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Thursday, July 12, 2012

  • Co-op students find work at UAE campus
  • Welcoming new retirees
  • Editor:
  • Brandon Sweet
  • Communications and Public Affairs
  • bulletin@uwaterloo.ca

Co-op students find work at UAE campus

by Livia Fama, Waterloo UAE Campus

Two University of Waterloo engineering students have broadened their horizons by studying and working for one term at Waterloo’s UAE campus in Dubai.

With internationalization being a major item on Waterloo’s sixth decade plan, the Waterloo UAE campus serves as a bridge to offer students the opportunity to study and work in a different culture, further enriching their education, and enabling Waterloo to produce graduates that are culturally minded, global citizens.

Emiliano Pineda with Dubai's skyline in the background.Emiliano Pineda (right), a second-year civil engineering student, has set a precedent for main Waterloo campus students by being the first to do both a study term and a co-op term at the Waterloo UAE campus.

“I have four years to study in Canada, so I might as well do one term abroad,” said Pineda. I’ve heard so many good things about Dubai, so once the opportunity came, I jumped on it immediately.”

Micky Agrawal, a second-year chemical engineering student, found studying at the Dubai campus for one term a convenient option to be closer to family.

“International study and work experience helps you understand how people from other ethnic backgrounds interact in adverse situations,” she said.

During his study term, Pineda enjoyed the smaller class sizes and easier access to TAs. “What I do like about the campus is that it’s so small that you get to know everyone so well — it might seem cheesy, but it’s like a second family.”

For Pineda, who is of Mexican descent and has lived in both Washington, D.C. and the Dominican Republic, international experience was a prerequisite for his undergraduate career.

“You make contacts all over the world and learn about how people across the world live — their histories, their food, and their customs,” he said of the experience.

Pineda found charm at the docks that sit upon Dubai’s ancient creek; a place where there is an abundance of lively markets and cheap shawarmas, a popular Middle Eastern staple.

For a civil engineering student, studying in Dubai holds a wealth of inspiration taken from the city’s innovation in architecture and design principles. One structure Pineda never tired of seeing was the Burj Khalifa, the iconic symbol of Dubai. “Even after seven and a half months of seeing the skyline, it is pretty impressive,” he said.

Pineda spent his co-op term in Dubai working at IBI Group’s transportation division. The Canadian company is a multi-disciplinary architecture, engineering, consulting and design firm with offices worldwide. He got hands on experience creating models in programs like TransCAD, Synchro, Sidra and UltraPRT. He also did mapping with AutoCAD, MapInfo, and ArcGIS to create road networks for models and for visuals.

Zain Ali, an associate at IBI Group who supervised Pineda, is happy to hire Waterloo students.
“We’re Canadian so we hire co-op students all the time in Toronto -- we know that it’s useful for us and the students,” he said. “Obviously we want to support Canadian communities; we knew about the campus and Waterloo and a lot of staff here [in our Dubai office] are from Waterloo.”

Waterloo UAE plans to welcome more main campus students in the near future. “That’s the grand plan, to provide more international work and study opportunities for all University of Waterloo students,” said Employment Manager Ralon Nazareth, who works on job development and sources out co-op opportunities for students. “I’m really proud of these guys for coming to Dubai.”

Photograph by Livia Fama.

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Welcoming new retirees

The following people retired as of July 1, according to Human Resources:

Dave Thomas, who started in September 1983, retired as Business Systems Specialist in the department of Co-operative Education and Career Action.

Sandra Hurlburt, who began working at the university in September 1982, retired as Assistant Director, Information Support Services in the Human Resources department.

Barry Scott started at the university in July 1971 and retired as the Office of Research's Director, Research Contracts/Industrial Grants Research Finance.

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Link of the day

Comic-Con International

When and where

Shad Valley program, July 1 to July 27.

WIN seminar series featuring Dr. Paul Charpentier, "Supercritical Fluids - A Tool for Sustainable Nanotechnology," Thursday, 11:00 a.m., DC 1304. Details.

CTE683 Intro to LEARN’s Learning Object Repository (LOR) Session 0001, Thursday, 1:00 p.m., FLEX Lab (LIB 329). Register online.

WISE Lecture on Smart Grid Development in China featuring Prof. Ian Rowlands, Associate Director, Global Initiatives, Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy, Professor, Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo, Thursday, 1:30 p.m., DC 1302. Details.

Thank You Celebration for David Perrin, president, St. Jerome's University, Thursday, 3:00 p.m., D.R. Letson Community Centre.

WIN seminar series featuring Dr. Arokia Nathan from Cambridge University, "Transparent Oxide Semiconductors: Will They Ever See the Light?" Friday, July 13, 11:00 a.m., DC 1304. Details.

New uWaterloo Homepage Site Information Session 2, Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - 1:30 p.m., AL 113. Details.

Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (I.B.M.B.) seminar series featuring Prof. John Rubenstein, Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Toronto/Molecular Structure and Function Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, "Electron Cryomicroscopy of rotary ATPases," Tuesday, July 17, 3:30 p.m., C2-361.

UWRC Book Club, "The Grief of Others" by Leah Hager Cohen, Wednesday, July 18, 12:00 p.m., LIB 407.

VeloCity Demo Day, Thursday, July 19, 12:00 p.m., DC Foyer. Details.

University Choir presents "Soundscapes & Improvisations" featuring Harry Freedman, "Keewaydin", and Terry Riley, "In C" at The Cedars (543 Beechwood Drive in Waterloo) on Saturday, July 21 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets $10 for regular admission, $5 for students and seniors.

Lectures end, Wednesday, July 25.

WISE lecture series featuring Dr. Mark Knight, Executive Director, Centre for Advancement Technology, Waterloo, professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, "Do We Pay Too Much for Tap and Bottled Drinking Water?" Thursday, July 26, 3:00 p.m., DC 1302. Details.

Retirement celebration for David Mason, Tuesday, July 31, 3:30 p.m., Laurel Room, South Campus Hall.

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