Low-cost circuit boards on display

A UW research team was featured in the annual report of CMC Microsystems, a non-profit corporation that fosters technology transfer in microelectronics.

Manoj Sachdev of UW’s electrical and computer engineering department is seen (left) along with grad students David Rennnie and Shah Jahinuzzaman, plus Dave Simmons of CertiChip Inc., a spinoff firm based on the work done in Sachdev’s lab. They’re showing off the circuit board for the low-cost circuit techniques and architectures marketed by their company.

“CMC has done an outstanding job in providing researchers with access to design tools and fabrication technologies at an affordable cost,” Sachdev is quoted as saying.

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Retail services unveils new look, new store

“In consultation with Graphics,” says Kathryn King of retail services, “we have redesigned our website for a more dynamic delivery of products, services and information. One of the biggest changes is the renaming of ‘TechWorx’ to ‘Write Stuff,’ a name that more accurately reflects the stationery and office supplies product offering. A new technology store, E Smart, will open in South Campus Hall next to the Book Store.”

As well as a spiffy-looking new website, there are cute new logos (like the one on the left) for the various business units. Write Stuff, the Book Store, E Smart, and the Waterloo Store (formerly the UW GiftShop) are all located in South Campus Hall; Campus Tech remains in the Student Life Centre. New signs for the stores will be in place in time for Student Life 101 on July 25.

Retail services wants to know what you think about their new look. Complete the online poll and enter for a chance to win a $50 Retail Services gift card.

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Of more than academic interest

The new executive director of the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR) is Amir Khajepour, a professor in mechanical and mechatronics engineering. His term will run for two years, to July 1, 2011. He succeeds systems design professor John McPhee, who has served as executive director since January 1, 2007, and who was recently awarded the NSERC/ Toyota/ Maplesoft Industrial Research Chair in Mathematics-Based Modelling and Design.

Electrical and computer engineering professor Mohamed Kamel is away from campus, chairing the International Conference on Image Analysis and Recognition, ICIAR 2009, which is taking place right now in Halifax (July 6-8). The conference brings together more than 100 researchers from 25 countries; nine research papers from Waterloo are being presented.

The Statistical Society of Canada has presented its Pierre-Robillard Award, for the best PhD thesis of the year, to Baojiang Chen (left), who completed his doctorate at Waterloo last year. Chen's thesis is entitled "Statistical Methods for Multi-State Analysis of Incomplete Longitudinal Data" (supervisors: professors Richard Cook and Grace Yi). “Longitudinal studies often feature incomplete data and irregularly spaced observation times,” a citation notes. “In his thesis, Chen considered a variety of problems involving the analysis of incomplete longitudinal categorical data. … Areas of research motivating these developments include smoking prevention studies, disease dynamics in cancer patients, and longitudinal studies of patients with rheumatic diseases.” Chen received his BSc and MSc degrees from Nankai University in China. He is now a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biostatistics at University of Washington in Seattle.

Jason Dockendorff (right), a doctoral candidate who is a member of the Institute for Polymer Research (supervisor: Prof. Mario Gauthier), was awarded the $500 Xerox Oral Presentation Prize in the graduate /undergraduate student competitions, macromolecular science and engineering division, at the 92nd Canadian Chemistry Conference held in Hamilton in June. His talk was entitled “Intramolecular Phase Separation in Metal-loaded Arborescent Copolymer Templates”: the abstract is here. Dockendorff is well known on campus as head coach of the varsity track and field team since 2005, a fact highlighted on his website.

Next year St. Thomas University, Fredericton, will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. It’s marking the occasion with a conference on “the Next 100 Years of Liberal Arts: Confronting the Challenges," and has put out a call for papers. “With increasing attention in recent years to the challenges of internationalization, corporatization, economic decline, and diversity (to name a few), this conference is planned to provide a forum to discuss the impact of such issues and the future of the Liberal Arts,” says a letter from the organizers. “Abstract submissions are invited for an academic paper, poster or experiential workshop. Proposals from students are welcome. Please submit abstracts by November 1, 2009.” Details here.

A reminder from the UW Learning Initiative Fund and Program Initiative Fund (LIF/PIF): July 15 is the deadline for proposals for funding of research projects designed to enhance student learning processes and outcomes. Information.

Live plants will be for sale at tomorrow’s Farm Market in the Environment 1 courtyard from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., alongside the array of local fruits and vegetables. The Naturalistic Landscaping Team, part of the UW Sustainability Project, is selling such things as wild strawberry plants, daisies, lamb’s ear, Canada anemone (left), and dogwoods, with proceeds going toward the team’s new Woodland Fern Garden.

After 38 years working at Waterloo, David Dietrich is retiring next Monday. This note from Catharine Scott, associate provost, human resources and student services: “David graduated from UW (BA ’70, Sociology) and was hired in January 1971 by the then personnel department to implement the Hay Evaluation Salary Classification system as a wage and salary analyst. Over the years he has held many positions in human resources, the last as director of HR, pension and benefits. He is a long time member of the Pension and Benefits Committee and the Staff Relations Committee, served some time as the coach of the Warrior squash team and is generally known by almost everyone at Waterloo as a great colleague and a warm friend. His focus has always been on supporting staff and improving their benefits, work life and pensions. … If people would like to donate to the Staff Enhancement Fund in David’s name he would be honoured, since he has spent his entire career at Waterloo in the service of staff and faculty.”

CPA Staff

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