"We couldn't have done this in another place."

The University of Waterloo Stratford Campus marked a historic occasion Tuesday with the grand opening of its new building that will house programs designed to support the confluence of art, business and technology for the next generation of innovators.

Pictured above cutting the ribbon to formally open the new facility are (l-r) Jana Zacharias, Master of Digital Experience Innovation (MDEI) student, Douglas Peers, Dean of Arts, Tom Jenkins, Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, Open Text, Dan Mathieson, Mayor, City of Stratford, Feridun Hamdullahpur, President and Vice-Chancellor, Ginny Dybenko, Executive Director, University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, Dave Muscat, Senior Director of Sales Canada, Christie Digital Systems, and Jean-Francois Tremblay, Bachelor of Global Business and Digital Arts student.

The event took place in the building's spacious atrium, which is dominated by the eye-catching three-story tall MicroTile media wall, made up of 150 MicroTile cubes from Christie Digital that comprises a complete visual display and custom content management system. The media wall is the tallest installation of MicroTiles in North America. (pictured at right).

The event featured remarks from Hamdullahpur, Stratford Campus Executive Director, Ginny Dybenko, Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson, Dean of Arts Douglas Peers, Open Text's Tom Jenkins, Dave Muscat of Christie Digital Systems, and students Jana Zacharias and Jean-Francois Tremblay.

Public tours of the St. Patrick Street facility lasted late into the afternoon.

“We’re bringing two very specific strengths together," said Feridun Hamdullahpur. "Being in Stratford is quite meaningful. We couldn’t have done this in another place.”

In addition to the undergraduate and graduate programs on offer, the Stratford Campus features a Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research (CECR) as a founding node of the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN). CDMN is a research and commercialization network that links digital media incubators and research centres across Canada to accelerate Canada’s digital strategy. Through this collaboration, the Stratford Campus provide students with opportunities to start companies, commercialize digital media technologies and applications, and to learn first-hand from leading researchers and industry partners working on digital media research.

Photographs by Jonathan Bielaski, Light Imaging.

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Waterloo ranked research university of the year

a news release from the media relations office.

For the fifth year in a row, the University of Waterloo is Research University of the Year among Canadian comprehensive universities, says Research Infosource Inc.

Considered one of Canada's leading consulting firms for organizations with interests in science, technology, and innovation, the firm ranks top research universities in three categories: Medical/Doctoral, Comprehensive and Undergraduate. The group scores institutions based on research input as well as impact.

It released "Canada's Top 50 Research Universities List 2012" yesterday.

These are exciting yet challenging times for research at the university level," said Feridun Hamdullahpur. "To have this recognition for the fifth consecutive year is a testament to the hard work and resourcefulness of our researchers, and to the innovation that is a defining characteristic of Waterloo."

Most university research takes place at institutions in the Medical/Doctoral category. Sixteen of them accounted for more than 80 per cent of research income at the universities represented in the Top 50. Research income includes funding from government and non-government sources. Waterloo was one of only three universities that are not Medical/Doctoral institutions that attracted at least $100 million in research dollars last year.

Total research income for the leading research universities in the country rose to $6.63 billion last year. The amount represents an increase of 2.2 per cent over the previous year, the smallest increase in a decade. According to the list, 34 universities increased their research income, while 16 were down.

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SEED launches new master's program

Today marks the launch of the Faculty of Environment's new Masters of Development Practice (MDP) program offered through the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development.

The launch event features a keynote address by Dr. John McArthur, a senior fellow with the United Nations Foundation, and a nonresident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution. Environment engaged Dr. McArthur in a Q&A session in the run-up to today's launch.

The Masters of Development Practice is a "rigorous 16 month, cross-disciplinary training program will position graduates as global development professionals" that is supported by the MacArthur Foundation and the Canadian International Development Agency. It is a professional graduate program and was approved by the university Senate's Graduate and Research Council in December 2010.

The launch event, which begins at 9:00 a.m. in Environment 3's Minto Lecture Hall, also features a panel discussion with Kathryn Hochstetler, CIGI Chair in Governance in the Americas, and a professor of political science at Waterloo, Jennifer Henry, Executive Director of KAIROS, and Ann Weston, director, special initiatives divisions at the International Development Research Centre.

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New graduate reviewer environment unveiled

by Marta Bailey, Assistant Director, Graduate Communications and Postdoctoral Affairs, Graduate Studies Office

On October 12, the Graduate Studies Office (GSO), with support from Information Systems and Technology (IST), launched a new graduate studies online reviewer environment in Quest.  This new environment delivers significant interface improvements and has an enhanced ease of use; it replaces the current OnBase reviewer processing workflow.  

Development and testing were completed over the summer and in September, with extensive faculty member consultation.  The GSO and IST would like to extend a big thank you to the faculty members and working group members involved, for their time and commitment to this project, which allows for a more user-centered graduate reviewer environment. 

For a detailed description of the enhancements, visit the GSO Graduate Reviewer Online Services environment website.

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Brazilian ambassador speaks; other notes

The first installment in a new Ambassador Lecture Series will take place tonight in the CIGI Campus Auditorium as His Excellency Piragibe dos Santos Tarragô, Ambassador of Brazil to Canada delivers an address entitled "Brazil and its Prospects for the Future."

With a distinguished career in Brazil’s Foreign Service, including United Nations postings in New York, London and Geneva, His Excellency will address the topic of Brazil and its prospects for the future.

The topic of the address comes at an important time in Brazil’s history, as the country continues its evolution as an integral regional and international player and prepares to host major international events in the coming years.

The Ambassador Lecture Series, Waterloo’s premier forum for global affairs is organized by the University of Waterloo, presented at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, CIGI campus.

Tickets can be secured online or by calling 519-885-2444 ext. 7379 and the lecture will be webcast live on CIGI's site.

The electronic poll for the Fall 2012 University of Waterloo Staff Association board of directors election will close at 5:00 p.m. today. The online ballot requires WatIAM credentials. There are eight candidates for the five available Director positions.

There's still time for faculty and staff to participate in the TravelWise survey about their commuting habits. TravelWise is a Traffic Demand Management (TDM) program offered by the Region of Waterloo to area employers that provides an assortment of transportation tools and services to program members to encourage sustainable transportation to and from work. Survey participants can enter into a draw to win several prizes. The survey is open until Friday, October 19.

Human Resources has reported that retired staff member Olga Sempf died October 13. Olga started working at the university in February 1984. She worked as a Housekeeper in the Married Student Apartments until she retired in August of 1995. Olga is survived by her children. A celebration of her life will take place on Saturday, October 27 at 3:00 p.m. in the Henry Walser Funeral Home Chapel in Kitchener, with visitation to follow.

Information Systems and Technology (IST) is reporting that they have received confirmation from Microsoft that emails from University of Waterloo accounts will no longer be blocked by Hotmail servers. The complete effect is not immediate — it make take between 24 and 48 hours — but early indications are that some email is now getting delivered. The Registrar's Officer intends to re-send any important messages that may have been missed during the blackout. And as it turns out, early reports that Apple's me.com service had also blocked Waterloo emails was not correct, as Apple shut down me.com in the summer, replacing it with the iCloud mail service.

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