Waterloo Innovation Summit begins

The second annual Waterloo Innovation Summit kicks off today. Over the next two days, thought leaders both local and global will gather to facilitate the expansion of an innovation culture through the continued development of technologies, approaches, and industries. There will be speakers, panels, keynotes, and networking opportunities at the event, which is being held at the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre.

This summit aims to explore what goes into the making of a great innovation economy from the perspective of business leaders, budding entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and international collaborators. The agenda is packed with commentaries, spotlight sessions, discussions and presentations.

The summit gets underway at 1:00 p.m. with opening remarks by President Feridun Hamdullahpur, Peter Braid, MP for Kitchener-Waterloo, and Minister Gary Goodyear. The first presentation will be by Whitney Rockley, entitled "The Industrial Internet of Things: The Next Revolution" at 1:30 p.m. followed by a spotlight talk by Tom Jenkins, "Building the OpenText Brand." The day's first keynote presentation begins at 2:42 p.m. with Nagraj Kashyap speaking on "Corporate Venture Capital and Host Areas of Innovation."

Following a break,  Helge Seetzen will give a presentation titled "Technology Commercialization for the 21st Century," with a spotlight session with Matt Rendall entitled "Advanced Robotics." Another spotlight session with Ehsan Toyserkani, "Additive Manufacturing", will precede a panel discussion called "Commercializing Innovation for Next-Generation Additive Manufacturing and Advanced Robotics." Wal Van Lierop will then deliver the day's second keynote presentation, "Sustainable Innovation and Energy Tech for Large Industries in Transition."

Following dinner, summit attendees will view a screening of "Startup Community: A documentary about Kitchener-Waterloo at the Chrysalids Theatre.

The event will be livestreamed on the innovation summit's website, and there will be live chats on social media throughout the day, including a Twitter chat featuring speakers form the summit. For those who would like to keep tabs on the summit, the hashtag is #WINS14. Content generated during the summit will appear on the event's blog.

 

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Vancouver alumni chapter launched

by Dana Ciak.

President Feridun Hamdullahpur and Alumni Relations joined 200 alumni on Thursday, April 10 at the HR MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver to celebrate the launch of the University of Waterloo’s 10^th Alumni Chapter.

Showcasing that Waterloo is a leader in addressing climate change, alumni and guests enjoyed a screening of the documentary Chasing Ice.

Executive producer and alumnus David Cornfield (BASc '85) introduced this remarkable film which follows the journey of world-renowned photographer James Balog capturing time-lapsed images of melting ice caps in Greenland, Iceland and Alaska over a span of 3 years.  Through this imagery, Chasing Ice captures the devastating effects that global warming is having on glaciers. The documentary screening was followed by a discussion with Professor Richard Kelly from Waterloo's Geography and Environmental Management Department and David Cornfield.

 “I am always trying to make an impact by looking for opportunities where my contributions can be most effective,” explains Cornfield, “Chasing Ice is one such opportunity because it is a great vehicle to change minds and motivate action and I am honored to share the film with the innovative, critical-thinking alumni of the University of Waterloo.”

Alumni Relations would like to thank the hard-working Vancouver chapter volunteers who have been working to build alumni engagement in the Vancouver area over the past years and as a result of their momentum, Alumni Relations was able to launch the 10^th Alumni Chapter.

For more information on Waterloo’s Alumni Chapters visit the Alumni Chapter website.

 

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Find out who's who at WaterWHO?

by Jacqueline Martinz.

The Federation of Students and the Student Success Office are hosting a special event for staff and faculty. WaterWHO? will be held on Thursday, April 24 at 10:00 a.m. in the Student Life Centre Multi-purpose room as a networking event for those who work in student leadership.

The aim of WaterWHO? is to encourage knowledge sharing by providing a focused overview of the people who work within the student leadership realm. “Each presenter will give a 60 second pitch of what they do, how they can help others, and what opportunities they’re looking for. You can talk about whatever you want, but the more related the pitch is to student leadership, the better,” says Brendan Lowther, student-run services manager for Feds. “There are so many different departments on campus that touch on the leadership aspect of student life. We hope this event can be an ongoing effort to share what we do with each other.”

Participants will also be able to use one PowerPoint slide to enhance their information (or share pictures of their dog, whatever!). After the pitch portion, there will be time to setup further discussions, and explore future coordination efforts.

More information about WaterWHO? including how to register is available online.

Image courtesy of the Federation of Students.

 

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Volunteerism alive and well at Waterloo

by Whitney Albright, Senior Development Officer, Family Campaign

In celebration of National Volunteer Week (April 6-12, 2014) Keystone Campaign committee volunteers gathered last Thursday at the University Club for a recognition lunch, celebrating the time and talent they generously offer throughout the year. The Keystone Campaign relies on volunteer support in many ways, such as helping to coordinate on-campus events and special initiatives like Treat-a-Gram, to create donor spotlights and to help spread the word about why support from our campus community is so important.

Pictured above are Carrie Ann Nickerson, Lauren Ward, Terrence Birmingham, Sandra Rivers, Brian Dietrich, Paul McKone, special guest Barbara Schumacher, Karina Graf, and Jordyn Gray-McGinnis.

Describing her experience, Gloria Pageau, Keystone volunteer says, “Becoming a volunteer with the Keystone Campaign is an opportunity to meet others with similar ideals.  It is an excellent way to collaborate and develop team building skills with a common goal of improving life for the whole campus community. There is an inner satisfaction knowing your efforts helped others and that’s one reason volunteers come forward.”

Thank you to our amazing volunteers!

The Keystone Campaign engages and inspires the campus community in philanthropy. Every year, our family of faculty, staff and retirees donates over 1 million dollars and countless volunteer hours to support the University of Waterloo.

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Monday's notes

University historian Kenneth McLaughlin was recently honoured with the Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement.

McLaughlin, who in 2009 received the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus after a long career in the Waterloo history department and at St. Jerome’s University, is the author of two books about the history of this institution—Waterloo: The Unconventional Founding of an Unconventional University and Out of the Shadow of Orthodoxy: Waterloo@50—as well as a history of St. Jerome's University, and several works about communities in Waterloo Region.

Read the full story in the Waterloo Chronicle.

Human Resources is reporting that retiree Zhihua Gu died on Monday, April 7. A graduate of Fudang University in China, Gu started working at the University in May 1985 after completing his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Waterloo, working as research engineer until his retirement in 2006. He is survived by his spouse, Darang Gu, also a Waterloo retiree.

 

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