Groundbreaking today for 'Math 3'

A groundbreaking ceremony this afternoon will begin the construction for a building, linked to the existing Math and Computer building, that’s being dubbed “Math 3”.

UW has no Math 2, a label that could have been attached to the William G. Davis Centre for Computer Research. Math 3, to be located northwest of MC beside the General Services Complex, will be the home for the department of statistics and actuarial science, one of five academic units in the Faculty of Mathematics.

The four-storey building will provide about 90,000 square feet of space, about a third of what currently exists in MC or Davis. “As a result,” a UW news release said yesterday, “the new facility will enable expansion for all academic units within the faculty of mathematics.” Completion of the building is scheduled for March 2011.

Funding for the project is being provided through the federal Knowledge Infrastructure Program, as well as the government of Ontario and UW’s own funds.

The groundbreaking ceremony will start at 2:00 today and feature local MP Peter Braid and Ontario minister of training, colleges and universities John Milloy.

"We are grateful for the federal and provincial government funding we've received in support of this new facility," says dean of math Tom Coleman. "Our focus is on the impact of mathematics and computational methodologies to solve real-world problems. This additional space will enable us to expand our research and academic programs in response to the needs of society.”

Math 3, a backgrounder explains, “will support developing advanced technologies and train highly-qualified personnel to transfer new discoveries into Canadian industry. Mathematics 3 has dedicated space for doctoral students, as well as master degree students in both research and professional programs.

“The new facility will help expand research capacity for the faculty of mathematics, allowing for growth in three key interdisciplinary areas: computational intelligence, health informatics and new media technologies.”

And more: “Canada's and Ontario's innovation strategies depend on computational intelligence, health informatics and new media technologies in order to create the advances needed for the country's competitiveness and productivity. New space for researchers and graduate students at the University of Waterloo will build on industry relationships and increase graduate training capacity to create technology exploited in Canada. Waterloo's entrepreneurial environment will foster exploitation of the results through collaborations with existing companies and new spin-offs.”

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UW will track flu among employees

UW’s occupational health office — part of Health Services — will be tracking the number of staff and faculty who are off work with the flu over the weeks ahead, says a memo that was issued by e-mail Friday and is also available on UW’s influenza web site.

“Union members, staff and faculty,” it says, “should monitor themselves for symptoms of influenza-like-illness. Early recognition of influenza-like illness and self-isolation from others can reduce the risk of transmission. The key preventive measures from Public Health remain the same: regular hand washing, proper respiratory/cough etiquette and staying away from work or school when ill.

“All union members, staff and faculty must be aware of the symptoms and the importance of reporting symptoms and/or absences to their supervisors or delegates before the beginning of the first day absent. Public Health requires the University of Waterloo to track influenza information and information gathered will be used only for this purpose.”

Some background: “Influenza-like illness is the acute onset of respiratory symptoms usually with fever and cough and one or more of the following symptoms: sore throat, muscle aches, joint pain, or weakness.” (There’s more information about symptoms, and preventive measures, on the web site.)

Faculty members who get sick “should contact their chair/director or department administrative delegate and advise them of the reason for their absence,” says the memo. “Union members and staff should contact their supervisor or delegate directly.

“If you report your illness as influenza-like illness, or if you choose to not disclose the nature of your illness, your name will be forwarded to Occupational Health for possible follow up as we attempt to best fulfil our obligation to Public Health.”

The memo tells managers that when someone calls in sick, they should “advise the employee that Occupational Health is tracking influenza-like illness and needs to know the numbers of employees ill with influenza. If the answer is yes to influenza-like illness, please report this directly to the designate in your area, who will report these illnesses to Occupational Health on a daily basis. . . .

“Occupational Health will communicate with the individual, as well as the departmental or administrative head to provide guidance about maintaining good health practices in the workplace.

“As part of our reporting to Public Health, Occupational Health will be tracking the number of people away from work with influenza-like illness symptoms. Your cooperation with monitoring the absenteeism due to flu-like illness will assist Occupational Health to detect departments/areas affected and other areas of concern.”

As for coming back to work after having the flu, the memo tells employees that “you may have fatigue and a persistent cough for several weeks but you may return to work because you are no longer contagious to others 24 hours after your fever is gone and you are feeling better. Please track your temperature, as this is the best guide for knowing when you are able to return to work.”

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Radio station seeks vote on reviving fee

“Sound FM”, the radio station that was formerly CKMS-FM and Radio Waterloo, announced this week that it has reached an agreement with the Federation of Students about possible future funding from UW undergraduates.

“The agreement, signed on Monday, “resulted in the inclusion of a FEDs-executive-sanctioned agenda item entitled Sound FM Referendum Decision for the

Federation of Students Student Council Meeting on Sunday,” says a news release from the station. (Sunday’s council meeting starts at 12:30 p.m. in Math and Computer room 2017.) If the vote for enacting a referendum passes, the Sound FM issue will be on a campus-wide ballot sometime this term.

