Professors win Polanyi Prizes

Two researchers from the University of Waterloo working on potential ways to target and kill cancer cells and a new understanding of gravity won prestigious Polanyi Prizes this week.

Drew Bennett, of the Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science, received the prize for chemistry for his research that has the potential to target treatment for people suffering from diseases such as cancer, HIV, Parkinson’s and bacterial infections. Eduardo Martin-Martinez, from the Department for Applied Mathematics and the Institute for Quantum Computing at Waterloo is recognized for his research examining the interconnections of gravity and quantum theory.

“These awards are the highest honour that researchers can achieve from the province of Ontario,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur. “We have created the environment here at the University of Waterloo for people to conduct fundamental research into some of the world’s most pressing problems. These Polanyi Prizes give us an indication that our extraordinarily talented people are on the right track to solving these challenges.”

The Polanyi Prizes were created to celebrate John Charles Polanyi’s 1986 Nobel Prize, and the areas of research they recognize mirror those of the Nobel Prizes. The Ontario government awards $20,000 the winners—post-doctoral researchers in the early stages of their careers.

“The province has been loyal to these prizes for over a quarter of a century, believing that the soil of Ontario is suitable to the cultivation of Nobels,” said Professor Polanyi. “The province is saying something far-sighted, namely that it values the free inquiry essential to discovery. For that, Ontarians owe them a debt of gratitude.”

Drew Bennett’s research has the potential to improve treatment for those with serious diseases such as cancer, HIV, Parkinson’s and bacterial infections.

While promising advances in nanoscale biotechnology are making new drugs and therapies possible, a major hurdle for the effectiveness of known drugs is the ability to target specific diseased cells.

Cancer cells, for example, have negatively charged surfaces. However, throughout nature there are peptides—or small proteins—that are positively charged and help our bodies fight infections.

Bennett’s research uses computer simulations to produce physics-based movies of how individual molecules interact with each other. The simulations provide insight into how peptides target and penetrate cell membranes. The goal is to design new peptides that target and penetrate the membrane of diseased cells, and deliver specific drugs to ultimately kill them.

Bennett’s research will mean a better understanding of peptides, which will hopefully allow delivery of emerging treatments for cancer and other major diseases directly into specific cells, enhancing the success of known drugs and allowing for the development of new therapies.

Eduardo Martin-Martinez’s research explores a new field that combines the two most fundamental pillars of physics —quantum theory and general relativity—to understand the nature of the gravitational interaction and to build new technology that breaks the boundaries of what we thought was possible.

Quantum technologies currently under development will eventually hit a limit, just as today’s computing devices are about to reach their classical limits. Martin-Martinez is one of a handful of researchers already investigating what’s beyond quantum.

Martin-Martinez uses quantum information to study gravity’s effects by combining strands of quantum information science and quantum field theory with general relativity. The research not only helps us to better understand spacetime structure, but could one day help explain how spacetime curvature and quantum theory impact information processing – an important element in quantum computing.

Martin-Martinez was the first to defend a PhD thesis in the field of Relativistic Quantum Information (RQI) and is currently a Research Assistant Professor at the Institute for Quantum Computing and the department Applied Mathematics. He is also a Perimeter Institute Visiting Fellow.

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Funding for staff international experiences

A message from Waterloo International.

It’s certainly true that our students at Waterloo have many opportunities to internationalize their degrees, through study abroad or exchange experiences, service learning trips, co-op terms abroad and much more! However, that leads to the question of what opportunities are there for staff? When do you get a chance to have an international experience while adding something valuable to your work at Waterloo? The answer: NOW!

The University of Waterloo is now offering the Staff International Experience Fund (SIEF) to eligible staff members. The fund supports international engagement of the university community. Funds will be provided for staff initiatives aimed at:

• Providing international experiential opportunities with the goal of deepening Waterloo’s international partnerships; and
• Growing Waterloo’s internationalization knowledge base and activities.

The SIEF is intended to support initiatives related to the goals and objectives articulated in the Global Prominence & Internationalization theme of the University’s Strategic Plan. The funds are available to support initiatives proposed by continuing, non-academic staff and are for projects taking place outside of Canada. 

The application deadline for 2014 is Monday, December 15. The travel must occur before April 30, 2015.

Fund finalists will be notified on December 18, with interviews taking place in early January 2015. The award notification will take place on January 23, 2015.

