UW students win $4.5 million from NSERC

from the UW Media Relations Office

For the second year in a row, Waterloo has placed third among Canada’s universities for number of graduate and postgraduate scholarships awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). UW grad students received awards totalling more than $4.5 million.

The numbers are up from last year, reports the graduate studies office: students won 131 postgraduate and Canada graduate awards (125 last year) and 11 postdoctoral fellowships (up from six), as well as two out of 24 Julie Payette-NSERC Research Scholarships.

“We continue to be proud of our results in NSERC’s awards programs,” says Ranjana Bird, dean of graduate studies. “These various awards are a testimonial of the strengths of our students as well as the professors who prepare them to compete and be successful.”

One such student, continues the media release, is Karen Neary, “who is now finishing her master’s degree in psychology at UW and will start her PhD in September.” Her NSERC postgraduate scholarship, valued at $63,000 over three years, will enable her to pursue her research in “theory of mind and executive functioning in children. Neary is investigating what cues children use to infer ownership. ‘Without an ability to understand ownership, children have difficulty in many social interactions,’ she explains. ‘Many times, this creates a high number of disputes.’”

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Another look inside the time capsule

Here’s another look inside the “electronic time capsule” in which more than 100 faculty, staff and students left their predictions during UW’s 40th anniversary celebrations in 1997. Their thoughts — some serious, some not so — are being unpacked through the Daily Bulletin throughout the summer of this 50th anniversary year.

Computer technology was a repeated theme in the predictions: “a very, very large computer science building . . . all rooms will be networked with terabits per second speed . . . an improved co-op system where the job postings are done though the Internet . . . laptop computers will be needed for all courses . . . the new Polaris computer system might work by then.”

But some people looked more deeply. “The year 2007 corresponds with my official retirement projection,” wrote Mike Sharratt, who was dean of applied health sciences in those days, “so I hope that I am en route to Hawaii when this is read. . . . Virtually all service transactions will be managed from the home computer (e.g. banking, utilities, much shopping, movies, etc.). The consequence will be the enhancement of ‘cocooning’ with deterioration of human interaction.

“The next 10 years will see the ascendance of genetic engineering with as many abuses as risk factor breakthroughs. Dick Tracy two-way wrist radio/TV's will be commonplace. The health care system will be two-tiered and Toronto, with a huge slum area, will no longer be one of the best cities in the world. Waterloo and Kitchener will be amalgamated into a megacity with a new name. Space stations will be acceptable to wealthy tourists and advanced technology will make the projections of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell look like fairy tales.... Finally, an innovative coalition of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Public Health Unit and Grand River Hospital will host the first Canadian Behavioural Teaching Hospital.”

Wrote one faculty member: “I worry that with increasing tuition and decreasing sources of external and internal support, at least some of our graduate training programs, especially those in the Faculties of AHS, ES and Arts, will be in danger of folding.” And a staff member apparently agreed: “UW will be more focused on specific specialties such as engineering, math/computer and accountancy programs, and less on the arts.”

A student had a slightly different angle on things: “UW will be leading Canada and hopefully the world in computer technologies. The faculty of arts will offer students a wider option in co-op positions, and their international trade specialization will be copied as universities and corporations realize that globalization is the future.”

And one engineering student predicted “two buildings for engineering (environmental and E&CE), a building for applied physics, a 5,000-seat amphitheatre/concert hall, a library, and a hospital.”

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A few more notes on a summer morning

The International Spouses' Group is winding up its spring term gatherings with another potluck on Thursday, 12:45 p.m., at Columbia Lake Village community centre. Shown here is last term’s event, with participants and dishes from Nepal, Russia, Venezuela, Iran, New Zealand, and Canada. “Bring food from your country and meet others from around the world,” says the invitation. “Children welcome. Bring plates and silverware, if possible.” Information: lighthousenm@gmail.com.

Several building and renovation projects are under way this summer around the engineering buildings, the engineering faculty’s e-newsletter reports. Among them: “The construction of a second-storey addition to the multi-media lab in Carl Pollock Hall. It's anticipated that the space will be completed and ready for occupancy during the first quarter of 2008. The first floor multi-media lab currently closed will be open again for business in September. The completion of the renovations at north end of CPH. The new home for the PDEng program is slated to be finished by the end of next month. The addition of a large pre-fab building to be located at the back of RCH facing the fountain. The building will be used as "swing space" for members of chemical engineering as their building, the original one on the university's campus, undergoes much needed renovations.”

The e-newsletter also reports that Amir Khajepour, professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, has been made a fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering. Khajepour's research is in the modelling and control of dynamic systems. In particular, he works with ultra high-speed robotics, and with advanced vehicle systems including smart control of vehicle dynamics, drive-by-wire technology and a new generation of suspension systems.

The UW Staff Association (UWSA) Nominating Committee invites staff association members to apply to serve on the Committee of Inquiry for Staff Grievances, the UWSA Nominating Committee, and the Employee Assistance Program. Detailed information about these committees is online. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, July 25. “To be considered for a position,” says the UWSA news release, “please submit the following information to the chair of the UWSA Nominating Committee, Sue Fraser (fraser@uwaterloo.ca): tell us why you'd like to serve on the committee, along with any relevant abilities, information or experience you would like the Nominating Committee to consider; include your name, department, extension, email address, and years of service at UW.”

The department of psychology is still seeking volunteers for a study of sexual attitudes. “We are looking for adults 25 years of age and older to participate,” a memo explains, “completing questionnaires about your personality, mood, and your attitudes towards different aspects of human sexuality. The study takes about 30 minutes. The questionnaires are completed online, at a computer wherever you choose. The survey is password protected to ensure confidentiality. All participants may enter a draw for one of five $50 cash prizes. For more information or to volunteer, e-mail purdlab@watarts.uwaterloo.ca. This study has been reviewed by and received ethics clearance from the University of Waterloo Office of Research Ethics.”

“Recognizing the need for competent professionals in the emerging field of Applied Health Informatics,” says a release from the Waterloo Institute for Health Informatics Research, WIHIR “recently held another of its two-day intensive Bootcamps. The speakers included Dominic Covvey, Founding Director of WIHIR, Brendan Seaton, eHealth Risk Management Specialist and Don Newsham, CEO of COACH, Canada’s Heath Informatics Association. COACH has promoted and participated in these Bootcamps since day one. . . . The Bootcamp targets the high profile areas and points the participants in the direction of deeper explorations in HI. Topics that were addressed included Managing Risk in the Digital Enterprise, ‘Intelligent’ Health Systems, Health Communications, the Health User Interface and Interactive Systems, among many others. ’Every aspect of the two days was a rewarding and rich experience.’ said Linda Yetman, the Director of Clinical Practice Consulting at Healthtech Inc., one of the attendees. ‘I really appreciate the take away materials as well as the offer of continued online work.’”

With the approach of final exams, UW libraries are extending their hours. From Sunday, July 22 to Wednesday, August 15, the Davis Library will be open round the clock, except for a brief closure Sundays, 2-8 a.m. Dana Porter will be open 8 a.m. - 2 a.m. every day. Circulation services will be available whenever the libraries are open.

Joanne Kuhn of the UW library staff died on May 25. She had worked as a serials librarian from January 1975 until taking disability leave several years ago, but did not officially retire until this spring. Kuhn was among advocates of faculty association status for UW librarians, and served for a time on the association’s executive.

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