October 7, 2005

Friday, October 7, 2005

Thanksgiving weekend and Oktoberfest
Director for the accelerator centre
Data points from across campus

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

Gujarati Indian festival Saturday night

[She's in a dirndl, they're in hockey gear]
Miss Oktoberfest for this year is Krystal Benesch, UW science student and left winger for the Warrior women's hockey team. In tiara and dirndl, Benesch paid a visit to the team's dressing room after winning the title. The Warriors host Windsor at 7:30 tonight at the Columbia Icefield, but Benesch is expected to be visiting festhalls and will miss the game. Photo by David Bebee, © 2005 The Record, Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Thanksgiving weekend and Oktoberfest

Watch for at least four UW vehicles on television Monday morning, as part of the national CTV telecast of the Oktoberfest parade through Kitchener-Waterloo. The Midnight Sun solar car, the Formula SAE car, an ethanol-powered vehicle from the Alternative Fuels Team, and the Mini-Baja car are all expected, and as of yesterday the Waterloo Aerial Robotics Group was hoping to be there as well.

All these vehicles are the products of student teams, based in the faculty of engineering but drawing on other parts of the campus too. Their presence in the parade will draw national attention to the work of UW students.

The parade begins at 8:30 Monday in downtown Waterloo and heads south along King Street into central Kitchener. It's a Thanksgiving Day fixture in K-W and across the country, a highlight of the nine-day Oktoberfest, "Canada's Great Bavarian Festival". This year's is the 37th annual Oktoberfest for this community, and starts with ceremonies in downtown Kitchener at noontime today.

Oktoberfest includes a number of special events aimed at families, including Saturday morning's pancake breakfast and barrel race in central Waterloo, and the "Oktoberfest Idol" competition Sunday in Kitchener. But the heart of the festival is the "festhalls" scattered across the city (and open varying days), with German music, German food and a certain German beverage in abundance. Among the festhalls will be "Seagram Haus", formerly the gymnasium at University Stadium, which seats some 600 revellers at a time during Oktoberfest.

[Turkey] Meanwhile, the campus will be quiet for the next three days as Thanksgiving is observed. This year the festival falls during the Muslim holy season of Ramadan, and during the "days of awe" between the Jewish new year and Yom Kippur -- and, incidentally, it's also a holiday for many Americans, as Columbus Day falls on the same day.

Monday, October 10, is a holiday -- UW offices and most services will be closed, and classes will not be held. The Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries will be open from noon to 6 p.m. on Monday. Campus-wide, it's back to normal on Tuesday morning.

As always, the UW police (888-4911) will be at work, the Student Life Centre (888-4434) will be open, and the central plant will monitor UW's buildings (maintenance emergencies, ext. 3793).

[Faces of three winners]
Star teachers in the faculty of engineering were introduced in the faculty's electronic newsletter this week, after they were honoured with Teaching Excellence Awards at the engineering banquet September 29. Winners for 2005 are David Clausi (systems design), Arokia Nathan (electrical and computer), and Jeff West (civil). The award brings a plaque, a cheque, and future support for two Undergraduate Research Assistants.
Also at the banquet, engineering presented two Alumni Achievement Medals: to Catherine Booth (systems design 1988, master's in management sciences 1990), now a vice-president of Canadian Tire, and John Seminerio (systems design 1982), managing partner of Magellan Angel.

Director for the accelerator centre -- from the UW media relations office

An executive director has been named for the Research and Technology Park's Accelerator Centre, designed to encourage the growth of high-tech firms and act as a catalyst for the creation of new products and services. Dan Melymuk has started work at the centre, which, when completed next spring, will be a key feature of the tech park.

In order to support the growth of high-tech firms and encourage new products and services, the centre will provide a fertile environment to commercialize the innovative work done in universities and colleges, hospitals and laboratories, as well as in private sector research facilities.

Melymuk, a Canadian who spent five years in the United States working with start-up incubators and accelerators, is a long-time entrepreneur. Having built many companies from the ground up, he brings years of experience to the organization. Work with the organizations has led him to develop practical methods for commercializing technology and growing small to medium-sized businesses.

Said Gerry Thompson, UW associate vice-president (strategic initiatives) and chair of the Accelerator Centre board: "Mr. Melymuk was selected after an extensive search process. We are looking forward to Dan's leadership."

"The new executive director has been praised for his solid knowledge of multi-organization collaboration as well as for his business management and leadership skills," said Carol Stewart, business development manager for the park. "These qualities, as well as his past business experience, have made Dan Melymuk best suited to help the organizations that comprise the deep asset base that exists in the Waterloo Region."

As the organization's primary link to members and the public, the executive director translates the Accelerator Centre's mission and strategic plan. The centre will provide a broad range of services including Intellectual Property management consultation, mentoring, access to professional service providers, community networking events and investor matchmaking. It is projected to be ready for tenants by April 1.

