Waterloo scientists receive top NSERC awards

by Victoria Van Cappellen.

Two Waterloo scientists were honored at an official ceremony at Rideau Hall Monday, February 3, hosted by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Governor General of Canada, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston.

Biology Professor Brian Dixon (pictured at left with the Governor General), Canada Research Chair in Fish and Environmental Immunology, was awarded the 2013 NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation.

He shares the prize as part of a multidisciplinary team with Yellow Island Aquaculture, Ltd. and six other Canadian researchers for their work on improved aquaculture practices.

Thanks to this collaborative research, Yellow Island Aquaculture is the first commercial salmon farm in Canada to convert to producing 100 per cent organic native Pacific Chinook salmon.

Additionally, master’s student Jean-Philippe MacLean (right), from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, also received the NSERC 2013 André Hamer Postgraduate prize.

MacLean joined Waterloo in September 2013 after completing his undergraduate studies at McGill and is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Resch.

His work involves using carefully stretched pulses of light called chirped laser pulses to study the quantum phenomenon of entanglement. Einstein famously referred to this phenomenon as “spooky action at a distance.”

MacLean’s results have the potential to advance communications, cryptography and quantum computing and to improve the precision of three-dimensional medical imaging.

Congratulations, Prof. Dixon and Jean-Philippe, for winning these prestigious awards!

Photographs courtesy of MCpl Vincent Carbonneau, Rideau Hall.

 

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Career Action offers staff workshops

by Caitlin Feehan.

Do you think that Centre for Career Action workshops are only for students?

Think again, because they’re also widely available to staff members at the University of Waterloo! Some of the workshops offered include information about:

• Leveraging your strengths for career success;
• Creating a comprehensive LinkedIn Profile; and
• Volunteer opportunities on campus.

You can find the full list of workshops complete with dates and times online.

Take advantage of these practical and valuable workshops by registering. Attendance for some sessions is limited, so register early!

 

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Seeking nominations for senate and board

The Secretariat is requesting nominations for faculty and graduate students to the University's Senate, including:

• Faculty Representatives to be elected by/from each faculty of the University, with a term beginning May 1, 2014 to April 30, 2017;
• Seven Faculty-at-Large Representatives to be elected by/from the members of faculty of the University, with a term beginning May 1, 2014 to April 30, 2017;
• One Faculty Representative from Renison University College and St. Jerome's University to be elected by/from the members of faculty of Renison University College, with a term beginning May 1, 2014 to April 30, 2017; and
• Two Graduate Student Representatives to be elected by/from the full- and part-time graduate students of the University, with a term beginning May 1, 2014 to April 30, 2016.

Completed nomination forms (at least five nominators are required in each case) should be submitted to the Secretariat, Needles Hall, Room 3060, no later than 3:00 p.m., Friday, February 28. Elections will follow if necessary.

In addition, with the conclusion of Mark Walker's term on the University's Board of Governors as of April 30 of this year, the Secretariat is requesting nominations for one member of the University's full-time staff to be elected by the full-time staff members of the university, for a term that will run from May 1 2014 to April 30, 2017.

Completed nomination forms (at least five nominators are required in each case) should be submitted to the Secretariat, Needles Hall, Room 3060, no later than 3:00 p.m., Friday, February 28. An election will follow if necessary.

 

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What makes a teacher a really great teacher?

That is the question for this year's Loving to Learn Day, scheduled for Friday, February 14, and the Centre for Teaching Excellence wants to hear your answer.

Loving to Learn Day is an annual event that encourages everyone to celebrate their love of learning. First established at the University of Waterloo in 2006, Loving to Learn Day has spread to other universities in Canada and Australia.

Each year, the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) puts out the calls for an answer to a teaching-related question to the community, asking students ranging from Kindergarten right up to college and university to submit their responses. You don’t even have to be a student to participate: the contest is open to all members of the community.

Here’s what CTE says about this year’s question:

“To get started, you might think about teachers that you admire or have learned a lot from: what was it about them that helped you learn so much? Were they patient? Funny? Caring? Friendly? Knowledgeable? Were they good at explaining things? Did they ask lots of questions? Were they enthusiastic? Did they have you work in groups? Did they talk to you outside of class? Did they use good examples? Did you feel like you could trust them? Were they available when you had questions? Did they have high expectations? Did they give you lots of homework? Did they let you rewrite tests? Whatever it was that made them great teachers, write it down!”

Responses, which should be one to three paragraphs in length, can be focused on schoolteachers, coaches or other extracurricular educators (piano or guitar teachers, etc.) or anyone who has ever taught you something.

Responses should be sent via email to Mark Morton. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, February 11. The email subject line should be “Loving to Learn Day contest." Winners will receive a book prize.

 

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Performances, political and otherwise

"The Federation of Students’ elections will be taking place from February 11 to 13, 2014," says a reminder note from the Feds' Jacqueline Martinz. "To ensure students know what the candidates have planned for the 2014-2015 year, the Executive Debate is being held on February 5 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the SLC Great Hall."

At this debate, the current Feds executive will ask the candidates questions. Students are encouraged to attend so they are aware of the candidates’ positions on issues including student space, sustainability on campus, and more before voting period.

More information about elections and voting is available online.

This year's FASS (Faculty, Alumni, Staff and Students) performance, "The Last of FASS," hits the stage of the Humanities Theatre starting tomorrow for a three-day run. Showtimes are:

• Thursday, February 6 at 8:00 p.m.
• Friday, February 7 at 7:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
• Saturday, February 8, 2014 at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now through the Humanities Theatre Box Office (519-888-4908). General admission is $10 in advance and $12 at the door. The Thursday Night Special is $6.99 in advance, $9 at the door, and $2 for first-year students. Groups of 10 or more will pay $6.99 in advance and $9 at the door.

The university's amateur theatre company, FASS has been making the campus laugh ever since the first show in March of 1963.

And the UpStart 14: Festival of Innovative Theatre starts its run tomorrow at 7:00 p.m., with shows on Friday, February 7, Thursday, February 13, and Friday, February 14 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 8 and Saturday, February 15 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., in HH180. More details about the festival of one-act plays is online.

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