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On snow, salt, sand, and staying safe

Looking outside your window yesterday you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was January and not November. Ice, snow, and high winds certainly gave the region what for, but look on the bright side: at least we're not in Buffalo.

Plant Operations' Grounds Section has their winter weather equipment at the ready, and as we bow to the inevitable freezing temperatures and worsening weather conditions, all members of the university community should take precautions as they traverse the campus.

Helpfully, the Safety Office has prepared prevention posters that can be printed, placed, and otherwise passed around to remind students, faculty, and staff of the dangers this season poses to unsuspecting pedestrians.

“Watch out for icy conditions,” says one poster that features a picture (right) of the sort of sand bin that sits at many spots near building entrances, parking lots and walkways. “Play your part,” says the poster. “Use sand/salt from the bins." It adds that people on campus should report unsafe walking conditions to the plant operations 24-hour line at ext. 33793.

Another poster encourages all to "give falls the slip" by watching out and avoiding black ice. "Do not get caught by surprise — monitor the weather," the poster says. "Wear winter footwear, even for short walks."

"During storms UW's first priority is main road routes to ensure emergency access and then primary walkways. Attention to some walkways and parking lots may not be possible until at least 24 hours after a storm has subsided," reads the poster. "Keep clear of snow removal equipment for your safety and to expedite their response to storm conditions."

The posters can be requested from the Safety Office by contacting Sheila Hurley.

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All that glitters is gold for iGEM team

By Ziwei Chen, Science Communications.

For the first time, the University of Waterloo’s International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Team won Gold and Best Model at the 2014 Giant Jamboree competition in Boston.

Competing against 225 other entries from more than 32 countries, undergraduate students from the Faculties of Science, Engineering and Mathematics, designed a synthetic bacterium called Staphylocide. It “turns off” the antibiotic resistance gene in MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a common cause of skin infections in hospitals.

For their project, iGEM first tested different silencing genes that would inhibit the expression of the resistance gene in MRSA, then they looked at ways to deliver the gene into a population of MRSA and finally they translated their idea into an antibiotic resistance ointment for patients.

For their excellence in characterization, development and proposed commercialization of Staphylocide, the iGEM team was awarded a Gold medal, placing them in the same ranks as Oxford, Cornell and iGEM founders MIT.

The team also won Best Model for their excellent use of mathematical models and computer simulations to describe the function of their BioBrick parts in Staphylocide.

“Our members are enthusiastic and always strive for excellence. I think that’s part of the Waterloo culture, the idea of ‘why not’ which opens up the possibilities to pursuing bigger and better projects,” says Suzie Alexander, fourth-year Biomedical Sciences student and iGEM Team Director.

A special thanks to Professors Trevor Charles, Barbara Moffatt, Andrew Doxey from the Faculty of Science, Brian Ingalls from the Faculty of Mathematics and Marc Aucoin from the Faculty of Engineering for advising the team. All laboratory work was done by the team in Professor Charles’ lab.

For more details on this year’s project, please go to the Waterloo Science website.

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IEW continues and other notes

International Education Week continues today with the Study Abroad Fair from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Student Life Centre's Great Hall. This annual event caters to students interested in learning more about the different countries they can visit while studying with one of the University of Waterloo's institutional partners, and how to internationalize their education right here at home.

Today's UWRC Book Club meeting also has an international flavour, with a discussion about the late Doris Lessing's The Grass is Singing. The discussion takes place in LIB 407 at 12:00 p.m.

The entire campus is invited to hear the Madawaska Ensemble perform at Conrad Grebel University College today at 12:30 p.m. with a performance that features "the international language of music."  For a full listing of today's IEW events, check the calendar.

WE Innovate, the annual research exhibition of the Faculty of Engineering, will take place today at 4:00 p.m. in the Sedra Student Design Centre. The theme for this year's event is "The Connected Age." Research topics related to the Internet of Things, wearable technology, connected and autonomous vehicles, and other topics will be featured. The event will include an industry keynote, presentations, a research showcase and networking reception.

Bondfield Construction will be closing off one lane of the service road between Needles Hall and the Science Teaching Complex construction site as they proceed with their water service work. The fence will be relocated so the kiosk will have two lanes, which will then be reduced to one lane along the length of the Science Teaching Complex. Weather permitting, the duration of the closure should be about one week.

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