WHEN AND WHERE
[Lefcourt] Faculty of Arts Lecture: Herb Lefcourt (right), distinguished professor emeritus, psychology, "What Sense Is There in Having a Sense of Humour?" 12 noon, Theatre of the Arts, free.
Voting closes in the election of a staff representative to the UW board of governors, 3:00.
Career workshop: "Interview Skills: Preparing for Questions", 3:30, Tatham Centre room 2218, registration online.
EinsteinFest continues at the Perimeter Institute. Tonight: Ursula Oppens, piano, "Homage to 1905". Displays open all weekend. Family concert Saturday 1 p.m.; "The Wright Brothers", 5 p.m.; "European Fashion in 1905", 7 p.m.; "From Marconi to Lazaridis", Sunday 2 p.m.; silent films for kids, Monday noon; full program online.
TVOntario 'Big Ideas' begins broadcasts of the "Best Lecturer Competition" Saturday 1:00; Michael Higgins, St. Jerome's University, appears October 15.
Professional and Post-Degree Day with representatives from 72 institutions' programs in law, nursing, education, business and other fields, Wednesday 11:00 to 2:00, Student Life Centre.
'Competing Against America': Author Michael Alexander "discusses why Canada has fallen behind in the race for talent and wealth", Wednesday, October 12, 7 p.m., Architecture building, sponsored by UW bookstore.
Wind energy lecture by Paul Gipe, author and energy expert, Wednesday 8 p.m., Humanities Theatre, free, sponsored by Solar Technology Education Project.
'Beauty and the Beast' at St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, outing sponsored by Graduate Student Association, Thursday 7 p.m., a few tickets left, $27 at Graduate House bar.
Ultimate Glow-in-the-Dark Tournament sponsored by campus recreation, Friday, October 14, 6:30 p.m., Columbia fields, registration ends Wednesday at athletics office, Physical Activities Complex.

Data points from across campus

Cooler today, and that's the weather, not the plans for transporting the weekend's beverages. The autumn has been extraordinary up to now, though, and the monthly bulletin from the UW weather station confirms it: "The daily high temperature was more than 3 degrees above average" during September, writes coordinator Frank Seglenieks, "and we only had 4 days of the month when the temperature was below average. It wasn't the warmest September we have had in the 8-year history of the weather station (both 1998 and 2002 were hotter) but it does continue the trend of September being warmer than the average."

A business dispute between two big Internet companies in the United States was starting to make difficulties for people at UW yesterday. The two firms, Level3 and Cogent, broke off the connection between them, meaning that Internet users linked to Cogent could no longer use the web sites of Level3 users, or vice versa, unless there are other connections in the overlapping world of Internet top-level providers. E-mail between those two regions of the net would run into a dead end as well. Millions of users worldwide are affected. An early casualty at UW, which is linked to Cogent, was the library's access to online resources that are provided by Level3 customers, including Oxford University Press. Efforts are being made, of course, to find other ways of connecting.

The on-campus United Way campaign is continuing, on course to raise $165,000 from the university to help such agencies as Shalom Counselling Services, the YWCA, the John Howard Society and the Brain Injury Association. "There are now giant thermometers on buildings all around campus which are updated weekly," notes Jonah Levine, office manager for the campaign. He said that by the time the campaign officially started, Friday of last week, $20,670 had already come in through advance gifts. Today's the first of a series of "dress-down days" for the cause -- every Friday in October.

The campus recreation program's Black Knight squash tournament, which was to be held last weekend, was called off at the last minute and has been rescheduled for November 12. . . . Nurses at health services can provide information about a free eight-week weight management program that's set to start after the holiday. . . . Barbara Strongman, a staff member in UW's finance office since 1999, officially retired October 1. . . .

Pam Charbonneau of the residence life office reports that the fund-raiser for Hurricane Katrina relief, held in all the UW residences September 28, was a success: "When you tally up the WatCard donations as well as the cash donations at Mackenzie King and UW Place, I'm pleased to report that our residents donated $2,646.80." The money goes to the Save the Children organization.

John Hoag, at one time a well-known member of UW's staff, died on September 11. He was a coordinator in the co-op education and career services department, and program administrator there for architecture students. Hoag worked for UW from 1967 to his retirement in March 1992.

Sports this weekend: Men's rugby vs. Windsor, 3:00 today, Columbia Field. Men's basketball vs. an alumni team, 7:00, Physical Activities Complex. Women's hockey vs. Windsor, 7:30 at the Icefield. Football vs. Queen's, 2:00 Saturday, University Stadium. Out of town: women's rugby today at Brock; field hockey vs. Toronto at Ottawa; men's hockey at Rochester Institute of Technology tomorrow; baseball at Western in a doubleheader tomorrow; soccer (both men and women) at Windsor on Sunday.

Finally . . . with the beginning of Oktoberfest, there can be more than the usual number of too-merry drivers on the road; may we celebrate with moderation and drive with care. And at Thanksgiving may we be, as the old grace says, truly thankful. The sorrows and burdens come easily enough to mind, but still, we can remind ourselves, we in Canada have much for which we should give thanks.

CAR

Communications and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
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