It's a bird, it's a plane...no, it's a helidrone!

by Kaija Hutteri, Communications and Public Affairs

What’s that in the sky? It’s a picture-taking drone from Eye Fly Media.

The drone, likely to be seen buzzing above the campus next week, will take aerial photos of the University of Waterloo to help promote Congress 2012. More than 8,000 people from across Canada and abroad are expected to attend the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, co-hosted by Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, later this month.

Eye Fly’s unmanned aerial vehicle — also known as an oktokopter — can take photos and shoot videos at a lower altitude and with greater precision than traditional manned aircraft. The photos it takes will help showcase Waterloo’s main campus to the world.

The drone’s altitude is high enough that individuals won’t be identifiable, says Eye Fly’s Andrew Goodwin. It will be taking wide shots of buildings on campus and will not zoom in to focus on people. The Eye Fly Media team will also be on hand to keep people out of the immediate area where the drone is operating.

The drone is expected to be in the air over both the Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier campuses this week or next, as the weather permits.

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UAE students explore leadership program

By Amer Abu-Khajil and Livia Fama

Students at the Waterloo UAE Campus had the opportunity to experience an aspect of the Main Campus over the past two weeks through participating in a run of the Student Leadership Program.

The Student Leadership Program is a twelve session, experiential program designed to encourage students to discover their leadership potential; it is typically coordinated on the main Waterloo campus and organized by the Department of Organizational & Human Development.

Twenty students at the Waterloo UAE Campus took part in the two-day Student Leadership Program in March, where they participated in 4 sessions: Leadership Principles, Building Your Credibility, Presentation Skills, and Succession Planning.

“The Student Leadership Program was a really fun experience that allowed us to develop our leadership skills within small groups of our peers,” said second year Civil Engineering student, Axel Taganda. “I can’t wait to continue the program once I go to the Main Campus.”

The program was facilitated by Amer Abu-Khajil, a second year Civil Engineering student from main campus, who is working as a Teaching Assistant at the Waterloo UAE campus for the winter term.

“Student response to the program was very positive -- it was great to see the number of students who were open and willing to share their experiences during the whole process,” said Abu-Khajil.

The Student Leadership Program is an example of the continued effort for collaboration on academic and extracurricular activities from staff and students at both campuses to contribute to student life and success at the University of Waterloo.

“Programs like this will ideally provide students from the UAE Campus with some continuity and more sense of connection with the main campus,” Abu-Khajil said.

Photograph by Jahangir Malik.

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Remembering retirees

A number of retired staff members have died recently, according to Human Resources. They are:

Carol Wooten, who died March 13, began her career at the university in 1972 as a payroll clerk in Financial Services, and later as Payroll Co-ordinator/Specialist in Human Resources, until her retirement on January 1, 2011. "Carol's thirty-eight and a half years of dedicated service here at UW made her name somewhat of an icon, synonymous with Payroll," wrote Pension Advisor Wanda Speek. Carol is survived by her husband, Richard (Bud).

Richard (Dick) Hutchinson, who started working in Optometry in September 1990, died March 25. He worked as the SEEPAC Shipping and Receiving Co-ordinator in the Centre for Sight Enhancement and retired in April 2004.

Heinz Wagner, a building foreperson in Plant Operations who started in 1966 who retired in July 1994 under the Early Retirement Renewal Program, died March 30. He was predeceased by his wife Helga. His obituary notes that he was involved in some of the university's early construction projects before beginning his full-time career here.

Mildred Volz, who began working at the university in 1966 in Food Services, retiring as the Arts Coffee Shop's head supervisor in 1985, died on April 12. She is survived by her husband, Ivan.

Gunther Witzke, who worked as a custodian in Plant Operations, starting in 1985 and retiring in December 2006, died April 28. He is survived by his wife Edith.

Marga Brindley started working in Finance in September 1977 and retired from her position as Accounts Payable, Special Project Co-ordinator, in December 2001. She died on April 30.

And just this morning I have been informed that Ron Hurdal, who joined the university as a graduate student in 1965 and was hired in 1966 by the Department of Computing Services, the forerunner of Information Systems and Technology, died yesterday. Hurdal, who was involved in the WATFIV and WATBOL compiler projects, retired in May 1996. Friends and colleagues are invited to share memories of Ron at the Erb and Good Family Funeral Home on Monday, May 14, with visitation from 11:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. and a celebration of his life at 2:00 p.m.

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Friday's notes

Beginning Sunday, May 13, grade 10 high school students will be on campus for Waterloo Unlimited's "Change" program that runs until Thursday, May 17. The students will be investigating the theme of "change" across the university's many disciplines. "Students will consider the perspectives of scientists, engineers, writers, philosophers, and others as they examine the theme," says the event's promotional material.

Roy Wagler (left), a staff member in Information Systems and Technology whose uWaterloo career goes back 39 years, is retiring at the end of the month. According to his bio, he joined the University of Waterloo in 1973 as a member of the Computing Centre's operations group, moving in the mid 1970s to Data Processing, where he held several positions including associate director before Data Processing merged with the Department of Computing Services to form Information Systems and Technology (IST) in 1996. In IST, Roy has held the position of Strategic Consultant, Finance and Business Operations and most recently Director of Information Systems, Finance, Research and Infrastructure. His IST colleagues are organizing a retirement party in his honour to be held at the University Club on Thursday, May 31 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Please RSVP to Liz Doede at edoede@ uwaterloo.ca.

Members of the university community, including chemical engineering professor Tom Duever and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology managing director Alain Francq, will be among those donning white shirts and participating in a bicycle ride in memory of cyclist Barrie Conrod, who was struck and killed last Sunday on Hergott Road. Community members are welcome to join the procession, which will start at the Countryside Mennonite Fellowship Church in Hawkesville this Sunday, May 13 at 3:00 p.m. and heads south to the site of the accident where a "ghost bike," much like the one at right, will be raised in his honour. More information about the "Ride for Barrie Conrod" can be found on Facebook or by visiting the Waterloo Cycling Club website. Photograph by Alain Francq.

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