Dean of mathematics Tom Coleman (right) and Tongji University vice-president Guoqiang Li unveil a sign for the new Tongji-Waterloo Financial Solutions Lab in Shanghai last week.

Math lab links UW with Shanghai

UW's latest international link connects Waterloo with the biggest city in China. "Aiming to enhance cooperation in the financial services and computer technology industries between China and Canada," says an announcement from the faculty of mathematics, UW and Tongji University's School of Software Engineering and School of Economics and Management "have signed an agreement to build a close partnership".

The two universities celebrated the grand opening of the Tongji-Waterloo Financial Solutions Lab in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park on September 28. "They will investigate the characteristics of Chinese financial markets and promote research and industrial applications of quantitative and computational finance in China," Amy Aldous of the math dean's office says.

She adds: "The new facility will provide a venue to host UW initiatives in Shanghai, including alumni/development events and student recruitment and admission activity. Tongji is providing us with a working office as well as shared use of seminar and conference rooms in the Zhangjian Hi-tech Park, located a short walk from the main subway line.

"Both parties look forward to collaborating in this new global alliance. In addition to developing financial industry research and outreach initiatives, UW and Tongji will explore joint academic programs and launch UW's high school math contests in Shanghai."

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Thanksgiving . . . and Oktoberfest

Watch for UW vehicles on television Monday, as part of the national CTV telecast of the Oktoberfest parade through Kitchener-Waterloo. Pending last-minute arrangements, it's likely the parade will feature the Midnight Sun solar car, the Formula SAE car, an ethanol-powered vehicle from the Alternative Fuels Team, and the Mini-Baja car.

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 — which also includes floats, bands, clowns and local and imported culture — 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 (later in the day) across the country, a highlight of the nine-day Oktoberfest, "Canada's Great Bavarian Festival". This year's is the 38th 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 in Kitchener both weekend days. It also brought last night’s Women of the Year Award celebrations, and the crowning of Wilfrid Laurier University student Lyndsey Weber as “Miss Oktoberfest” last week.

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", otherwise the gymnasium at University Stadium, which seats some 600 revellers at a time during Oktoberfest.

Meanwhile, the campus will be quiet for the next three days as Thanksgiving is observed. Monday, October 9, is a holiday -- UW offices and most services will be closed, and classes will not be held. The Physical Activities Complex and Columbia Icefield will be closed on Monday; the Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries will be open from noon to 6 p.m. only. Campus-wide, it's back to normal on Tuesday morning.

As always, the UW police (519-888-4911) will be at work, the Student Life Centre (519–888-4434) will be open, and the central plant will monitor UW's buildings (maintenance emergencies, ext. 3-3793).

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Checking the pulse of the campus

First, a correction to yesterday's Daily Bulletin. I wrote that a series of Wednesday noontime "relaxation" sessions, sponsored by the Employee Assistance Program, would be starting in November. Apparently the dates provided were a tentative schedule that has been superseded. In fact the first such session, "Empowered Breathing", will be held this coming Wednesday, October 11. It'll start at 12 noon in Math and Computer room 5158. The sessions are based on "the calming CDs of renowned relaxation teacher Eli Bay", which are also available for sale at $20 apiece.

Yesterday The Record released its ninth annual Technology Spotlight supplement, and UW again figures prominently. That’s not surprising, given this year’s focus on commercialization and the tag line: Putting Ideas to Work. The opening article credits local education institutions with creating spinoff companies (of which UW can certainly claim the lion’s share) that attract talent and complementary services to the region. UW president David Johnston is quoting as saying: “The single most important thing we can do that is within our grasp is to bring talent to the community. Once you have the talent here, it works its magic.” The Tech Spotlight shone on the UW Research and Technology Park, the research underway at the area’s three universities, Conestoga College, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and UW’s Institute for Quantum Computing, students in the master’s program in Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, the links several of the featured companies have to UW, and the R&T Park and the Accelerator Centre The Spotlight also included a series of UW advertisements featuring the president, deans and others.

The football Warriors are now 2-3 for the season, and will host the Guelph Gryphons tomorrow afternoon — a day that's looking to have perfect football weather. The team is sponsoring a food drive as part of the day's activities: fans are asked to bring non-perishable food items to support the Waterloo Region Food Bank, and the first 50 who do that will have a chance to kick a field goal to win a free turkey gift certificate from Sobeys. (And speaking of Sobeys, it could be a busy place this weekend as the major alternative to the Zehrs supermarkets, part of the Loblaws chain, which is threatened with a strike as early as today; there's no word yet on whether that's going to happen.)

Dragomir Djoković (left), a faculty member in UW's department of pure mathematics since 1967, officially retired on September 1. Educated in what was then Yugoslavia, with a bachelor's degree and PhD (1963) from the University of Beograd, he had written three books before coming to Canada to continue his academic career. He lists himself as a specialist in "Lie groups and Lie algebras". Title of his most recent academic paper: "Poincare series of some pure and mixed trace algebras of two generic matrices."

Today is the first of the designated "Dress Down Days" — all the Fridays of October — as the United Way campaign gathers steam on campus. The wall thermometers posted on various buildings should show a warming trend today, as Karen So reports that money is starting to arrive from faculty, staff and others in support of the 50-some agencies that receive United Way funding. "We have reached over 30% of our goal," she writes. "Over $54,000 in personal gifts have been given. This is a great start!" Anybody who didn't receive a pledge package, but would like one, can reach her at ext. 3-3840.

The shuttle bus from Columbia Lake Village, which didn't run during the warm months of the year, will start up again as of Tuesday, operating on a 15-minute schedule from 7:50 to 10:30 and 4:30 to 6:30 weekdays. . . . The department of drama and speech communication will hold its UpStart "festival of innovative theatre" again this year, February 1 to 10, and has set October 13 as the deadline for applications to take part. . . . UW's continuing education office has a one-day course set for Tuesday under the title "The Essential but Illusive Process, Effective Communication". . . .

Finally . . . with the beginning of Oktoberfest, there can be more than the usual number of too-merry drivers on the road; let us 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

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