SoundFM calls itself “a transparent, fiscally responsible, independent radio station founded by students and overseen by the membership of the Federation of Students.”

The referendum, it says, “gives students the opportunity to choose to support an alternative student media source with a refundable $2.50 fee.” The money would be used “to continue providing quality programming, pay for our license, continue to update our technology, increase capacity for production, pay co-op students, and continue to bring Canadian musical talent to Waterloo for shows and concerts.”

Sound FM was “born from the ashes of CKMS”, its news release says, referring to the student referendum in 2008 that withdrew fee-based funding from the long-existing station.

“We provide students with the opportunity to have a media outlet that reaches everyone in the tri-city area,” it now boasts. “The station also has a licensed digital cable channel which could reach a million Ontarians, and the Internet feed has unlimited listening potential (soundfm.ca). The station currently operates 24 hours a day providing music, news, sports and interviews.

“Sound FM is expanding their podcasts, improving their web stream, attracting and promoting more concerts in Waterloo, and getting more students involved in the process. Sound FM broadcasts new independent musicians, live-to-air concerts, UW Warrior games, talk shows, lectures, and news. It houses a professional quality recording studio called ‘The Palindrome’ which can provide students with an affordable means of recording their music.

“Currently, there are over 80 student volunteers. As well, volunteer co-op students have been employed and Sound FM has committed to hiring more in the future. We have shows from student organizations like the Chinese Students' Association, Waterloo Public Interest Research Group and UW Athletics.”

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Visiting science, the solar house, and more

Today through October 25, more than 1,500 students from almost 30 high schools across the province are combining their participation in the Perimeter Institute's Quantum to Cosmos Festival with a visit to UW. Activities and tours will “enhance the students’ awareness of post-secondary education”, says Joanna Magee of the faculty of science, which has taken the lead in organizing the visits in collaboration with Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment and the faculties of engineering and mathematics. Hour-long campus tours will be given by current students in addition to faculty-specific tours of science, math or engineering. Theme-based sessions have also been organized and feature short presentations and hands-on activities. Faculty members will lead a few of the presentations, and graduate students will be assisting with demonstrations about nanotechnology, greening the next generation of cars, and “Google, Tweet, Blog, Skype: Changing the world with computers”. Information sessions will allow students to meet with admission officers or prospective student advisors to learn more about what Waterloo can offer students. “This is a great opportunity for high school students as they get to see first-hand what Waterloo has to offer,” says Richard Vollans, recruitment and marketing co-ordinator for science.

The Solar Decathlon "is entering the home stretch", says Eric Haldenby, director of UW's school of architecture, while associate director Terri Boake made a trip down to Washington, DC, over the long weekend to see how things were going. "Team Ontario/ BC", based largely at UW, is one of 20 groups that have designed low-energy houses, now on display along the National Mall. Otherwise known as Team North because its entry is "North House", the group was in third place as of yesterday, with teams being rated for comfort, lighting, engineering and other factors. The photo, by Michael Strickland, was taken during a preview of North House in Toronto, before it was dismantled and shipped to Washington for the competition.

Something called the "Frosh Competitions" will take place tomorrow under the sponsorship of the IEEE — the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Student member Tim Leshuk explains: "This event will see teams of first year students competing in a variety of engineering design projects (such as creating sumo robots, remote-controlled planes, rockets, bikes and windmills). Anyone is welcome to come out and support these engineering teams as they showcase their technology and achievement. The competitions are a collaboration between a variety of clubs on campus including UW Robotics, Waterloo Aerial Robotics Group, Waterloo Space Society, R3Design and the Sustainable Technology Education Project. The IEEE Student Branch is a student-run club on campus, dedicated to promoting awareness and interest in engineering and technology among UW Students, and we are very excited about this upcoming event, which will be an excellent showcase and promotion of engineering design and motivation." Events run between 10 and 4 tomorrow at a number of campus locations.

Also Saturday, more than 100 girls in Grades 7 through 10 will gather at UW for Go ENG Girl!, an annual event that encourages young women to consider a career in “a caring profession — engineering”. The event introduces students, along with parents or guardians, to the range of programs and career opportunities in engineering. “This is a great point in time to inspire girls and help them realize that engineering is about improving people’s lives,” says Chantel Franklin, Waterloo engineering’s undergraduate recruitment co-ordinator. “Too often, girls stop taking science and math in high school, so when it comes time to apply for university, engineering isn’t an option.” In the course of the day, which requires preregistration, Sandra Murre, a Waterloo engineering alumna and founder of Jordan Engineering, will share her experiences. The students will then be paired with women students to work on one of two projects that involve either creating a bridge out of toothpicks or home-made toothpaste. Meanwhile, parents and guardians will learn about engineering’s admissions process, its co-op program and other topics. An information fair will showcase various student groups and offer further information. Go Eng Girl! is a provincial event, hosted by engineering programs at 11 locations across Ontario.

CAR

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