Yo, check this out! Several UW administrators, faculty members and student leaders can now add "MC-ing" to their list of official duties after appearing in the "Streets of Waterloo Part 2," the latest YouTube video effort by University of Waterloo rap phenomenon Baby Buddha. Rappers Raymond "Rayman" Chan and Yuvraj "DJ Fobulous" Goel have a CD available at the UWShop for $10 with the proceeds going to charity.

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UW is now officially full of WIN

The long-awaited Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology now officially exists, as approval was given at the June meeting of UW’s senate to create WIN “effective June 1, 2008, for an initial period of five years”.

Here’s the background information that was provided in the senate’s agenda: “UW has profound existing strengths in nanotechnology. The campus is home to world-class researchers, flagship research facilities, and Canada's only nanotechnology degree program. The creation of WIN will build on these strengths. The Institute, headquartered in the new Quantum/Nano building and centered on the new multi-cluster laboratories, will attract outstanding new faculty, students and research personnel; foster new national and international partnerships; enhance collaborations; and enable research at the forefront of science and engineering. The overall objective is to establish WIN as a global centre of excellence for nanotechnology and its applications.

“The mission of WIN is to promote and perform research, both fundamental and applied, in nano-scale phenomena, materials, electronic- and bio-devices, circuits, systems, instruments and techniques. In parallel with this research mission, the Institute will be the multidisciplinary home for outreach, education, training, collaboration and professional development for Canadian and international scientists and engineers working in the field. WIN will actively foster public awareness as part of its endeavour to provide the most up-to-date information on environmental and other societal-impacts of nanotechnology.

“The Institute will accomplish its mission by striving to build, maintain and help expand research infrastructure; provide administrative and technical support to further the research of its members; facilitate multi-disciplinary research projects and other activities involving more than one department or Faculty, or involving partnerships beyond the University of Waterloo; liaise with government partners and promote industry-academia collaboration in terms of joint research, technology transfer, and professional development activities, and act as a single point of contact for such partners; expand intellectual vigour in the field through education and research at the undergraduate and graduate levels; provide professional development opportunities for researchers and other highly qualified personnel; raise the profile of nanotechnology at UW and work to attract and retain world-class researchers, faculty members and students; promote awareness of nanotechnology in the public domain and foster a dialogue, for instance, on the benefits, roles, environmental and other impacts, and on ethical uses of nanotechnology.

“As a part of the nano-science and nano-engineering initiative, UW has established a new multidisciplinary Co-op Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) program in nanotechnology. The first 100+ students enrolled in the program in September 2005 and are expected to graduate in 2010. This program is geared to educate students on how to exploit new physical, chemical and biological phenomena and properties, and to use tools and fabrication processes relating to devices and systems in the 1 to 100 nanometer scale. It will graduate nanotechnology professionals with hands-on clean-room experience as needed to fill the research needs of the public and private sectors, as well as the next generation of nanotechnology graduate students and professors. In fact, co-ordination of a planned graduate program is a core objective of WIN, with training of highly qualified personnel a key mandate of Nanotechnology education at the University of Waterloo.”

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Democrats tossed in Sir Isaac Newton exam

So it’s true: physics can be fun. Take this question, for example:

Arnold Schwarzenegger throws Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton with equal speeds from the top of a cliff. Obama is thrown upwards at an angle α above the horizontal. Clinton is thrown downwards at an angle β below the horizontal. Which presidential candidate has the greater speed of impact with the water in the lagoon below? (Ignore air resistance.)
(a) Obama
(b) Clinton
(c) Both have the same speed of impact
(d) Depends on the candidates’ masses
(e) Depends on α and β

That was just one of the problems facing more than 6,000 high school students from around the world who wrote this year’s Sir Isaac Newton exam, offered by UW’s Department of Physics and Astronomy to encourage both the teaching and learning of physics.

Political and other topical humour have marked SIN exams for years, and this year was no exception. The first SIN exam was administered in 1969, with 1,500 students from 300 high schools participating. Since then, the number of students has quadrupled and contest entrants can be found not only across Canada, but from the United States and abroad. Participating countries this year include China, India, and Latvia, with previous entrants coming from Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore, to name a few.

The winners of this year’s exam have been posted here, and the top three were Junjiajia Long, from Ottawa’s Glebe Collegiate Institute with a score of 96, and two students from Toronto’s Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute, Yan Li with a score of 93, and Shuo Shan, with 91.

The SIN exam was originally crafted and run annually by Dr. Phil Eastman, and although he has retired, he continues to provide input and advice to the contest’s administrators. In 2003, he won a Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion from NSERC, in part for developing the SIN exam. From 1997 to 2004, the exam was run by Dr. John Vanderkooy, and after by Dr. Chris O’Donovan until 2006, when Rohan Jayasundera took over.

Over the years, many challenging questions have appeared on the SIN exam, and the questions (and their solutions) have been published as a book entitled “A Decade of SIN (Plus Sixteen).”

And in case you were wondering, the solution to the above question can be found here.

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Friday news roundup

Enjoying the summer weather? Well, there’s a downside to everything, which is why the UW safety office included some hot-weather tips in its latest “Safety Starts with You” newsletter: “Sun, high heat and humidity can be very dangerous. Prevention tips: Reduce sun exposure between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. If you must be outside between 11 and 4, try to stay in shade. Take breaks in air conditioned or cool places when possible. Drink lots of water, even if you do not feel thirsty Avoid alcohol and caffeine (includes coffee, tea and cola).”

In case anybody missed it, here’s more about the job of Associate Vice President, Development, which was listed in this week’s Positions Available from the human resources department. The post, rated at USG 18, has come vacant because of Bob Copeland’s move from the development office to become director of athletics and recreational services. The job posting describes it as “a senior management position reporting to the Vice President, External Relations, primarily responsible for leading and providing direction to the Development unit of External Relations which is comprised of Annual Giving, Leadership Giving, Stewardship and Donor Relations and Planned Giving. The AVP provides leadership developing and evaluating strategic fundraising approaches that complement and enhance programs across UW. University degree required. Ten to fifteen years of progressively responsible fundraising experience. . . . To learn more about this exceptional career opportunity, please contact Tara George, KCI, 416-340-9710 ext. 254 or uwaterloo@kciphilanthropy.com. Please note the deadline for application is July 28.”

And . . . there was a slight error in yesterday’s Daily Bulletin when it referred to the Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings set by the federal government. A loyal reader writes: “The item about pensions gives YMPE as 44,900 and 2xYMPE as 87,400. As a Math Faculty member, I feel the need to point out that 2x44,900 is 89,800. (It is probably not a coincidence that a year ago, YMPE was 43,700.)” The multiplication is correct and so is the speculation — the erroneous figure was taken from last year’s information.

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