Living sustainably on campus and at home
The campus community came together for Waterloo’s annual Eco-Summit in July to network, celebrate progress and inspire action on campus sustainability.
The event featured a keynote address from Tom Ewart, senior manager of sustainability at The Co-operators. He shared insights on how to build support and momentum for sustainability in large organizations. Three campus groups also shared sustainability highlights from the past year, including Food Services, Partners for Action and the Sustainable Campus Initiative.
Another 19 departments received Green Office awards for their sustainability achievements.
The evening was capped with the release of the Sustainability Guide, a resource for living, working and studying sustainably at Waterloo.
200,000th graduate crosses the stage at Spring Convocation 2018
The 200,000th person to graduate from the University of Waterloo crossed the stage in June 2018. Graduates are now part of a proud community of alumni who dream big, chart unconventional paths, embrace innovations, and inspire others through their actions.
Watch the highlights from the Spring Convocation ceremonies
Convocation marks a new relationship between new grads and the University. Alumni will have the chance to return to campus in September 2019 for Alumni Black and Gold Day.
Show your Warrior pride by participating in engaging events including an exciting lecture, a Warriors varsity game, the Fun Run, campus tours and other opportunities for alumni and students to connect with each other.
New campus pianos will open hearts and minds
Music is in the air thanks to two new outdoor pianos in front of the Dana Porter Library and the Peter Russell Rock Garden. The pianos appeared thanks to the efforts of Max Salman, a PhD student in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the Faculty of Science.
“Music connects people powerfully and is a well-known strategy for improving mental health,” says Salman. “Anybody who may not be able to express themselves in words can do so musically in a way that brings people on campus together.”
Salman will be continuing his initiative to bring more pianos to the open spaces on campus.
Waterloo’s autonomous vehicle program passes 100-km milestone
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have reached an important milestone by logging their 100th kilometre on public roads in autonomous mode in their self-driving car, nicknamed the Autonomoose.
The achievement is the culmination of almost two years of work since the research team won approval from the Ontario government to do on-road testing in an autonomous vehicle pilot program.
“We’re pulling this off and 100 kilometres is symbolic of that,” says Krzysztof Czarnecki, co-lead of more than 60 professors, engineers, researchers and graduate students working on the project.
Next steps include reducing the number of human interventions or takeovers, improving perception of other vehicles and pedestrians, and refining the artificial intelligence required for the car’s autonomy software to make complex decisions and manoeuvres on its own.
First-year students receive mental health kit
Every first-year Waterloo student received a PASS mental health “first aid kit” during orientation week to promote awareness about anxiety and other mental health problems.
The PASS kit, developed by Tina Chan (BSc ’16), stands for Panic, Anxiety and Stress Support. The kit has a squeezable stress star, ear plugs, a sleeping mask, a pack of gum and a deck of 25 flash cards with steps a person can take when they are experiencing anxiety or stress symptoms.
Chan, a graduate student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems, hopes PASS will reduce the stigma of mental illness and encourage students to talk about anxiety and other mental health issues.
Earlier this year, the University of Waterloo released the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health report (CoSMH), with a goal of implementing the majority of the 36 recommendations by the end of 2019. The CoSMH, Campus Wellness and other stakeholders across campus are making progress on the recommendations with a goal of implementing the majority of the 36 recommendations by the end of 2019.
Waterloo students win prestigious Dyson award
Six mechatronics engineering students won a national James Dyson Award this year for a system that helps visually impaired people navigate touch screens.
WatVision reads out words or numbers on a smartphone, allowing visually impaired people to make a cup of coffee, select an elevator floor or perform other functions most people take for granted at airports, grocery self-checkouts and ATMs.
WatVision includes an app as well as a ring that the user wears on a finger. The team is currently working on getting WatVision to the product stage, aiming to have it on the market in the next year.
Team members Craig Loewen (BASc ’18), Jennifer Kim (BASc ’18), Joseph Lundy (BASc ’18), Lior Lustgarten (BASc ’18), Elizabeth Morrow (BASc ’18) and Jake Rampertab (BASc ’18) all graduated from Waterloo last spring and are employed throughout North America.
Awards and Honours
Recent recognition for University of Waterloo researchers and graduate students includes:
Jennifer Clapp (School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability) – Innis-Gérin Medal, Royal Society of Canada
Geoff Fong (Psychology)– 2018 Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Disease, Ochsner Health System
Ralph Haas (Civil and Environmental Engineering) – Honorary Doctor of Science Degree, University of Alberta
Feridun Hamdullahpur (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering)– Specially Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Canada
Fakhri Karray (Electrical and Computer Engineering) – Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering
Colin MacLeod (Psychology) – 2018 Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to Canadian Psychology, Canadian Psychological Association
Michele Mosca (Combinatorics and Optimization) – Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Danielle Robichaud (Library) – James J. Talman Award, Archives Association of Ontario
Carolyn Ren (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering) – Member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, Royal Society of Canada
James Skidmore (Germanic and Slavic Studies) – Innovate German Award, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers of German
Donna Strickland (Physics and Astronomy) - Nobel Prize for Physics, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Susan Tighe (Civil and Environmental Engineering) – Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering
Zhou Wang (Electrical and Computer Engineering)– Fellow, Royal Society of Canada
Mary Wells (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering) – Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering
Alexander Wong (Systems Design Engineering) – Member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, Royal Society of Canada
John Yeow (Systems Design Engineering) – Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering
