New class, coats, and chair for Pharmacy

The School of Pharmacy held its fifth White Coat Ceremony in the Humanities Theatre on January 5. A special tradition, Thursday's ceremony welcomed the class of 2015 (pictured above, photo by Neil Trotter, STUDIO 66) into the professional pharmacy community and, according to the school's director of advancement Mary Stanley, "allowed them to publicly acknowledge their commitment to professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct."

Why the white lab coats? "The white lab coat is symbolic of the tremendous responsibility that pharmacists have as health care professionals," explains Stanley. "As pharmacists, people's lives will be in their hands." As part of the ceremony, the incoming class recite a pledge of professionalism.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, David Edwards, Hallman Director of the School of Pharmacy announced a gift of $600,000 from the Ontario College of Pharmacists. The gift will be used to create The Ontario College of Pharmacists Professorship in Pharmacy Innovation.

The Ontario College of Pharmacists is the registering and regulating body for pharmacy practice in Ontario.

After Edwards revealed the gift from OCP, he was joined on stage by the college's registrar, Marshall Moleschi, to formally announce that Nancy Waite, Associate Director, Practice-Based Education (right, with Moleschi and Edwards, photo by Neil Trotter) would be the first holder of the professorship.

The intention is for the chairholder to provide leadership within the School in both educational and research initiatives, applying expertise in curricular development, delivery, and assessment "to ensure a curriculum that produces pharmacists who will not only flourish in their professional environment but will also function well during periods of transition and ultimately lead change in their profession."

The Ontario College of Pharmacy Professor will also be expected to provide leadership to faculty members engaged in practice-based research that explores new practice models, new care delivery methods that include the use of social media and technology, and evaluates the clinical and economic outcomes of medication management services.

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Oscar nod for Waterloo grad

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the names of 28 recipients of scientific and technical achievements for the 2012 Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation to be held on February 11 in Beverly Hills, California, and among them is Andrew Clinton (BASc '05), who is being awarded a Technical Achievement Award along with Mark Elendt for his work on "the invention and integration of micro-voxels in the Mantra software."

The award citation reads: "this work allowed, for the first time, unified and efficient rendering of volumetric effects such as smoke and clouds, together with other computer graphics objects, in a micro-polygon imaging pipeline."

Clinton and Elendt work for Side Effects Software, a Toronto-based 3D animation firm whose work, according to a profile by the Toronto Region Research Alliance, has "been used in over 250 feature films including nine of the last 11 films to win the Academy Award for best visual effects."

According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' website, "Technical Achievement Awards are given annually for accomplishments that contribute to the progress of the motion picture industry. A printed certificate detailing the achievement and listing the names of all of the individuals who contributed to its development is presented to the winners at an annual award ceremony."

Parts of the February 11 presentation will be aired during the Academy Awards telecast on February 26.

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Retirees celebrated and other notes

This afternoon, guests will gather at the University Club to celebrate the retirements of three members of the department of kinesiology and thank them for their combined total of 110 years of service to the university and the Kinesiology department.

Pictured at right are Ruth Gooding, Doug Painter, and Sue Fraser. Michelle Douglas-Mills, Communications Manager for the faculty, writes the following:

"Fraser joined the department in 1973 and is known to many across campus for her work as the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences' scheduling co-ordinator and her active involvement with the Staff Association. She retired January 1 along with Doug Painter, an original member of the kinesiology teaching staff. Painter served as laboratory demonstrator and instructor, mentoring thousands of students over his 35 years in the classroom and labs, and on the golf course as a coach with the Warriors. Also with 35 years of experience, Ruth Gooding retires February 1, praised by students and department members for her guidance on academic and operational matters as kinesiology's executive secretary and graduate studies co-ordinator."

The celebration takes place at 3:30 p.m.

Also today, Waterloo startup BufferBox Inc. will officially launch what they claim is "the first parcel delivery kiosk service in Canada." The launch event will take place in the Student Life Centre. The BufferBox kiosk, located in the lower atrium of the SLC, "will provide students, staff, and faculty a secure, convenient way to receive their parcels on campus 24/7." BufferBox was founded by three Mechatronics Engineering graduates as their Fourth Year Design Project, and in 2011 received the Innovation Award at the Queen's Entrepreneurs' Competition, won the Waterloo Nicol Entrepreneurial Award, and won Best Overall Design at the 2011 Mechatroncs Engineering Design Symposium.

The University of Waterloo Centre for Behavioural Decision Research has organized a "Data Blitz" on Friday, described as "a fast-track way to understand your colleagues' research and possible synergies with your own." The session will involve ten speakers, each given five minutes, four slides, and a question, followed by a networking reception.

Speakers include Vanessa Bohns ( Management Sciences), Jean-Guillaume Forand (Economics), Mark Grzes (Computer Science), Derek Koehler (Psychology), Mikko Packalen (Economics), Pascal Poupart (Computer Science), Abigail Scholer (Psychology), Thomas Vance (Accounting and Finance), Matt Van der Meer (Biology), and Mark Weber (Environment/SAF).

The Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (I.B.M.B.) Seminar Series is hosting Professor Moira Glerum, of Waterloo's Department of Biology. Prof. Glerum will be presenting a seminar entitled "Metals and Microfluidics: My Adventures with Mitochondria" on Tuesday, January 17 at 3:30pm in room C2-361.

The Women's Studies Society is hosting their Meet and Greet on January 18 at 7:00 p.m. in Hagey Hall 334. All are welcomed.

A note from the Federation of Students: "One Waterloo is hosting its second annual Diversity Gallery featuring photographs and video clips taken by uWaterloo students, staff, and faculty that answer the question, “What does diversity mean to me?”

"Submissions will be accepted online and there is also an option for those who capture photos on their smartphones here. Photographers/videographers of all skill levels are welcome. Submissions will be accepted until Saturday January 14 at midnight."

Also: "One Seed. Many Roots. is a three day program of events designed to bring awareness of black history and to celebrate black culture. This year’s schedule will include a historical fashion show and talent showcase."

The context: "In 1995, the House of Commons officially recognized February as Black History Month to help address the fact that “despite a presence in Canada that dates back farther than Samuel de Champlain’s first voyage down the St. Lawrence River, people of African descent are often absent from Canadian history books."

The event is seeking "models, emcees, singers, dancers, spoken word artists, instrumentalists, and other talents." Students, staff, faculty, and community members are all encouraged to audition. Auditions will be accepted on video, with a submission deadline on Monday, January 16. Following the video talent call, a final round of in-person auditions will be conducted on Monday, January 26 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. in SLC 2105B.

The 40th Annual UW Hagey Curling Bonspiel is seeking for participants to show up for a day of "food, drink, camaraderie...oh, and some curling" on Saturday, February 25, 2012 at the Ayr Curling Club. Registration for the event, which includes two draws, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and two 6-end games, is $30, with a deadline of February 17 for entry.

The Hagey Bonspiel, or Funspiel, got its start when Don Hudspeth and Ken Croft of plant operations, decided "it would be a good idea if the University of Waterloo had a bonspiel" and received permission from Dr. Gerry Hagey, whose term as Waterloo's president was coming to a close, to lend his name to the event. The trophy for the event is on display at the University Club.

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