Fall 2016

Paying it forward

Have your say

Curated by magazine staff

Gamification studies have long history at Waterloo

I enjoy receiving the magazine and learning what is happening at UW since I retired. I was particularly interested in your article about “gamification” in the Spring 2016 issue.

You are too young, and may not have been associated with the University for very long, but UW has been formally associated with games and gaming since 1971. At one time we had a physical plant and an elaborate collection.

Now UW continues to host this only as a digital collection, and receives thousands of digital visitors to this site from around the world each year. The physical collection was given to the Government of Canada in 2009.

The “gamification” article and student and faculty activity illustrates a contemporary approach to much of the documentary content found on our static website.

ELLIOTT AVEDON, professor emeritus

Editor’s note: Thanks for bringing this great collection to our attention. Interested readers can find the digital games collection online.

Postscript: Elliott Avedon, Professor Emeritus of recreation and leisure studies, passed away on Monday, November 21, 2016. He will be remembered for his many contributions to the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences and the University of Waterloo. Read more about his work.

Pilot pays it forward

When I got my flying schedule for March this year, I quickly realized (to my delight) that I had a Kitchener-Waterloo overnight stay. My next thought was that I had a $55-million asset on the ground at the Waterloo-Wellington airport, and would 20 or so Waterloo aviation program students be interested in a tour?

I contacted Sarah Thomson at the flight training centre and was met with absolute enthusiasm. Within hours, 20 students had signed-up for a tour.

On March 17, the students walked across the tarmac with some of the biggest smiles I have ever seen, to an awaiting Boeing 737. My co-pilot, Gavin Braithwaite, and I spent the next hour touring and exploring with the students, answering questions (both technical and career-related) and just being refreshed by their enthusiasm.

I am so grateful to have had this opportunity thanks to the University of Waterloo and to see the future of Canadian airline flying will soon be kept in good hands.

PETE KYLE (BASc ’96, Civil Engineering)
Calgary

A Royal error

Sophie, Countess of Wessex is not a princess, not by birth and not by designation. She is HRH Sophie, Countess of Wessex, even though she is married to a prince. In the same way, Prince William’s wife, HRH Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is not a princess. Neither of these women should be referred to as “Princess.”

SHEILA MACKENZIE