Stanford prof to give inaugural Sprott lecture

Professor Art Owen from Stanford University will be giving the inaugural David Sprott Distinguished Lecture on Wednesday, May 14 at 4:00 p.m. in MC1085. The lecture is entitled 'Empirical Likelihood' and the event is being hosted by the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science.

The David Sprott Distinguished Lecture Series was created in recognition of Sprott's tremendous leadership at a formative time for the statistics and actuarial science department, as well as his highly influential research in statistical science. Professor David Sprott was the first Chair (1967-1975) of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo and first Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics (1967-1972). Sprott died in December 2013.

Owen, who obtained his BMath in Statistics and Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in 1981, has held a faculty position at Stanford since 1985. His research interests include empirical likelihood, computer experiments, Monte Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo sampling, as well as high dimensional transposable style data sets that come up in bioinformatics and Internet applications.

"Empirical likelihood" is a method that provides the benefits of a likelihood function without requiring the user to know a parametric family for the data. The data themselves supply their own parametric family at a quick enough rate to make the resulting tests and confidence intervals reliable. This talk will show some examples of how empirical likelihood can be used.

 

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Academic programming town hall on Monday

The fourth in a series of Mini Town Halls will be taking place on Monday, May 12 in DC 1304. The theme focus will be on academic programming, with the event running from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Academic programming theme leads and theme group members Mario Coniglio, associate vice-president, academic, Sue Horton, associate provost, graduate studies, and Cathy Newell Kelly, director of the Centre for Extended Learning will be speaking.

Associate Professor Gord Stubley will be giving a presentation on course evaluations, Associate Professor Cyntha Struthers will be giving a presentation on learning space quality, and Coleen Even, graduate teaching assistant and PhD candidate will be speaking on graduate professional skills. Subject Matter Expert Donna Ellis, director for teaching excellence, will also be on hand.

The town halls are organized to give an opportunity to members of the university community to learn how the Strategic Plan is being put into action as the theme leaders and members of the theme working groups present their progress and also answer questions.

Questions can be submitted in advance to townhall@uwaterloo.ca, and the conversation can be joined using the #UWth hashtag and also by following @uWaterlooLIVE on Twitter. The event will be webcast live, and seating is limited.

 

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Keeping an eye on the roots of vision problems

An excerpt from a piece published on the Waterloo News page.

Abnormal binocular vision, which involves the way eyes work together as a team, increases dramatically as we age, according to research from the University of Waterloo. The study also found a correlation between this condition, general health and antidepressant use.

As many as 27 per cent of adults in their sixties have an actual binocular vision or eye movement disorder. That number rises to 38 per cent for those over age 80. About 20 per cent of the general population suffers from a binocular vision disorder, which affects depth perception and therefore may increase the risk of falls.

Dr. Susan Leat, a professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at Waterloo led the study, which looked at randomly selected records from 500 older patients over age 60 who received treatment at the school’s on-campus clinic.

“Thirty to 40 per cent of the population is an exceptionally high rate of incidence for any disorder,” said Dr. Leat.

This is the first study to quantify binocular vision loss with age and show a connection with antidepressant use and general health. Conditions such as diabetes and thyroid disease are known to cause such problems, but this is the first study to link binocular vision disorders with overall general health. Similarly other writers have discussed a possible association between certain antidepressant drugs and specific binocular vision disorders, but this is the first study to actually demonstrate a link between antidepressant use and binocular vision and eye movement disorders.

Read the rest of the story on Waterloo News.

 

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Grade 10 students prepare for change

Change really is the only constant.

Waterloo Unlimited's Grade 10 program, with the theme of "Change," gets underway on Sunday, May 11 and will run until Thursday, May 15.

Waterloo Unlimited is a unique enrichment opportunity for high school students in grades 10, 11, and 12 offered by the Centre for Knowledge Integration. Offered during the school year, Unlimited brings together curious, motivated, well-rounded teens from across the country. Students will consider the perspectives of scientists, engineers, writers, philosophers, and others as they examine the dynamics of "Change."

Program components, such as workshops, lectures, and activities, change from year to year but participants can expect to see skills sessions, small groups, seminars, and keynote presentations throughout the week, with recreational activities as well.

 

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Friday's notes

Here's an update to the wind turbine lecture I covered in the Daily Bulletin earlier this week. The talk, by Carmen Krogh, was livestreamed and can be viewed by those who were unable to attend.

A belated death notice from Human Resources: Retired staff member John Van Roon died September 16, 2013. Van Roon began working at Waterloo in May 1991 and was a Co-ordinator for the Engineering faculty in Co-op Education and Career Action. He retired in 2008. He is survived by his spouse, Marjery Ann Van Roon.

The Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries have announced their operating hours for Victoria Day, which will be on Monday, May 19. Both libraries will be open from noon to 6:00 p.m.

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