation.

The Advisory Committee is holding two open sessions later this month to share findings from the survey and focus groups:

• November 22 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (EC5-1111)
• November 23 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EC5-1111)

All employees are invited to attend and can register online.

The University of Waterloo has committed to integrating the EIW Standard at the “Going for Gold” level for the University as a whole, as a framework for promoting continual organizational improvement. This initiative will enable the University to develop a broad framework and supporting initiatives to benefit the entire University community, align with Excellence Canada’s EIW Standard at the “Going for Gold” level, and support the University’s Strategic Plan, in particular, the Robust Employer-Employee Relationship theme.

For more information, contact any member of the University’s Excellence Canada Advisory Committee.

When peace and innovation meet

Demine Robotics is building a robot to defuse landmines in Cambodia. EPOCH has developed an app that connects refugees with community members to support their integration process. Marlena Books makes meaningful reading material accessible to a marginalized group in society – those living with Alzheimer’s, dementia and other cognitive disorders.

Meet the founders of these social ventures and learn more about their journeys at the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement (CPA)'s Peace Incubator Showcase tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Kindred Credit Union’s Uptown Waterloo branch. Six ventures from the CPA’s Epp Peace Incubator will be presenting and connecting with guests.

Come learn, be inspired, and find a way to get involved in the Innovative approaches to peacebuilding that are happening at the CPA. Participants include:

• The Ripple Effect Education (TREE) builds peace in Waterloo Region by equipping students to understand themselves as global citizens while sharing strategies to approach conflict in healthy ways;
• Marlena Books supports the dignity of individuals with cognitive disorders by providing meaningful leisure in the form of books;
• Demine Robotics is using robotic technology to rid the world of landmines;
• Growing Hope Farm is a not-for-profit organic farm growing food and nurturing at-risk youth by providing job training and volunteer opportunities;
• Worldvuze explores diverse perspectives from students around the world by providing an online space for students to safely share and dialogue about questions posted by experts, nonprofit organizations, and classes; and
• EPOCH is a skills and services marketplace that connects refugees and community members through a mobile platform, and partners them with agencies working to help support and integrate newcomers in the Waterloo Region.

Attend the Peace Incubator Showcase on November 7 at 7:30 p.m. to meet the founders of these innovative initiatives and learn about the Epp Peace Incubator’s recent program growth. The Incubator is a beehive of entrepreneurial and collaborative engagement for peace-related start-ups. These social enterprises are supported through seed funding, mentorship, and a space to call home.