Time running out for 3MT registration

Attention graduate students: the deadline to register to compete in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition is tomorrow.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a university-wide competition for research-based masters and doctoral students at the University of Waterloo. 

Competitors have 1 static slide and 3 minutes to explain the breadth and significance of their graduate research to a non-specialist audience. 

Why participate?

• $1,000 prize for the winner, and the opportunity to compete at the 3MT provincial finals at Western University, London.
• $500 for the runner up.
• Networking opportunities: discuss your research with other graduate students, faculty, and members of the general community, and increase awareness of your research.
• Skills training: become a better presenter.

Register by Friday, January 30 to compete. 

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia.

Participants can also register for 3MT presentation coaching sessions and workshops, with a deadline for Friday, February 6. The coaching sessions will take place on Wednesday, February 11.

Faculty-based heats will begin on Monday, February 23 and run until Friday, March 13. The University-wide finals will take place on Thursday, April 2 in the Humanities Theatre.

The winner of the Waterloo 3MT will attend the provincial finals, held at Western University, on Thursday, April 23, and some time after that the Ontario provincial winner will compete in the Canadian 3MT National finals.

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Manage debt with an EnRICHing experience

Anyone looking to be financially smarter and more business-savvy will have the opportunity to learn from two successful entrepreneurs at an event hosted by Student Awards & Financial Aid on Monday, February 2.

The event will kick off the launch of the EnRICHed Start program at the University of Waterloo. EnRICHed Start is a video-based learning program that teaches young people how to manage credit, save money effectively, and invest wisely. Designed to help students get out of debt, it will also open doors for students to become successful entrepreneurs and investors in the future.

“This program will give students a framework to help control their financial future,” says Maureen Jones, director of Student Awards & Financial Aid.

Coming to speak at this event will be EnRICHed Start founder Kevin Cochran, who will share his story of being saddled with crippling debt at 21 years old and how he learned financial literacy to turn it around and pay it all back.

Also making an appearance will be Bruce Croxon, the founder of dating site Lavalife and a former Dragon’s Den panelist. Croxon will be there to offer his wisdom to young entrepreneurs in the crowd, as well as talk about life in the Dragon’s Den.

The EnRICHed Start kick-off event will be held at the Theatre of the Arts in the Modern Languages building from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, February 2. It will also be streamed live in the Student Life Centre.

The Student Awards & Financial Aid Office will be closed from 2:30 p.m. for the event.

Register online for the event or get more details from the Student Awards & Financial Aid website. 

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Funding success in finding structural failures

Research from the University of Waterloo that will promote early detection of structural failures in bridges, piers and tunnels is among the projects receiving support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

Professor Sriram Narasimhan, from the Faculty of Engineering at Waterloo, will receive $100,000 for his research into smart infrastructure. He is cross-appointed to Waterloo’s departments of civil and environmental engineering and mechanical and mechatronics engineering.

“Detecting hazards early is crucial to prevent potentially disastrous outcomes,” said Professor Narasimhan, also Canada Research Chair in Smart Infrastructure. “CFI’s investment gives us the ability to establish an experimental laboratory space to remotely assess infrastructure and conduct better research in the field.”

Professor Narasimhan aims to address the technical challenges involved in catching infrastructure failures early by using sensors and smart data acquisition technology for automatic detection of issues.  These advanced monitoring and assessment technologies will evaluate, better predict and ultimately help us avoid catastrophic failures caused by natural and man-made hazards.

“When the country’s researchers have access to state-of-the-art tools and facilities, they can ask bold questions, find remarkable answers and apply them in new and often unexpected ways,” said Gilles Patry, president and CEO of CFI. “Their discoveries and innovations further Canada’s reputation as a nation known for its research excellence.”

The funds are awarded through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund, a fund developed to help universities attract and retain top research talent.

Photograph of the 35W Bridge Collapse by kj415 available on Flickr. This work is licensed under a creative commons attribution, non-commercial licence.

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Water, housing, architecture, other needs

The Water Institute will host Professor Thomas Harter, the Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair in Water Management and Policy, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California at Davis, for a Water Institute Lecture today entitled "Future of Groundwater Management in California" at 2:30 p.m. in DC 1302.

Professor Harter's research focuses on nonpoint-source pollution of groundwater, on groundwater resources evaluation under uncertainty, on groundwater modeling, and on contaminant transport. Professor Harter's research group has done extensive modeling, laboratory, and field work to evaluate the impacts of agriculture and human activity on complex aquifer and soil systems.

The lecture will be available via webcast.

A new project studying the housing challenges facing young adults and Millennials in urban environments will be the topic of a panel discussion today. Professor Markus Moos from the Faculty of Environment leads the project, called Generationed City.

“Expensive housing also makes it more difficult to attract and retain workers—many young people do move to expensive cities but once they are looking at more permanent homes, or perhaps start having children, more affordable markets do win out," says Professor Moos. "This phenomenon is contributing to longer commutes, and the associated congestion, air pollution, and expense of infrastructure provision into sprawling suburbs. We need to re-think and re-design our entire housing system.”

The panel discussion will take place at 1:00 p.m. at the School of Planning. Refreshments and informal discussions with the panelists will start at 12:30 p.m. For more information on the panel, please visit the event website. Registration for the event is now closed, but the discussion will be available live online.

The latest entry in the Winter 2015 Arriscraft Lecture Series will feature David Benjamin of The Living in New York today at 7:00 p.m. in the School of Architecture's Lawrence Cummings Lecture Theatre.

Benjamin is a Principal of the architecture firm The Living and an assistant professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Winners of this year's MoMA PS1 competition with their project Hy-Fi, The Living brings new technologies to life in the built environment, through their integration of design innovation and sustainability within the public realm. The Living believes cities and buildings are living, breathing organisms and as such, within the context of rapid change and new urban challenges, that design should generate living, breathing ecosystems.

Their clients include the City of New York, Seoul Municipal Government, Airbus, Nike, 3M, Quantified Self, and Miami Science Museum.

The Important Dates chart for Undergraduate students for the 2015–2016 academic calendar year—September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2016—has been uploaded to the Quest website and is now available for perusal.

The University of Waterloo Recreation Committee (UWRC) and Athletics are offering Waterloo employees free tickets to a pair of upcoming varsity games this weekend. The Warriors Women's hockey team will be facing off against Brock on Saturday, January 31 at 2:30 p.m. at the Columbia Ice Fields Arena, and the Volleyball Warriors will be taking the court against McMaster, with the women's team playing at 6:00 p.m. and the men's team playing at 8:00 p.m. in the Physical Activities Complex. Athletics has offered Waterloo employees 100 free tickets to each game. To reserve free tickets, RSVP to Jenny Mackay. There is a limit of 4 tickets per person while supplies last.

Check out the UWRC website for more details about these and other events.

Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include: SMART Technologies, Vena Solutions, BlueDot, National Instruments, Wattpad, Influitive Corporation, Indeed, Sofina Foods Inc., RBC Capital Markets Technology, Bloomberg LP, MediaMath and Two Sigma.

Visit the info sessions calendar for more information.

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