Reddit's founder upvotes Waterloo tonight

Alexis Ohanian, founder of social media website reddit, is set to speak to students at the University of Waterloo tonight.

Ohanian will address an audience of students, entrepreneurs and community members to motivate and inspire the next generation of change-makers and innovators.

Promoting his new book, "Without Their Permission," Ohanian promises that the tour is the exact opposite of a traditional book tour. The week before his visit to Waterloo, he engaged with users on the University of Waterloo subreddit to source topics for his keynote address. Waterloo is the first Canadian university on his tour of more than 70 universities.

In an interview, Ohanian said Waterloo’s cooperative education program – the largest in the world – supports its “culture of doing” and is likely a reason for the high level of entrepreneurial activity on its campus.

During the visit he will also spend time with student entrepreneurs offering exclusive mentoring and advice.

Ohanian, a startup founder and investor, started reddit with co-founder Steve Huffman after graduating from the University of Virginia in 2005. Now a reddit board member, Ohanian focuses on social enterprise Breadpig, publishing authors such as xkcd and SMBC - with profits donated to worthy causes.

His talk will take place in the Davis Centre at 8:00 p.m. A book signing and networking event will follow. Copies of Without Their Permission will be available for purchase on-site.

 

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Suncor award winners honoured at banquet

Suncor Energy and the University of Waterloo partnered to celebrate the 2013-2014 recipients of the Suncor Energy Emerging Leaders Award with an awards banquet held at the University Club on Thursday, November 14.

The event brought together both new and renewed award winners from the faculties of Science and Engineering, along with deans Terry McMahon, Pearl Sullivan, and Howard McIntyre, Suncor Energy’s Vice President, Lubricants, who served as Master of Ceremonies. This year, there were 29 recipients in total, including 5 new entrance scholarship winners and 24 returning or renewed awardees.

Pictured above are (l-r) Pearl Sullivan (Dean of Engineering), Andrew Assatory (first-year Chemical Engineering), Sally Dong (first-year, Civil Engineering), Saad Rehman (first-year Mechanical Engineering), Sajani Shah (first-year Science and Business), Simran Singh Wasu (first-year Mechanical Engineering), Howard McIntyre (Vice-President Lubricants, Suncor), and Terry McMahon (Dean of Science).

“Suncor is a big supporter of Waterloo’s talented students,” said McIntyre. “Our primary goals are to attract, retain, and grow our internal talent and grads of Waterloo resonate with these three pieces.”

Over the last decade, Suncor Energy has contributed $1M to establish the Suncor Emerging Leaders Awards with an endowment that ensures that the awards can be given to deserving students in perpetuity. To date, 64 students in chemical engineering, civil & environmental engineering, science and business, and earth & environmental sciences have received the award.

“It’s really great that Suncor stands behind its student award winners,” said Sajani Shad, Science and Business student and first-time recipient of the Emerging Leaders Award. “Because of their help, it’s one step closer to helping us achieve our goals, and makes a big impact in our journey.”

 

Suncor Energy and the University of Waterloo also collaborate on such initiatives as Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo, a five-year social innovation project located in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and the 9^th Annual Fusion Conference, held by the Faculty of Science.

 

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Waterloo supports We Day

by Jenn Zehr.

On November 20, the University of Waterloo was a proud sponsor of We Day Waterloo Region. The event welcomed 8,000 local youth and educators to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in support of Free the Children, a Canadian-based charity that works both domestically and internationally to empower and enable youth to be agents of change.

Over 30 Waterloo students and staff gave back to our community and volunteered at We Day.

"We Day gave me the opportunity to make the most out of a day of volunteering, said Elle Crevits, a third-year Peace and Conflict Studies student. "Not only did I get to be the change I want to see in the world by volunteering but I got to inspire thousands of youth in the area to be the change they want to see in the world."

Staff from Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment spoke with many prospective students and change-makers about how a passion for helping others and international development can be turned into a career while studying at Waterloo.

We Day is an educational event that inspires young people to lead local and global change and is tied to the yearlong We Act program, which offers curricular resources, campaigns and materials to help turn the day’s inspiration into sustained activation at the local level.

Speakers and performers that appeared included Shawn Desman, Nelly Furtado, Molly Bourke and Martin Luther King III.

 

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Friday's fun and games

A Warrior earns his stripes: Former University of Waterloo student and Campus Recreation referee T.J. Luxmore (right) made his debut as an official in the National Hockey League last night in Detroit. Luxmore, who worked in many different capacities for campus rec, stepped onto the ice wearing the stripes for the Nashville Predators in a game against the Detroit Red Wings.

Luxmore was an intramural referee, referee-in-chief, and convenor at Waterloo while officiating over 500 campus rec games. Upon graduating from the department of science, Luxmore turned his attention to developing as a referee and quickly climbed the ranks.

After spending time in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League), Luxmore made the leap to the ECHL (East Coast Hockey League) and spent two seasons there. In September 2012, Luxmore's dream came true being named to the NHL officiating crew. Luxmore then spent a full year of development in NHL's farm league (AHL).

Human Resources is reporting that the following staff members retired as of Friday, November 1:

• Maria Mendes, who started working at the university in January 1986, retires as Custodian in Plant Operations;
• Gina Yun, who started at the university in October 1988, retires as Administrative Assistant in the Dean of Mathematics office; and
• Kevin Stewart, who began working at the University of Waterloo in February 1991, retired as Director of the Safety Office.

 

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