We all scream for, well, you know the rest: Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering hosted an appreciation event for its students, faculty and staff last Tuesday, parking a pair of honest-to-goodness ice cream trucks in front of Engineering 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

"It was an event to thank them for choosing Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering as a place to learn and a place to work," writes Andrea Hagedorn, acting administrative officer for the department. "When it was all said and done we had treated over 1,000 students, staff and faculty and friends of MME to an ice cream cone or a slushie. It was a very successful inaugural event."

So, for other departments on campus, this message: your move.

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Co-op alumnus contributes to WatCAR project

by Kaitlyn Holbein.

The Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR) conducts a wide range of innovative automotive research projects. One of these projects includes contributing to the technology in the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA)’s Connected Vehicle Technology Showcase – a demonstration Lexus RX350 that showcases the possibility for vehicles to incorporate new technologies.

Many Canadian partners are involved in this project. Alexandre James, a 2009 Waterloo computer engineering graduate, complemented WatCAR’s efforts by helping to develop core technologies in his role as a software engineer on the Concept Development Team at QNX Software Systems, one of the project’s partner companies.

“QNX provides the operating system for the connected car, as well as the platform to develop in-car entertainment systems. We run the base level of software that connects all of the other technologies together,” explains James.

At its headquarters in Ottawa, QNX has also developed several other concept cars, creating and applying the technology to put into vehicles that then get shipped to trade shows, conferences, customer sites, and media engagements worldwide. James’ position at QNX frequently involves accompanying these vehicles to events across the globe.

James asserts that co-op prepared him for the exciting and varied work that he does with QNX.

“My role at QNX is very broad in scope because I go from coding new algorithms, to working with brand-new hardware, to giving presentations to the CEO of AT&T; I need to have a really well-rounded set of skills and I think my co-op experiences definitely allowed me to do that. I worked at six companies during my co-op terms, all in widely different roles. I’ve done everything from being an embedded engineer, to a software engineer, to a project manager, to a counsellor at a technology camp.”

Based on his time in the Waterloo co-op program, James has a strong piece of advice for current co-ops looking to pursue similarly exciting career paths post-graduation: “Try to get as broad an experience list as possible during your co-op career. Seek out different roles and responsibilities during each work term.”

James insists that even his first work term, as a camp counsellor, helped prepare him for his work at QNX by leading to the acquisition of softer skills that made him stand out from other candidates.

For more information on the projects that James is involved in, take a look at the QNX website or watch this video.

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CDPI announces seed grant award winners

by Laura Holtby.

Thank you to all the teams who submitted an application for this round of Waterloo’s Chronic Disease Prevention Initiative (CDPI) Seed Fund Award. The initiative offers seed grants of up to $10,000 to bring together new multidisciplinary teams and increase their success in applications for external funding. 

We are pleased to announce that 8 multidisciplinary teams were successful this round.  Teams include researchers from 15 different departments or research centres across campus.

To check out the diverse range of projects that are presented, go to the CDPI-Seed Funding page.

More information about the CDPI is available online.

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Notes on the last day of lectures

Course Selection Week is in full swing this week for students selecting their winter 2015 courses. Instructions are available on the Registrar’s Office website.

The Registrar's Office has also send a reminder notification to students who are taking fall 2014 courses at Wilfrid Laurier University that those courses begin on Thursday, September 4, while courses at Waterloo begin on Monday, September 8.

The Tim Hortons location in the Student Life Centre is closed for renovation for approximately six weeks. Those requiring caffeination are being directed to a self-serve kiosk in Brubakers for the time being, or they can head to other coffee-dispensing locations nearby.

Food Services has also recently expanded its debit operations to the Tim Hortons locations in the Davis Centre and South Campus Hall, joining Brubakers, Subway, Browsers Williams, and Pastry Plus Coop.

Paul Hayes is retiring this month after 33 years with the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department as a Lab Technologist/Lab Instructor/Lab Coordinator, and friends and colleagues are invited to a coffee and cake reception on Thursday, July 31 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in EIT 3142. Hayes joined what was then called the Electrical Engineering department in 1981.

Information Systems & Technology (IST) has announced that updates will be made to the MySharePoint service to complete the migration of existing usernames into the new authentication format. The update process will begin at 8:00 p.m. tonight and will take several hours to complete. Personal SharePoint sites within the MySharePoint service will be unavailable during the maintenance window, but the main SharePoint sites will continue to be available.

Anyone with questions or concerns should contact the IST Service Desk by email or by calling ext. 84357.

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