David Johnston speaks to a sea of faces in the Davis Centre at yesterday's "ice cream social" saying farewell to him as president of the university. He's off to the national stage October 1 as Governor General of Canada. Johnston was presented with a painting by noted Waterloo artist Peter Etril Snyder, and scores of the students, staff and faculty attending the event rushed to shake his hand or pose for pictures with him. Main photo (and inset of a satisfied ice cream eater) by Chris Hughes, ELED Photography.

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Rare book room joins Doors Open tour

Visitors can see behind the doors of 42 unusual buildings, historic sites and working farms tomorrow as part of Doors Open Waterloo Region — and if they make a stop at the Dana Porter Library, they can also get a glimpse of some major local businesses whose doors are open no longer.

Porter’s Doris Lewis Rare Book Room will be showing off selected items from such firms as Greb Industries, Joseph E. Seagram and Sons, Kaufman Footwear and Lang Tanning that are preserved in the archives for use by researchers.

“Many large local manufacturing companies, some of which were formed in the 19th century, have closed their doors for good,” the library’s web site explains. “Because they have donated their archives to the university, however, the library can ensure that a door remains open to their past.”

The actual exhibition tomorrow is limited in size, but the rare books room has a larger “virtual exhibition” online under the title “Doors Closed”. “Staff created this online exhibit to highlight the history of some of these companies,” says the site, “It provides an opportunity for you to step back in time and see these companies while their doors were open, while they were manufacturing diverse goods in Waterloo Region.”

One of the companies featured is Electrohome Ltd., a manufacturer of home electronics, appliances, furniture, and high-tech commercial projection and display systems that once employed 4,400 people in Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge. Established as the Pollock Manufacturing Company in 1909, it was headed by the founder’s son, Carl A. Pollock, from 1951 to 1972. Carl Pollock was a founding member of the University of Waterloo board of governors and later chancellor of the university.

In later decades, Electrohome abandoned television manufacturing, and its electronics division focused on commercial and industrial products, including specialized video and data display monitors and large-screen projection television. In 2004 its last plant on Wellington Street in Kitchener was sold to Christie Digital Systems. Electrohome maintains an office in the Wellington Street building and is in the process of dissolving.

Some of its records survive at the rare books room, on the first floor of Porter, which will be open to visitors from 10 to 5 tomorrow during Doors Open. The overall collection there includes early editions and rare books, collections of archives and manuscripts, and “other material that requires special care and handling because of its early publication date, association interest, physical condition, aesthetic value, or unusual format. Now numbering over 60,000 volumes, the rare book collections have particular subject strengths in local history, women’s studies, urban planning, the history of mathematics, architecture, dance and ballet, and fine printing.”

That’s just one stop on tomorrow’s Doors Open tour, which also includes three other UW buildings:

• the Architecture building at 7 Melville Street South in Cambridge, formerly the Riverside Silk Mill.
• the new home of the Social Innovation Generation Group at 195 King Street West in downtown Kitchener, the former Public Utilities Commission building, which will feature a 100th anniversary display highlighting how public hydroelectric power in Ontario was born in Kitchener.
• the Institute for Quantum Computing in the Research Advancement Centre, 475 Wes Graham Way on the north campus.

“Thousands of people visit noteworthy buildings and heritage sites every September,” says a Doors Open news release, noting that “More than 8,000 individual site visits were tallied during the 2009 event. Most sites are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but several have shortened hours, so visitors are encouraged to check the individual listings.”

Sites that will be open include Historic St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in downtown Kitchener (“climb the bell tower”), the Kitchener Masjid and the Cambridge Islamic Centre, the K-W Masonic Temple on Weber Street North, and Nauman’s Farm in Wellesley Township. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (Kitchener) will be offering mini-pipe organ concerts by Douglas Haas, Waterloo Historical Society volunteers will be on hand at the Kuntz-Labatt House and Erb & Good Funeral Home, Waterloo), and the Residential Energy Efficiency Program will demonstrate software to model costs, paybacks and savings of green home renovation options at the REEP House for Sustainable Living.

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Quantum institute welcomes the public

The Institute for Quantum Computing will piggyback on Doors Open tomorrow with “the biggest event we’ve ever hosted”, according to communications manager Colin Hunter. Or, as the public is being told: “The quantum information revolution is under way, and you're invited for a rare opportunity to explore the science that is making it happen.”

