Leaders visit international alumni chapters

by Dana Ciak.

University of Waterloo faculty and staff joined international alumni in Asia over the week of November 26 to December 2 for three annual international alumni chapter events.

Dean of Engineering Pearl Sullivan (pictured above, centre), Dean of Science Terry McMahon, Vice-President Advancement Ken McGillivray (right), Associate Vice-President, International Nello Angerilli, and other delegates from the university had the pleasure of attending the Shanghai Alumni Chapter Annual Networking Event, the University of Waterloo Alumni Association (Hong Kong) Annual Alumni Dinner, and the Singapore Alumni Chapter Annual Fall Networking Reception.

The busy week kicked off in Shanghai where a full house of alumni enjoyed an evening with the senior leaders at the Shanghai Alumni Chapter Annual Networking Event on November 26. Alumni listened to leaders speak about the exciting updates and achievements from campus and Mr. Joseph Tse was in attendance as the Honorary Shanghai Alumni Chapter President, sharing plans about upcoming Shanghai Alumni Chapter activities and his ongoing commitment to his alma mater.

The senior leaders later attended the University of Waterloo Alumni Association (Hong Kong) Annual Alumni Dinner on November 29 at the Regal Kowloon Hotel.  250 alumni mixed and mingled, enjoyed a Western style dinner and reconnected with their fellow Warriors.

The trip wrapped up with the Singapore Alumni Chapter Annual Fall Networking Reception where Ken McGillivray spoke of the latest news from campus, including highlights from the newly released 2013 Strategic Plan.  Alumni were also fortunate to hear from Her Excellency, High Commissioner of Canada to Singapore, Heather Grant.  Ms. Grant spoke about the important relationship between Singapore and Canada. 

With more than 160,000 Waterloo alumni worldwide, events such as these are imperative as Alumni Relations continues to grow and strengthen its network of alumni chapters across the world.

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Developing an action plan for water issues

by Christine Bezruki.

On Monday, November 25, experts from around the world, including the Dean of Applied Health Sciences and the Executive Director of the Water Institute, gathered in Hamilton to discuss the urgent need for innovation to deal with sustainable access to drinking water and sanitation.

Over the last century, water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population. Yet almost one third of the population do not have adequate access to safe drinking water, and more than 1,600 children under the age of five die unnecessarily every day from diarrhea.

At the two-day conference, researchers, policy makers and practitioners exchanged ideas and best practices in order to develop an action plan for addressing the problem in an integrated way. “This is systems thinking at its best. If we get it right, life could be different for hundreds of thousands of people ten years from now,” said Shannon Majowicz, an assistant professor in Applied Health Sciences and one of the conferences facilitators. The conference was funded in part by the University’s Water Institute.

Pictured above: School of Public Health and Health Systems Assistant Professor Shannon Majowicz (left) stands with Robert Gillham, Executive Director of the Water Institute, and Susan Elliott, Dean of Applied Health Sciences, in front of a vision board at the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) conference.

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Hey smartypants, tomorrow's Intelligence Day

The Cognitive Science Program has organized Waterloo Intelligence Day, which will take place tomorrow from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in PAS 2083.

The theme of this event is "Intelligence in Machines, Humans, and Other Animals." Speakers from the University of Waterloo's Computer Science, Systems Design Engineering, Psychology, Anthropology, and Biology departments will be featured, giving lectures on each subject.

Speaking on the topic of machine intelligence will be Shai Ben-David from computer science and Hamid Tizhoosh of systems design engineering.

Speaking on human intelligence will by psychology professors Britt Anderson and Stephanie Denison.

Speaking on animal intelligence will be anthropology professor Nancy Barrickman and Matt van der Meer from biology.

Chairing the event will be Paul Thagard, director of the Cognitive Science Program.

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GreenHouse Open House and other notes

Today, St. Paul's University College is hosting an open house to introduce GreenHouse, a new social innovation community. Launched in September 2013, St. Paul’s GreenHouse is an innovation incubator for University of Waterloo students who want to develop social enterprises that address the world’s greatest environmental and social challenges. Under the guidance of professional mentors and specialized learning opportunities, upper-year undergraduate students from various faculties conceive and implement initiatives that create environmental or social justice change. Students gain valuable skills, build relevant networks, put their academic knowledge into practice, and start on a path to a bold career.

The event will take place from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall.

The Online Expense Claim Project is hosting a Privacy Colloquium tomorrow from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in M3 1006. The project's members have been looking at various ways to improve the expense claim process on campus for students, faculty and staff, and the university is currently considering the adoption of online expense claim processing using Concur, a US-based company. As part of the consultation process, the project has organized the information session on the privacy aspects of going ahead with Concur’s services. Two speakers will deliver remarks: Jim Turk, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, and Fred Carter, Senior Policy and Technology Advisor of the Ontario Privacy Commissioner’s Office. Following their presentations, there will be a question and answer session with a panel that includes the two speakers and other experts.

A reception will follow.

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