Velocity Fund Finals winners announced

Palette, a company that created a freeform hardware interface that can be built like Lego to control your favourite software, won the first-ever award for best hardware-based startup at the Velocity Fund Finals, and was one of several big winners at the event.

Hardware is a new category in the competition, and the win also secures the company a place in the upcoming Velocity Foundry. The founders of BufferBox, Mike McCauley, Aditya Bali and Jay Shah, who continue to be active with Velocity startups as volunteers and donors, inspired the new award.

“We’re very thankful to the BufferBox founders for their generous support of the Velocity community,” said Mike Kirkup, director of Velocity. “They have demonstrated the full scope of giving back with their time, mentorship and financial support. It’s amazing to have such great entrepreneurial talent helping us foster the next wave of startups coming out of Waterloo.”

Palette joins three other startups that won grants worth $25,000 and a spot to grow their businesses at Velocity. Ten startups competed.

The three other winners of the grants worth $25,000 are:

PetroPredict - A well integrity prediction engine for the oil and gas industry that enables subsurface engineers to identify low capital, high reward optimization opportunities in their fields.

Sparkgig - An online marketplace for hiring performers.

TrendRadius - Provides product management software as a service, including market insights and analytics, for companies to create profitable products that their customers love.

"It's a big day for us," said Ashish Bidadi, co-founder of Palette. "We were so looking forward to competing today. Now we have the additional support and funding we need to accelerate our product development and manufacturing."

Another 10 young entrepreneurs from the University of Waterloo pitched their startup ideas for one of three grants worth $1,000 each. The winners are:

• Best Pitch: Focus ONCare, developing a mobile health application for cancer patients to track their symptoms, receive recommendations for managing side effects, and put them in direct contact with their health care team
• People’s Choice and Most Innovative: NewAllergy Technologies, focused on developing a convenient patch for allergy testing.

The teams each had three minutes to pitch their startup ideas to the panel of judges. At least one founder on a pitching team must be a current student or a graduate of the University of Waterloo within the past year. Velocity takes no intellectual property rights or equity in return.

 

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Disclosure: $100,000 salaries for 2013

The University of Waterloo has released a list of the 1,139 employees who were paid more than $100,000 in 2013.

Public-sector employers in Ontario are required to publish the list every March since the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act was passed in 1996. Other universities, school boards, hospitals, colleges, municipalities, and the government itself are making similar information for last year public this week.

The $100,000 list includes most of Waterloo's professors, and a number of staff members and senior administrators. It includes people employed by St. Jerome's University, Renison University College, Conrad Grebel University College and St. Paul's University College as well as by the University of Waterloo itself. The list has grown by 7.3% since 2012.

In addition to the salary, a figure is given for taxable benefits received by each individual, for such extras as employer-paid life insurance.

Last year's salary disclosure is also available online.

 

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Updated pension estimates now available

Members of the University's pension plan can now obtain pension estimates on myPENSIONinfo based on the new plan provisions that came into effect January 1 of this year, according to a message sent to plan members by Human Resources today.

January 1, 2014 marks the change to the Final Average Earnings and the increased pension cap.

The pension calculation tool can be accessed through the HR website by clicking on the myPENSIONinfo link on the right side of the home page.  

If you experience any difficulties using myPENSIONinfo or have any pension related questions, get in touch with Human Resources via email.

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Waterloo, Harvard physicists’ eureka moment

by Victoria Van Cappellen.

Physicists from the University of Waterloo, Harvard and the Perimeter Institute have brought us one step closer to developing the world’s first room-temperature superconductor. Their theory explains the transition phase to superconductivity, or “pseudogap” phase, which is one of the last obstacles to developing the next generation of superconductors.

Their work was published in this week’s issue of the prestigious journal Science.

The team includes Professor Roger Melko, Professor David Hawthorn and doctoral student Lauren Hayward from Waterloo’s Physics and Astronomy Department, and Harvard Physics Professor Subir Sachev. Roger Melko also holds a Canada Research Chair in Computational Quantum Many-Body Physics.

“This amazing scientific collaboration actually came about by chance over lunch at the Perimeter institute between Subir and myself,” said Hawthorn.

Hawthorn showed Sachdev his latest experimental data on the superconducting material, YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x, which had unexplained temperature dependence. Sachdev had a theory but needed expert help with the complex set of calculations to prove it. That’s where Melko and Hayward stepped in and developed the computer code to solve Sachdev’s equations.

