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Monday, August 19, 2013

 

 

  • Jumpstarting the future of food production
  • Waterloo among Top 50 globally for engineering, tech
  • Campus enters the dog days of summer

 

  • Editor:
  • Brandon Sweet
  • Communications and Public Affairs
  • bulletin@uwaterloo.ca

 

Jumpstarting the future of food production

There’s a famous saying about how laws and sausages are two things the average person should never see being made. But building a better sausage is the goal of a new program recently launched from the Accelerator Centre in the David Johnston Research + Technology Park.

Canada’s Technology For Food (CTFF) is an initiative designed to attract tech talent to the area of food-processing production. It is being spearheaded by the City of Waterloo through the Waterloo Economic Development Committee (WEDC) and its vice-chair, Ted McKechnie, with the Accelerator Centre as a key founding partner.

"We are extremely excited to play a leadership role in this important partnership," says Tim Ellis, CEO of the Accelerator Centre. "Every day within our facility we are inspired by the creative thinking of entrepreneurs and start-ups who apply out of the box thinking, fearlessness and creativity to solve economic and business challenges. Canada's Technology for Food brings an industry with significant economic impact in Ontario and a new sphere of opportunities into the mix.

The University of Waterloo is one of the founding academic partners of the initiative, working alongside the University of Guelph, Conestoga College, Wilfrid Laurier University and Niagara College with industry partners Piller’s Fine Foods, Brick Brewery, Conestoga Meat Packers, KL Products and Cambridge Metal Products.

The program will bring academic and industry partners together with Waterloo’s business community to foster innovation and accelerate the commercialization of new technologies and techniques that will advance Canada’s food and beverage processing industry.

Food and beverage production may not exactly be the first stop on one’s train of thought where startups are concerned, what with all the attention being paid to wearable computers, cloud-based mobile apps, and gameified collaborative web tools, but it is an example of an attractive area of potential growth – advanced manufacturing – where Canada is currently lagging.

Encouraging the application of computer and mechanical engineering talent and tools to food production, which is heavy on automation, robotics and fabrication, will help Canadian food producers get ahead of the curve. CTFF will focus on innovating, retraining, and building a highly skilled workforce to bridge this gap.

“I'm really looking forward to fostering some new innovative companies who I know will bring exciting new answers to the challenges facing our food and beverage processing industry today,” Ellis says.

 

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Waterloo among Top 50 globally for engineering, tech

With files from the Media Relations office

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has named the University of Waterloo among the top 50 universities in the world for academic achievement in engineering/technology and computer science for the second year running.

Waterloo ranked at 43 in the world for Engineering and amongst the top 200 universities overall globally. The results mark the fourth year running that the group has named Waterloo in the top 200 worldwide and places it seventh out of 23 Canadian institutions.

"The University of Waterloo is proud of the excellence in research and academic programming that places us among the top universities in the world," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president & vice-chancellor of Waterloo.  "These results demonstrate our core strength in research which, together with our unique experiential and entrepreneurial approaches to education, make us one of the world's top innovation universities."

The ARWU ranking is widely recognized as being heavily focused on the so-called STEM areas of science, technology, engineering and math, and for placing comparatively less focus on teaching metrics and research measurement in disciplines such as the arts and humanities.

Read the full release from the Media Relations office.

 

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Campus enters the dog days of summer

Campus gets as quiet as it gets after the exams are handed in and the students shuffle off.

Food Services are paring back for the intersessional period, so check in with this convenient listing of hours of operation on a location-by-location basis.

Athletics is getting in on the slow-down, too, and so are those hallowed halls of higher learning, the Library.

 

 

 

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Best of uWaterloo, Question 9

"What is the coolest piece of art on campus?"

Tweet your answer using the hashtage #uWaterlooBEST.

Link of the day

World Humanitarian Day

When and where

Ontario Mennonite Music Camp, Sunday, August 11 to Friday, August 23, Conrad Grebel University College. Details.

Unofficial Grades begin to appear in Quest, Monday, August 19.

Centre for Teaching Excellence presents Instructional Skills Workshop, Tuesday, August 20 to Friday, August 23, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Details.

UWRC Book Club featuring Sebastian Barry's "The Secret Scripture," Wednesday, August 21, 12:00 p.m., LIB 407.

Wednesday Night Discussion Group, Wednesday, August 21, 7:15 p.m., MC 5136. Details.

Co-operative Work Term ends, Friday, August 23.

Winfield Fretz Bowtie Gala, Friday, August 23, 6:30 p.m., Conrad Grebel Dining Hall. Details.

Grebel Sixties Era Reunion Brunch, Saturday, August 24, 10:30 a.m., Conrad Grebel dining hall. Details.

Conrad Grebel Decade Era Gatherings and Academic Reunions, Saturday, August 24, 2:00 p.m. Conrad Grebel University College. Details.

Conrad Grebel 50th Anniversary Reunion Service, Sunday, August 25, 10:30 a.m., Theatre of the Arts. Details.

Deadline to become "Fees Arranged" for Fall 2013 term, Monday, August 26. Details.

UWSA Miniature Golf Social & BBQ on Thursday, August 29, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Bingemans. Details.

Labour Day holiday, Monday, September 2, most university buildings and services closed.

Orientation Week, Monday, September 2 to Saturday, September 7.

Retirement event for Kevin Stewart, Wednesday, September 4, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Commissary Building. RSVP to Sheila Hurley by email or at extension 33587.

Safety Office Open House, Wednesday, September 4, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Commissary Building.

ELPE examinations, Wednesday, September 4 and Thursday, September 5, Physical Activities Complex.

Federation of Students Welcome Week, Monday, September 9 to Friday, September 13.

Lectures begin, Monday, September 9.

Add period for online classes ends, Friday, September 13.

Technology, Innovation & Entrepreneurship seminar, "Inventions vs. Innovations," Friday, September 13, 5:00 p.m., E5 6004. Details.

Fully Graded Date (final grades appear in Quest), Monday, September 16.

University Senate meeting, Monday, September 16, 3:30 p.m., NH 3001.

UWRC Book Club featuring Richard Wagamese, "Ragged Company," (One Book One Community Selection), Wednesday, September 18, 12:00 p.m., LIB 407.

 

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