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Executive actions in Europe and beyond
It's Wednesday, January 24. Do you know where your president is?
From Kitchener to King's College London and parts beyond, here's a non-exhaustive list of President Feridun Hamdullahpur's recent activities both on and off campus.
On Monday, January 15, President Hamdullahpur attended the grand opening celebration of Deloitte Waterloo's innovative new office space on Joseph Street in Kitchener, which featured remarks by former University president David Johnston.
On Monday, January 22, the president was on hand at a surprise reception at the University Club celebrating Distinguished Professor Emeritus John Thompson's 50 years of service to the University of Waterloo. Thompson, a former dean of the Faculty of Science and currently the Associate Vice-President, University Research, was honoured by 175 of his colleagues, family, and former students.
Looking ahead, as President Hamdullahpur and other senior University leaders hop across the pond:
Today, the president is visiting King's College London, where he will participate in a panel discussion entitled "The Future of Universities: UK-Canada Collaboration." The president will soon sign an undergraduate student exchange agreement with King's College London, which will allow students to experience a term or two at the ‘other’ university.
This visit builds on a number of previous visits involving delegations from both universities going back to 2015, and a series of collaborative workshops and agreements. There are some 35 co-authored publications involving researchers from the two institutions, concentrated in the fields of medicine, social sciences, computer science, and environmental science.
On Friday, January 26, President Hamdullahpur will visit the University of Bordeaux in France. The president will be joined by former dean of science Terry McMahon in his role as the academic co-ordinator of the Bordeaux-Waterloo partnership. During the visit, President Hamdullahpur will meet with his Bordeaux counterpart, President Tunon de Lara, and discuss the further development of the Bordeaux-Waterloo strategic partnership with a focus on research partnerships; innovation; and governance-related issues. The president will sign a memorandum of agreement for a collaborative Bachelor in bio-based chemistry program. The president will also visit labs and institutes at the University of Bordeaux and meet with the university's Vice-President Innovation and Director for Innovation and Partnerships.
Waterloo's links with the University of Bordeaux go back several years - the joint bio-based chemistry agreement was first announced in 2014 with the signing of a letter of intent, and a Bordeaux-Waterloo research grant supports research collaborations with funding in two categories. worth up to $50,000 for research projects in priority fields including materials science, water, energy, and aging and up to 15,000 Euros for projects in all fields for emerging research collaborations.
Hiring Waterloo co-op students for the long haul
by Jacqueline Gergal.
HTS Engineering uses Waterloo’s co-op program to feed the future of their company. After hiring hundreds of Waterloo students for work terms since 2006, they know firsthand the value of co-op.
Wayne Freethy, a principal owner of HTS Engineering, considers co-op students to be a crucial component to the company’s growth strategy. “We aren’t looking to hire cheap help for four months,” says Freethy. “We are truly looking for the future of our business.”
After twenty-six years in the industry, the company has sold and distributed over $400-million worth of large commercial HVACR systems. Starting in Toronto, the company has expanded to cities like Kitchener, London, Hamilton and Ottawa. Individuals who began as co-op students established and managed these offices.
“Having the right people is essential to any company, which is why we continue to bring young people in,” says Freethy. “We have many students who come through the co-op program and continue with our company full-time, pursuing careers here.”
To help staff their offices across Ontario, HTS Engineering primarily hires civil, mechanical and chemical engineering co-op students. “What attracts us to Waterloo is that you can hire students all year round,” says Freethy, who also manages the company’s co-op program.
At HTS Engineering, students take on the role of an engineering sales assistant with responsibilities that include providing equipment layouts, pricing and quotations for industrial HVACR equipment. Senior students have the opportunity to expand these skills and perform site visits, conduct design sessions and interact with customers.
“As opportunities for growth have come up in our company, it’s young people who have come up through the co-op program who typically embrace these opportunities,” says Freethy. “Every time I’m in Waterloo interviewing students, I’m considering this: is this student the right person for the job? If it is, they will stay with us for the future.”
Visit the HTS Engineering website for more information.
Three Minute Thesis registration deadline Friday
One slide.
Three minutes.
Outstanding ideas.
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a university-wide competition for research-based (thesis and MRP) master’s and doctoral students at the University of Waterloo. Competitors have 1 static slide and 3 minutes to explain the breadth and significance of their research to a non-specialist audience. Students compete at the faculty level to advance to the university-wide final competition on March 21.
One lucky finalist will be selected to represent Waterloo at the Ontario Provincial 3MT finals.
Graduate students who are interested in participating can register using the online registration form on the 3MT website. The deadline for registration is Friday, January 26.
Remembering Walter Shelest
Human Resources has reported that retired Professor Walter Shelest died on January 20 at the age of 96. Born in Ukraine, Shelest studied at the Theological-Pedagogical Academy in Munich and received his master's degree at the University of Ottawa in 1963.
In September 1963 he joined the University of Waterloo as a lecturer in the department of Germanic and Slavic studies. He was named Assistant Professor in September 1966 and Associate Professor in 1970.
His research specializations included early East Slavic literature, comparative Slavic literature, Russian and Ukrainian literature.
He retired from the University in September 1986.
He is survived by his wife Pauline.
Songs in the key of trout and other notes
The Noon Hour Concert Series continues today with the Schubert Trout Quintet. Yes, you read that right: in 1817, the 20 year-old Franz Schubert wrote a song for voice and piano about a fish. Two years later, he created a set of variations from this delightful theme which became the 4th movement of his immortal quintet nicknamed “The Trout”. Four friends and colleagues from the KW Symphony strings section, joined by Joanne Bender on piano, bring you this loved work, scales and all.
The concert takes place today at 12:30 p.m. in the Conrad Grebel University College chapel.
Information Systems & Technology will be hosting an IT Seminar on WatIAM 2.0 updates on Friday, January 26. "UW is implementing SailPoint IIQ as the identity management solution for campus," says a note from IST. "This session will provide an overview of progress on the implementation, a demonstration of the new system and a review of some changes to roles and activities for administrative users."
Speaking will be Director, Information Security Services Jason Testart, who has served as the University's information security leader for the last 9 years., and Sean Mason, a member of Testart's Information Security Services team within IST, who has been working on campus identity management initiatives since 2008.
Training is to be scheduled in the weeks following this session but it is recommended current identity administrators attend. The seminar runs from 9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. in EC5-1111
Do you want to learn Spanish and make new friends? Come and “Conversemos en español” (Let’s chat in Spanish). All language levels welcome. Under the direction of a Spanish teacher, you will have the opportunity to practice spoken Spanish with each other. Spanish-speakers are also welcome to encourage others to learn and or improve their Spanish and to make new friends.
The workshops take place on Thursdays from January 18 to June 28 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the John M. Harper Branch of the Waterloo Public Library. Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact Regina Vera-Quinn at veraquin@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 33683.
Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include IBM Canada, Siemens Canada, Electronic Arts, Sun Life Financial (Information Technology), Oath (Yahoo, Tumblr & AOL), NexJ, RBC (Business), RBC technology, Cloudera, Skydio and Cisco. Visit the employer information calendar for more details.