Melko and Sachdev already knew each other through the Perimeter Institute, where Melko is an associate faculty member and Sachdev is a Distinguished Research Visiting Chair.

“The results all came together in a matter of weeks,” said Melko. “It really speaks to the synergy we have between Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute.”

To understand why room-temperature superconductivity has remained so elusive, physicists have turned their sights to the phase that occurs just before superconductivity takes over: the mysterious “pseudogap” phase.

“Understanding the pseudogap is as important as understanding superconductivity itself,” said Melko.

Superconductivity is the phenomenon where electricity flows under zero resistance, and thus no energy loss. But most materials need to be cooled to ultra-low temperatures with liquid helium in order to achieve a superconductive state.

YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x is one of the few materials that is superconducting at higher temperatures. Still, we are unable to achieve superconductivity in this material above -179°C.

In this study, researchers found YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x oscillates between two quantum states during the pseudogap, one of which involves charge-density wave fluctuations. These periodic fluctuations in the distribution of the electrical charges are what destabilize the superconducting state above the critical temperature.

Once the material is cooled below the critical temperature, the strength of these fluctuations falls and the superconductivity state takes over.

Superconducting magnets are currently used in MRI machines and complex particle accelerators, but the cost of cooling materials using Helium makes them very expensive. Materials that achieve superconductivity at a higher temperature could unlock the technology for new smart power grids and advanced power storage units.

Next, the group plans to extend their work both theoretically and experimentally to explain more about the fundamental nature of cuprates.

 

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Board meets tomorrow and other notes

The Board of Governors will be meeting at 1:45 p.m. tomorrow in Room 0101 of the quantum-nano centre for its April 2014 meeting.

The agenda includes informational updates about the University's strategic plan and Strategic Mandate Agreement, and a decision to approve the 2014-2015 Operating Budget.

In addition, the University's Building and Properties Committees has a number of motions, including the approval of a project budget of $47.5 million for the construction of a 500-bed undergraduate student residence to be located on the west parking lot at the existing University of Waterloo Place (UWP) complex. The concept includes a 175,000 square foot building with a full-service dining facility and community space. Building & Properties is also asking the board to approve granting an easement, 0.12 acres in size, to Waterloo North Hydro to service the new daycare centre on the north campus. The board will also consider accepting the transfer of a regional storm water management pond from the Region of Waterloo to the University located on the west side of Bearinger Road.

"The Federation of Students is hosting Wrap-Up Week from March 31 to April 5, 2014," writes Jacqueline Martinz. "The week will be filled with exciting programming including a free pancake breakfast for a number of lucky undergraduates, an afternoon for everyone to show off their Wii skills, and a trip to the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival. Wrap-Up Week will begin with a visit to campus from some furry friends. St. John Ambulance Therapy Dogs will be in the Student Life Centre Multi-purpose room from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to get Monday off to a great start! The full schedule for Wrap-Up Week is available online."  

This just in from the Science Undergrad Office: “The Science Undergrad Office (ESC 253) will be closed tomorrow (Tuesday, April 1) from 2:15-3:15 p.m. due to a staff meeting. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Check the Science current undergraduate students page for our regular hours.”

Today brings us the final Nutrition Month "myth vs. fact" from Health Services dietician Sandra Ace:

Myth:  Dietitians will tell you to stop eating foods you love.

Fact:  Dietitians help you to plan a healthy eating pattern that includes a balance between your nutrition “needs” and “wants.” Most of us have a love of food that comes with the territory, and we are believers that any food can fit when you learn how much and how often. Not only do we believe it, but we practice it on a daily basis. Staff with whom I work know that when birthday or other special occasion treats are brought into Health Services, I will happily indulge. Most also know that if they pop into my office for a visit, I maintain a supply of small, wrapped dark chocolate squares for a little treat. This, however, is balanced against appropriate portions of varied, healthy meals and snacks and a regular exercise schedule that I look forward to about 5 days a week.  RDs aren’t food police; we work to help clients identify small, targeted, measurable and sustainable changes that are steps towards fulfilling personal health goals. This typically means focusing a great deal on what to add, not what you need to give up!

"Thank you for taking the time to share the myths and truths, joys and challenges of food and nutrition," Sandra Ace writes in conclusion. "I look forward to connecting again during Nutrition Month 2015, if not sooner!"

 

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