Friday, May 25, 2018

Welcoming future students at You @ Waterloo Day

On Saturday, thousands of Waterloo’s future students and their families will be visiting campus to decide if Waterloo is the place for them in September.

The annual You @ Waterloo Day event is for students who have received offers of admission and aims to ensure that students leave with a firmer sense of commitment towards the university.

Organizer Andrea Santi says about 6,000 visitors are typically expected. The event runs from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The main locale will be Federation Hall, where representatives from the faculties, student awards, the admissions office, co-op, athletics, and other offices and services will be on hand to answer questions. There will also be a celebration with “You’re In!” cupcakes and other refreshments available.

Campus tours, faculty-specific tours, as well as tours of the residences and the university colleges will all be available.

Drivers ready to tear up the tracks at EV Challenge

Start your electric engines: the Waterloo High School Electric Vehicle Challenge takes place on Saturday, May 26 on the University's East Campus.

Hosted by Waterloo Engineering, the Waterloo High School Electric Vehicle (EV) Challenge encourages students to design and test their own electric car in an annual endurance competition. This year's competition will feature:

• Two races — for 12 and 24 volt cars — with the winner of the 24 Volt Race receiving the TADA Cup
• Dennis Weishar Engineering Design Award for excellence in Engineering design
• Toyota Fabrication & Manufacturing Award for excellence in vehicle construction.
• Interstate Batteries Rookie Team Award for the top-ranked first-year team.

Students will compete in two endurance races, driving electric cars they have designed and built from scratch on a temporary race course set up on the East Campus. 

Members of the community are welcome to watch the races on Saturday.

Provincial Envirothon to be held next week

A Provincial Envirothon competition is being held at Waterloo from May 27 to 30.

Envirothon is a team-based competition for high school students who love the outdoors. This year, Faculty of Environment staff and faculty worked to bring the competition to Waterloo.

Over 700 students and teachers from across Ontario take part in the program each year, with the top 21 teams attending the Ontario Envirothon Championship.

The Ontario Envirothon is part of the larger North American Envirothon reaching over 500,000 students, teachers and community members across North America. The students will be participating in a variety of outdoor and indoor activities, workshops, and presentations, with an awards ceremony at the end of the event.

The Waterloo community is welcome to drop by the various events taking place on campus and support the students, some of whom will hopefully join us as undergad students in the years to come! The events will be announced on Faculty of Environment social media channels including @envwaterloo.

Friday's notes

Attention parents! The Centre for Ocular Research and Education at the University of Waterloo is currently seeking children ages 6 and 12 to participate in a study evaluating a new cutting edge spectacle lens design. Receive up to $120 for only 3 visits over 3 weeks and a free pair of spectacle frames. Check out the CORE website for more information.

Friends and colleagues of Professor Ralph Smith (that's him standing with graduate student Rick Ridings in 1988) are invited to join the Biology department as they celebrate his retirement after 31 years at the University. The retirement celebration will take place on Tuesday, May 29 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the University Club. Light refreshments will be served and all are welcome. RSVP to Margaret Berton by sending an email to mberton@uwaterloo.ca.

The Book Store's annual "Spring Into Summer Sale" is happening in the South Campus Hall Concourse on Monday, May 28 and Tuesday, May 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hundreds of new titles will be on display at a 25 percent discount. Come check it out!

The School of Planning Class of 2018 is being reminded to register for its Graduation Luncheon by May 30.

Finally, a reminder to University of Waterloo Staff Association members that today is the deadline for two calls for staff representative nominations:

• The Dean of Arts Nominating Committee; and
• The Dean of Applied Health Sciences Nominating Committee.

The UWSA is seeking applications for a staff representative on each of these committees. For more information, please refer to Policy 45 – The Dean of a Faculty. If you are interested in serving on either of these committees and meet the eligibility requirements, please submit the online web form for committee membership or fill out and send a printed copy to the chair of UWSA Nominating Committee, Gail Spencer at uwsanominate@uwaterloo.ca (DC 3609). Also, please feel free to contact Gail with any questions about applying and/or serving on committees.