Waterloo’s Olympic hopefuls — and helpfuls

When the 2010 Olympics begin on Friday, more than a few people with University of Waterloo connections will be there, either competing or supporting the competitions. Perhaps the best-known is Heather Moyse (BSc ’00), brakeman on the Canadian women’s bobsleigh team. The kinesiology grad and former rugby player (as seen in this photo by Paul Seiser) was profiled in the fall 2008 issue of Waterloo Magazine.

“In university, she was a three-time All-Canadian, and led both her track and rugby teams to provincial and national championships. And, after a mere five months of experience in bobsledding, she qualified for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino,” where she and her teammate “missed the podium by a heart-wrenching five-hundredths of a second.”

Moyse, who lives in Summerside, P.E.I., recently won her third medal of the World Cup bobsleigh season with a silver in Konigssee, Germany, on January 9. The women’s bobsleigh competition will begin on February 23 in Whistler.

Justin Lamoureaux, a former mechanical engineering student, will compete in the halfpipe snowboard. The Squamish, B.C. resident has been a member of the national team for more than 10 years and finished 21st overall at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

A grad with a high-profile non-athletic presence at the Games is Omer Arbel (BES ’98, BArch ’00), a Vancouver-based architect and industrial engineer who co-created the distinctive gold, silver, and bronze medals that will be presented to the winners of the Games.

His design idea and that of First Nations artist Corrine Hunt were chosen from among 48 submissions, and they were asked to work together. Arbel incorporated a different portion of Hunt’s paintings of an orca and a raven into each of 1,014 medals (615 for the Olympics and 399 for the Paralympics), making each medal unique.

Also unique is the wavy surface of the discs, meant to suggest the Canadian landscape. During their manufacture by the Royal Canadian Mint, each medal was struck nine times to create the undulations. At more than 500 grams each, the medals are among the heaviest in the history of the games.

The man responsible for bringing the Olympic Village into existence is Brent Toderian (BES ’92), director of planning for the City of Vancouver, hired by the city in 2006 to guide its explosive growth. In a profile in the fall 2009 issue of Waterloo Magazine, he described the challenge as “a dream job. We are still struggling with many tough issues, but the learning has been tremendous. This knowledge will be the legacy of the Olympic Village.”

Toderian will also guide the village’s transformation after the Games into a mixed-use community with mid-rise buildings clustering around courtyards, green roofs and heat recovery systems, and generous public spaces.

Other Waterloo people are Olympic volunteers

Anita Venugopal (BSc ’96), a physiotherapist and sports medicine specialist who works at the Waterloo Sports Medicine Centre and helps out at the university with Varsity athletes, will treat injured speed skaters at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

Rich Robinson (BSc ’93), a chiropractor who practices in Calgary, will work with Team Canada’s freestyle skiing, speed skating, alpine ski, and women’s hockey teams.

David Guscott (BES ’72), a planning grad who has had a distinguished public service career spanning seven Ontario ministries, most recently as deputy minister of communications and special projects, and associate secretary of cabinet for the Government of Ontario, is a member of the Olympic Organizing Committee.

Sarah Van Allen, a first-year kinesiology student and varsity rugby player at Waterloo, was one of 12,000 people across the country to run in the Olympic Torch Relay. Her torchbearing stint took place in Stratford on December 27.

Denis Van Decker (BASc ’85) and his wife Anne-Marie Finn are one of three Canadian families chosen to report live, online from the Olympics about the families of Canadian Olympic athletes. They were chosen through Petro-Canada's Family Program, which provides money for 500 athletes' family members to attend the games. A chemical engineering grad, Decker edited the Iron Warrior while a student. This website links to their blogs and tweets.

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Tim Jackson will head Accelerator Centre

from an Accelerator Centre media release

The Accelerator Centre (AC) in the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park has announced the appointment of Tim Jackson as CEO and associate vice president of commercialization at the university.

Jackson, who previously served as vice-chair of the AC board of directors, replaces Tom Corr, recently appointed president and CEO of the Ontario Centres of Excellence.

Jackson, an experienced entrepreneur, is co-founder and partner of Tech Capital Partners, a Waterloo-based venture capital firm focused on building world-class technology companies — specifically in the wireless, communications, new media and Internet sectors. Prior to Tech Capital Partners,  Jackson was CFO and CEO of PixStream, where he successfully raised more than $60 million in equity capital and negotiated the $550-million sale of the company to Cisco, one of the largest technology company acquisitions in Canadian history.

He will assume his new Accelerator Centre and university responsibilities in addition to continuing in his partner role with Tech Capital Partners.

"We are tremendously pleased to welcome Tim Jackson into the Accelerator Centre's CEO role,” says Ian McPhee, AC board chair. “I have had the privilege of working with Tim at the board level for a number of years, and his work at Tech Capital Partners in support of entrepreneurs and in commercializing and funding emerging technologies has positioned him for this new, expanded role with the Accelerator Centre and University of Waterloo.”

Waterloo President David Johnston says: "We are thrilled to welcome Tim Jackson to Waterloo's commercialization team and to the Accelerator Centre. His dynamism and passion for entrepreneurship have been instrumental in building Waterloo Region's technology leadership on the world stage, and his hands-on leadership will be invaluable in advancing commercialization technologies incubated within the university setting."

"Tim's technology leadership and success in commercializing technology is simply inspiring,” says George Dixon, Waterloo vice-president of university research. “His extensive expertise and insight will be a great asset not only to colleagues at the University of Waterloo, but also to those in the broader academic community across the region."

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Winter's end in sight; other notes

It's mid-February, it's snowing, and spring is a distant dream: or is it? The Registrar's Office has posted the final exam schedule for the winter term, along with advice on what to do if your schedule is overstuffed. Exams run April 9 to 23.

Graphics sends out this reminder that "Graphics Courseware is now accepting orders for the spring 2010 term. The deadline for submission is April 9. Orders submitted by this date are guaranteed to be available on or before the first day of classes. You can submit a Courseware order using the online order form."

You may now apply for spring term accommodations at St. Paul's University College, where double and single rooms are available for undergraduate students, and shared suites and apartments for graduate students. Details, including prices and how to apply, are online.  Or call 519-885-1460, ext. 205, or email stpauls@uwaterloo.ca.

In Athletics: The Hockey Warriors won their last two games against York (2-1) and Brock (6-4), bringing their regular season record to 19-7-1. They are ranked seventh in the CIS. The final two league games are this Friday at the Columbia Icefield at 7:30 p.m. (hosting the Windsor Lancers) and Saturday in Oshawa 7:30 p.m. (the UOIT Ridgebacks. Friday's game will be webcast.

CPA staff

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