Visitors to the Research Advancement Centre buildings on Wes Graham Way (left) can “explore the laboratories where IQC's researchers are harnessing the strange laws of quantum mechanics to build computers of unprecedented power. See how lasers are used to create unbreakable encryption, and the very building blocks of matter are being harnessed to perform computations. Our doors will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., during which time faculty and students will be on hand to demonstrate the quantum experiments that are forging entirely new paths for information technology.

“Families are welcome. Interactive activities exploring the fundamental laws of physics will also be available, created in collaboration with University of Waterloo's faculties of Science, Mathematics and Engineering. A special kids’ science show will be presented at 11 a.m.”

There’s also a public lecture by David Cory, IQC's newest faculty member and the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Quantum Information Processing, at 2:00, but the audience is already past capacity and there’s a good-sized waiting list.

Otherwise, reservations aren’t required for tomorrow’s activities. Throughout the day, visitors drop into IQC's lecture hall to watch The Quantum Tamers, the award-winning documentary that explores how quantum mechanics is being transformed from "weird" to "wired." A number of labs in the two buildings will welcome visitors, with such names as the Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Electron Spin Resonance Lab, the Coherent Spintronics Lab, the Integrated Quantum Optoelectronics Lab, the Superconducting Qubits Lab, the Quantum Photonics Lab, the Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Lab, QuantumWorks, the Cleanroom and Fabrication Facilities, the Quantum Solid-State Device Lab, and so on.

A “Children's Discovery Zone” will be operating in a tent beside the buildings, and there will be refreshments.

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The Johnston video; some sports notes

The video that celebrates Waterloo's David Johnston years has been posted on YouTube, following its premiere at the tribute dinner for Johnston on Tuesday night. The eight-and-a-half-minute video is narrated by Nancy Richards of CTV Southwestern Ontario, a Waterloo graduate, who's seen in the video capture (right) striding past the Graduate House at the centre of the main campus. It was put together by my colleagues Martin Van Nierop and Michael Strickland here in communications and public affairs, along with a host of other people. Indeed, it's still being put together: vice-president (external relations) Meg Beckel calls it "a work in progress". An updated and possibly expanded version is expected to be ready soon for use at alumni gatherings and similar venues.

The football Warriors, suspended from league competition this year, will “continue their courageous season” with a scrimmage tomorrow against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, the athletics department says. The Warriors visited the Guelph Gryphons for a similar event last weekend. “With no championship to fight for,” a news release says, “over 60 student-athletes remain committed to Waterloo Warrior football simply for the love of the game and the opportunity to learn from one of the most accomplished coaching staffs in the country. The Warriors continue to practice and train five days a week.” Tomorrow’s event (10 a.m. on the north campus) will feature former All-American Tom Higgins, now Director of Officiating for the Canadian Football League, who will act as a “guest coach” and will speak to players and coaches afterwards about the importance of education and drug-free sport. “We are very fortunate to have someone in Tom who commands so much respect in Canadian football circles to speak to our coaches and athletes,” says director of athletics Bob Copeland.

In honour of Sports Day in Canada, a national celebration of sport, the Warrior men’s hockey program is hosting players from Huntsville and surrounding communities for a day of clinics tomorrow. “We’re thrilled to support Sports Day in Canada,” says coach Brian Bourque, noting that the town of Huntsville — where the faculty of environment will soon have a branch campus — “has been gracious hosts for the event. For it to be a part of Sports Day in Canada is the icing on the cake.  Huntsville is a great community and hockey town. We look forward to showcasing university hockey in Ontario and the importance of developing and maintaining our athletes in our home province.” Sponsored by CBC sports and other agencies, Sports Day in Canada caps off a week of close to a thousand local sporting events and activities, open houses and try-it days showcasing sport at all levels, and includes a special television broadcast at noon on Saturday. Tomorrow’s event promise players and coaches of the Huntsville Otters minor hockey program a chance to develop their skills and enhance community involvement through sport. Following the clinics, the Warriors take to the ice in a showcase of OUA hockey as they battle the UOIT Ridgebacks at the G8 Canada Summit Centre. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

As registration for intramural sports winds up today, registration for instructional and recreational programs in campus recreation is about to begin. The details are online: sign up Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the athletics office in the Physical Activities Complex. Offerings range from kick-boxing to "BellyFit" as well as cycling, aquatics, yoga and . . . well, it just goes on. There's one change in the registration system: "Participants interested in signing up for a fitness class this term will no longer sign up for individual classes. Those interested in taking a fitness class can purchase a shoe tag for $50 (less than the cost of two classes) and will have access to all fitness classes, including cycle. The classes will be first come, first serve only! Be sure to get there early."

CAR

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