The unmistakable shape under the flag is Midnight Sun IX, the newest model of UW's famous solar car. Wraps come off Sunday, 1 to 3 p.m., in parking lot X.

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Students will talk about talking peace

Thirty university students from across Canada will converge on UW on Thursday to talk about blogs, iPods, cell phones, and other means of connecting with each other. For most young people, that connection is a central part of life — but this time, it’s in the cause of peace.

Under the aegis of the Faculty of arts and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the students — mostly arts students, and a mix of undergrad, master’s and doctoral — are taking part in a three-day conference called The Power of Peace: Using the Modern Tools of Information and Communication.

The Power of Peace Network is an organization sponsored by UNESCO that “seeks to capitalize on new media technologies to connect young people around the world, providing them with an opportunity to learn about and engage with each other in their cultural and social diversity,” says an open letter from arts dean Ken Coates. “The core concept is that young people would be given the resources to make broadcast and web-based content about their lived experiences to share their stories with people around the world on the multiple platforms of radio, television, Internet, cell phones, iPods, video games and new and emerging platforms. Cultural self-expression and dialogue are seen as central to the global peace process, and youth are seen as the leaders to make use of the new tools of information and communication.”

The students will stay in Ron Eydt Village, August 9 to 11, and meet in the Arts Lecture Hall to hear speakers, including David Walden, secretary general of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and Janet Longmore, CEO of the development organization Digital Opportunity Trust. They’ll discuss such topics as cultural diversity and its expression; the history and prospects of the Power of Peace network; the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and media in social service and human development; and university graduates supporting local communities through ICTs.

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Introducing UW Discoveries

Waterloo’s leading contributions to the world include tobacco control policies, the computerized Oxford English Dictionary, the idea of a European currency, a simple water pump for use in developing countries, improved digital security technology, a technique for removing metal pollutants from groundwater, and the BlackBerry. And there’s more.

Starting this week and running to mid-December, UW’s main web page will feature different UW discoveries, with a new one appearing each Tuesday and Friday, and a link to the complete list of 37.

“In 2006,” UW Magazine reveals, “Executive Council of the University of Waterloo approved a document by UW’s Office of Research that lists inventions and discoveries made by Waterloo researchers in the university’s 50-year history.

“The formal list came about after the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada invited its members to submit lists of inventions sprung from each university, with plans to create a ‘top 100’ list of inventions and innovations generated through university research in Canada.”

There’s no word yet on how many of the UW innovations will make the AUCC’s Canada-wide list.

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New (and not so new) faces in new places

The new director of Independent Studies, starting this September, is Susan Wismer (right), taking over from interim director Bill Abbott. A faculty member in environment and resource studies, with advanced degrees in adult education and planning, she came to Waterloo in 1993 after a 20-year career as a community development worker and consultant.Wismer pursues research interests in gender and development, sustainable livelihoods, healthy communities, women’s education, and feminism and spirituality. She teaches courses in environmental education and international development and supervises graduate students working in India, Pakistan, Vietnam and Canada.

At the School of Pharmacy, Marianna Foldvari is the new associate director, research and graduate studies. “In this position she will provide academic and administrative leadership to establish an internationally recognized graduate program at the School of Pharmacy,” says the announcement. “Her responsibilities will include developing the graduate program, attracting exceptional graduate students, and overall facilitation of the research program, which will explore the frontiers of pharmaceutical, biomedical and bionanotechnology research.” Foldvari comes to UW from the University of Saskatchewan, where she served as associate dean of research and graduate affairs at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition. Her appointment runs from June 1, 2007 to May 31, 2010.

CPA staff

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